Trousers Are Tasty

slurp!

Is that so Liesl! You know, some of your siblings are enjoying their solids very well indeed... chicken/ turkey in the evening and genty heated kitten food in the morning, with two other meals (that the kittens aren't interested in so far) and biscuits on tap too... you don't have to eat my trousers!

We went to the vet last night as Indigo's ear infection hasn't fully cleared, so some more (nursing safe) medicine for her. A different kind this time, so hopefully it won't knock her digestion off kilter this time. She's well enough, just has an itchy ear, and in scratching it is making it sore. I may collar her just to stop her scratching it for a bit. Anyway, as I made the appointment, I made a second one too, and took Friedrich along. I was going to take him next week anyway, so yesterday did just as well.

Well, Freddie is doing very well indeed! He's starting to bear weight on his leg, by dint of holding it at a funny angle, and he's managing to get around very nicely. Not as fast as the others, and yes he looks a bit odd, but he walks, he tries to run, he climbs... very very positive news indeed. And the vet had a good prod again and whilst he squeaked indignantly, (well, wouldn't you?) once again the vet was sure he wasn't in any pain. It wasn't that kind of squeak, and Indigo didn't leap to his side like she would if he had been in pain.

I took Louisa along too, and not being busy there, she was taken round to all the vets and nurses to determine her sex. Well, they now think she's 'looking more like a boy', her bits now looking like the beginnings of a prepuce- the furry oval bit boys have that contains the penis. But no testicles as yet, and her sex still isn't clear enough to say 100% one way or the other! 'Bring her back in 2 weeks with Freddie and we'll look at.. er... her... again!' was the advice. So I guess she'll have to stay 'Louisa' for the time being *grin*

What an 'interesting' litter I seem to have, this time around!

So of course I've been doing some reading up. If Louisa is a Louis, and her testicles do not descend, he can still be neutered at the correct time, and he'll be otherwise quite normal. It would be unwise to retain him for breeding purposes, however, many cats with one or both testicles undescended are sterile anyway, if they arent sterile they can themselves sire cats with similar testicles, and not removing them at the proper time could have health implications further along the lines. He couldn't be shown, except of course as a neuter. And while undescended testicles happen from time to time, if Indigo was to regularly produce such kittens I'd have to reconsider her use as a breeding cat of course. One kitten is nothing- you don't know if the responsible genes are from Mum, or Dad, or that the two together make a less than ideal combination, or it's Just One Of Those Things and neither will have another kitten like it ever again.

What's the betting she's a girl now? LOL

Cave

Gretl, I think, in a cubby hole.

Gretl and Kurt

Now that the kittens are free to roam about, they are discovering all kinds of exciting things. Yesterday they discovered this cubby hole. It's big enough for them all to pile in, so they did. They liked it so much they went to sleep in it, too.

Mama wants in too!

Well Indigo was NOT happy about that! It might fit seven small kittens, but there's no way it would accommodate a great big mama too! She tried to drag a kitten out, back to the nest, but it waddled straight back in the cubby, protesting indignantly. Eventually she gave up, and decided to stand guard another way.

She's such a good mama!

4 Weeks Today!

Morning Marta honey!

Weight day today, and as you can see they are much much improved. Kurt discovered FOOD last night and 'put on' 30g overnight as a result, I suspect some of that is simply working its way through his digestion though! But you can see the gains are much much better than last week anyway.

This litter is never going to be as hefty as the last, but their growth seems to be following a similar pattern all the same. So I'm confident all is well- and anyway you just have to look at them to know that is so. And speaking of which, it's playtime, so I'm off to join in the fun :)

And now that they are 4 weeks, I suppose I'd better think about advertising them. *sigh*- I'd like to keep them all!

Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g
2 weeks 226g
3 weeks 250g
4 weeks 325g

Friedrich


Birth 101g
1 week 187g
2 weeks 239g
3 weeks 271g
4 weeks 349g

Kurt

Birth 102g
1 week 205g
2 weeks 280g
3 weeks 341g
4 weeks 448g

Louisa

Birth 82g
1 week 157g
2 weeks 219g
3 weeks 260g
4 weeks 334g

Brigitta

Birth 83g
1 week 179g
2 weeks 248g
3 weeks 301g
4 weeks 374g

Marta

Birth 91g
1 week 178g
2 weeks 249g
3 weeks 311g
4 weeks 389g

Gretl

Birth 81g
1 week 150g
2 weeks 220g
3 weeks 269g
4 weeks 342g

Comparison:

Birth

REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

1 week

REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g

2 weeks

REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

3 weeks

REM litter  338g-390g. Average 359g.
Von Trapp litter 250g- 341g. Average 286g.

4 weeks

REM litter 437g-524g. Average 466g
Von Trapp litter 325g-448g. Average 365g

Ready, Freddie?

Sniff

Tromp

Nom!

The Christmas turkey does it again! I put down a big plate for Inds last night, and several of the kittens were interested. Some just sniffed. Brigitta tromped right through it and then discovered her paws were VERY tasty indeed, licking them with that high pitched 'omnomnom' some cats make, but she didn't make the connection between the good taste and the food in the dish. Freddie however, bellied up to the bowl and made a very hearty meal indeed. Yum!

The kittens were pleased to be released this morning after being penned for the night- I'd prefer to leave it a few more days before I allow them the run of their room at night too.

I'm starting toilet training today, so that will be 'fun'- I just hope they are as easily trained as the last lot. As you know Indigo, whilst an exemplary mother in most other ways, will only toilet in a particular tray in a high and kitten-inaccessible place. She's not a lot of help when it comes to training the youngsters, frankly. Or setting a good example (thank goodness for Theo) So I'll be there with my cotton wool balls rubbing kitten bottoms and piling the results onto the litter trays till they get the idea.

I know, I'm making you so jealous *grin*

Right, best get going... I suspect I'd better buy some more turkey at some point too!

Freedom!

The first two come out for a mosey around...

Then a couple more...

But they were soon overcome at their newfound freedom and retreated to the safety of the nest. And Mama. Aww!

Merry Christmas!

As a Christmas Eve treat, I put Mama's lunch directly into the cage whilst the kittens were active, the idea not being for them to eat it, but see Mam doing so, to have a sniff and get used to the smells, if they wanted to. Some of them were really quite curious, some of them decided snoozing was a better option. No problem!

Merry Christmas from all the people and kitties here at Indikon!

Caging Kittens

In some of my pictures, you will see the kittens' nest has mesh on it, and you may assume from that that I raise my kittens caged. That isn't the case. I thought I'd write a little about that today.

Firstly though, I don't generally agree with raising kittens in cages. I know some people who do, and I'm sure their kittens are loved and well cared for. I am not commenting on their practices, and its up to each new family to find a breeder whose practices they are most comfortable with. For me though, I would not cage unless there was a compelling reason to do so (such as a sick kitten that needed to be kept quiet and calm- if Freddie needs surgery its likely he'll be confined to a cage for a little while to aid recovery, for example)

I do however restrict the kittens' movement in the first few weeks, for obvious safety reasons. The kitten's nest, at the moment, is a wood framed animal hutch, this run extention from Zooplus, in fact, with removable sides all round and a removable top. The sides are usually up at present, but the top is never on, that is how Indigo gets in and out. Several times a day, the side comes down for weighing and general socialisation, the babies are just starting to climb out and come exploring, under supervision of course. Later on, the side will be permanently off so the kittens can come and go at will.

I'm also using the birthing box as a kind of extra playpen for them at the moment, it's deeper than last year's tub, so no risk of them toppling over the top just as yet. That's Freddie in the picture today, showing off his nice strong front legs. It makes for some nice playtime. Later on, of course, the kittens will be free range and allowed to tromp all over their room, the cat furniture and up and down the long, ideal-for-racing hallway.

So it looks like a cage, but really, it isn't one. Mama is never restricted in her movements, and the kittens only whilst they are so tiny- and even then they are in the family room, the hub of activity in our household, part of things from day 1.

One thing is for sure- the sides won't be up much longer. I found Brigitta trying to climb over yesterday!!!

3 Weeks Old!

Liesl, or at least I think it's Liesl, looking very smug!

And a third day  of amazing weight gain and the figures for this week don't look as terrible as I had anticipated- not at all. I mean they are far from brilliant, don't get me wrong... but y'know. I'm feeling positive about it all, it seems they have turned a corner.

Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g
2 weeks 226g
3 weeks 250g

Friedrich


Birth 101g
1 week 187g
2 weeks 239g
3 weeks 271g

Kurt

Birth 102g
1 week 205g
2 weeks 280g
3 weeks 341g

Louisa

Birth 82g
1 week 157g
2 weeks 219g
3 weeks 260g

Brigitta

Birth 83g
1 week 179g
2 weeks 248g
3 weeks 301g

Marta

Birth 91g
1 week 178g
2 weeks 249g
3 weeks 311g

Gretl

Birth 81g
1 week 150g
2 weeks 220g
3 weeks 269g



Comparison:

Birth

REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

1 week

REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g

2 weeks

REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

3 weeks

REM litter  338g-390g. Average 359g.
Von Trapp litter 250g- 341g. Average 286g.

Proper Cats

How I tear myself away from the nest when they look this cute I have no idea...  but you can see here from this picture of Kurt how much they now look like proper little cats and how quickly their colour is developing. Kurt's nose, tail and ears are really very dark indeed now, and his paws and face are darkening. Some of the kitties have darkening patches on their backs/ base of their tail as well.

The kittens are also starting to play fight, lick themselves and each other, pounce and otherwise behave in a very cat-like way. When you advance to the nest now, the babies all run forward in anticipation- they are learning that humans are friendly and trustworthy beings. They like to have their ears and chins rubbed, I've had a few purrs, and one even dozed off mid cuddle the other day. (Kurt- I'm getting a sneaking suspicion Kurt is another cuddlebug like Monty- Jonah- was...)

Its such a vital stage in their development, and easy to see how, managed wrongly, it could shape a cat's attitude towards people for life These babies are not quite three weeks, by four weeks a feral kitten is truly feral, a hissing spitting wildcat, although there's always the chance that feral rescues can relearn positive patterns of relating of course. No cat should ever be written off. Still, the window of opportunity here is short, they develop so fast, there's not much room for error.

Weights good again for the second day running... could it be that the past week was just a blip? Indigo has been eating like a horse. Long may it continue!

Morning, Marta!

Why yes...

I am beautiful!

This is the lovely Marta, whose ears and tail have suddenly gotten really dark. She's just adorable.

Marta hasn't been losing any weight. She hasn't been putting it on very fast, admittedly, but it HAS been going on steadily. What a good girl! The rest of the litter have done much better today as well and Indigo's eating is much improved. I'm breathing a little easier today!

Sniff

Theo, getting to know the kittens. What an old softie he is.

Just a quickie today.

 Poor Indigo is really struggling to eat anything, I'm supplementing her with calcium and nutri-drops but yesterday she ate half a sachet of kitten food and a small bowl of chicken. Hardly enough to sustain herself, let alone seven hungry kittens. The kittens, predictably, have had truly appalling weight gains and indeed losses as a result, and I have resorted to the bottle. Nature knows best? Yeah, maybe, but I'm having no kitten going hungry on MY watch, sorry Mother N.

So I've been bottling. But will any of my kittens readily TAKE the bottle? Will they b******s!!!!! Do excuse my language, but the sheer frustration of it!

So I've been very, very busy trying to slot milk, squirt by tiny squirt, into seven wriggly, reluctant kittens. But even so, with two of them, I'll be delighted if they end the week the same weight as they started it. The others aren't so bad, but weight gains will be very very poor this week.

The thing is, the kittens... well they are absolutely bursting with vitality! They are all incredibly healthy, active, curious little beings now, and looking like proper cats as opposed to furry sausages. You advance the nest and they approach, squeaking, eager to be sociable. They really are a joy.... I just wish they were putting on weight.

And yes, I know exactly the same thing happened last year (to a lesser degree), and I know its a phase and I know it will pass, but I still don't like it!

Never mind. Inds comes off her antibiotic today, and I am hoping her appetite will come back with a vengeance.

More Colour Musings

But firstly, once again, if anyone is here from the advert in Your Cat, welcome to my blog, where I ramble on about my kittens and permanent resident cats and post lots of cute pictures... like this one!

This is Freddie, and yesterday he officially became the first kitten to crawl out of the nest. Very clever!

I've had another nibble, someone who may want a kitten. Hello, P, if you are reading this!

I'm going all out this time to get the colours correct *grin* so now that their nose leathers are starting to colour up- the earliest indicator- I've taken pictures of the kitten's noses to see if they hold true- plenty of time for them to change, but we will see.

I'm only lightly holding the kittens heads in these piccies... of course they all screamed their heads off like I was murdering them hehe. The photos aren't clear (my replacement camera isn't as good as my other one, but what do you do just before Christmas??? Still haven't found it...)

Liesl.

Nose leather really quite dark. She's also developing quite a marked difference between ears and body, so my guess is brown mink.

Friedrich

I'd had Freddie down as a brown solid, but look at his nose. It's dark, but a warmer, pinker dark than Liesl's. He's still pretty dark all over though, so I'm going for chocolate solid.

Kurt

Very dark nose. I think he must be a brown, whether a solid or a mink I have no idea because of his odd colouring- I got a pic of it...

his bottom half looks really pale in comparison to his dark little head. No idea what's going on there! Judging by his head colour I'd say solid, but by his bottom colour mink. Um...?

Louisa

I had Louisa down as a chocolate, but that nose is looking very lilac to me... much paler than her possibly chocolate siblings noses. Her fur has lightened up considerably too and her ears are not really noticeably darker than the rest of her- yet. So possibly a lilac solid. Otherwise a chocolate.

Brigitta

I had thought she was a choc solid before, but that nose is really dark, so now I'm thinking brown solid

Marta

Looks like a chocolate nose to me. Chocolate solid?

Gretl

That little face cracks me up!

In the photo her nose looks a bit pinky but looking at Gretl and Louisa side by side, Louisa's is much warmer. I'm sticking with my original thought here, blue mink.

Anyway them's my thoughts at the current time! No doubt they will change again though, but I think having a visual record will help me in future years when it comes to determining a kitten's colour. Whatever they are, they are all yummy! 

2 Weeks Old Yesterday...



But yesterday I wanted to tell you about Friedrich. So today I'll record their 2 week weights, a day late but better late than never. Indigo is feeling rough on her antibiotic, she was sick yesterday evening, then had wobbly bowels and didn't eat at all overnight, as a consequence weights are pretty much all down today (except Marta). Her ear seems a bit better though, it was hot and inflamed and sore yesterday, so clearly the antibiotics are needed, its just a shame it's upsetting her digestion

I do think that it has been right to hold off on the supplementing this year (I supplemented Friedrich and Liesl, once, and that's it) as they have been feeding constantly from Mama and that seems to have got the milk supply up again. That and the food I'm trying to slot into Indigo. Chicken today I think, bland and easy to digest for her poor tummy. She's had a bit of breakfast so I'm hoping for a better day.

If weights are down again though, I will have to start thinking about that bottle. Oh this kitten business is worrisome!

Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g
2 weeks 226g

Friedrich


Birth 101g
1 week 187g
2 weeks 239g

Kurt

Birth 102g
1 week 205g
2 weeks 280g

Louisa

Birth 82g
1 week 157g
2 weeks 219g

Brigitta

Birth 83g
1 week 179g
2 weeks 248g

Marta

Birth 91g
1 week 178g
2 weeks 249g

Gretl

Birth 81g
1 week 150g
2 weeks 220g



Comparison:

Birth

REM litter 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter 81g-102g. Average 91g

1 week

REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g

2 weeks

REM litter 257g-294g, Average 272g
Von Trapp litter 220g- 280g, Average 240g

Vet

Well it had to happen sooner or later didn't it? We've all had our first trip to the vets!

The kittens are getting so active now, and crawling all over their nest. Watching them the other day I noticed that Friedrich looked- well, a bit odd. On closer inspection, there was definitely something not quite 'right' about his hips/ leg. One leg seemed to pop out at an odd angle when he walked, and he'd kind of go in circles. Clearly we needed to have that looked at.

Not very clear, but do you see what I mean?

Definitely not 'right' poor lamb.

In addition, Indigo's appetite hasn't been fabulous and as a result weight gain in the kittens hasn't been great either (although it's picked up a bit) and a couple of times Inds has shaken her head and looked like her ear was bothering her so I thought in for a penny in for a pound and bundled the lot off to the vet last night.

The net result is:

Despite the slowing down on the weight gain front (better gains today actually) all the kittens are fat and healthy and doing just fine- nice healthy lungs (!) and hearts and decent weight gains from this morning. Excellent! Incidentally, even the vet couldn't tell whether Louisa was a boy or a girl!!! 'She' is a mystery that one, just as well her name can easily be switched to Louis later on if needs be.

Indigo did have a gunky ear, which was cleaned out with saline and alcohol, Q-tips and cotton balls. She's got a mild antibiotic as ear drops contain steriods, and I'll gently wipe her ear now and again with a cotton ball dipped in olive oil to stop the crud building up again. Nothing will induce me to poke about my cats ear with a Q-tip though... I know how wriggly she can be!

Friedrich's results weren't so fabulous. The vet thinks that at some point, probably during the birth process, the little guy's leg got broken, and being so young and the bones being so plastic, it's knitted back together incredibly quickly... but wonkily. Because kittens don't do anything for the first few weeks but huddle about in heaps in dark corners, I hadn't noticed it. But once he started to move about, there it was.

The good thing is, the vet doesn't feel he's in any pain, it's not interfering with his development otherwise and he's a nice strong healthy kitten. It's too soon to tell what, if any, issues his dodgy leg will cause and he's far too small for an xray, which will involve an anaesthetic. He may just walk a bit oddly. Even worst case scenario and he needs to have the leg removed, well, cats do perfectly well on three legs, and he won't know any different.

It will, however, make him much less 'desirable'. He may struggle to find his forever home. He will be available to the right owner, at a negotiable price, (ie less than the going rate) once I know what, if any, his issues are likely to be. But if Friedrich- or 'Freddie' as he will inevitably be known here from now on, doesn't find a family he will always have a loving home here with us.

Going Somewhere, Gretl?

If you are here as a result of the advert in Your Cat, hi! Welcome to Indikon, welcome to our kitten diary / blog and welcome to our new litter of babies! I hope you enjoy seeing these little ones grow up.

Hmm... bored with this 'eating' business, think I'll take a walk...

'Scuse me, siblings...

... while I just walk on your heads...

Gretl, camoflagued! Can you spot her?

And again!

Time to tromp all over Mama's head, now...

Hm... wasn't I doing something?

Oh yes, milk! Omnomnom!

Why Am I Always Last?

Never mind, Gretl!

The kittens are nearly two weeks old now, and just starting to do other things than just eat and sleep. Like small babies, eating and sleeping still take up a large amount of their day, but they do now have periods of alertness, looking around their nest, making clumsy attempts at washing their paws, etc. They are very active at times. Perhaps that's why their weight gain today was truly shocking :( they are burning off far more calories than previously?

Don't get me wrong, newborn kittens are lovely and I love to watch them all snuggled up, fatly, to Mama cat, but they aren't as interesting as older kittens. Now is the exciting time, as their characters start to unfold and they become proper little kittens.

Can't wait!

Hiss!

This is Marta, the second from last kitten.

Like her sister Brigitta, she's also quite a confident lass. Speaking of her sister, I poked my head over the side of the nest earlier, and Brigitta HISSED at me! She did! Of course I then stroked her for being so cute, so as a 'go away' tactic it wasn't terribly effective.

Both Liesl and Friedrich have had feeble weight gains for two days running now. I am keeping an eye on the situation but not getting too jittery about it. Well, maybe just a bit. I wouldn't be me without a little bit of neuroticism, right?

Brigitta

Unhand me, madam!



Brigitta is by far the most confident kitten, but even so, she doesn't look convinced about this 'cuddling' business, does she? She'd much rather be at the milk bar.

Nerdiness alert... if you come here for the cute pics, this will not interest you one bit! Time to go now. I mean it! Don't say you weren't warned... obsessiveness is a breeder's perogative!

Ok, I've thought of something else I can do now I'm on litter 2- compare last year's weights to this year's. Useful for me to be able to do this so I can see trends within the litter that might indicate Indigo is struggling to keep up the milk production for seven of them.  So:

Birth

REM litter from 83g-103g. Average 92g

Von Trapp litter from 81g-102g. Average 91g

Pretty much the same- REM litter was born on the due date, Von Trapps the day before so possibly would have been a couple grams lighter anyway.

1 week

REM litter from 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter from 150g- 205g. Average 175g

So this litter is noticeably smaller already. (although they have all doubled their birthweight now) This could be for many reasons:

1) This litter is girl-heavy, the last had more boys. Even at birth, boys tend to be heavier and they go on being heavier, it's just the way it is. My two boys in this litter are heavier than the girls, the boys in the last litter were heavier than their sisters.

2) This time Dadcat is petite, and they might take after him. Last litter we only had one 'small' kitten, Hope (Lisl) and she was small-average rather than small small, you know? This litter- who knows.

3) Indigo may be struggling to keep up with the demands of feeding 7 kittens and they aren't getting the nutrients they need.

Obviously 3 is the one I will be watching for. Last year, I ended up supplementing the REM litter when their weight gain started to slow right down in week 2. I'm going to try NOT to do this this year, as I feel my interfering was possibly counterproductive. You feed the kittens, they suckle less, that doesn't stimulate more milk and so on. From my reading on the 'net, a slow weight gain is probably OK as long as it IS a gain... obviously if a kitten started losing weight I'd be there with the bottle and the KMR. But there's no need to metaphorically wet my pants if a kitten only makes a gain of a few grams one day at this stage. Its the overall pattern that's important (see how calm I am with this litter!)

Instead, I'm trying to stuff as much food into Indigo as I can. It seems to be working, she's currently eating about four sachets of wet kitten food a day, sometimes I'm giving her boiled turkey- she wasn't keen on the baked- or similar just as a change, plus a sizeable bowlful of kitten kibble and the occasional cat treat!

Oh, And Incidentally...

I talked a potential customer out of having one of my kittens today.

The right thing to do, of course, and I HOPE I was able to give her some good advice specific to her situation (kitten season coming before too long, rescue, sibling pair best, yada yada...) but it always seems so... odd! After all, one WANTS to find lovely new homes for the kittens and she would have been a really good owner but...

Well anyway it was the right advice to give even though part of me hated to give it!

Damn.

Switcheroo

Now in the film, the Von Trapp children go Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt (girl, boy, girl, boy) but our kittens are not arranged that way. T'would be freaky if they were!

So here's kitten 3, a boy, who is to be known as Indikon Kurt.

Kurt looks like he's got some serious eye gunk going on there doesn't he? As soon as I saw the picture (which was pretty much just after I'd taken it) I dashed over to get a better look, and his eyes are fine, no gunk at all. Must just be fluff, or a funny lighting angle or something.
And here's kitten 4, Indikon Louisa, who may well end up Indikon Louis if she turns out to be a boy after all!

On the eye theme, Louisa is one of two kittens that hasn't got open eyes yet. These two kittens tend to freak out if handled, whereas the others will just gaze at you for a bit (and then freak out!) Shouldn't be long before she can see as well though :)

Only one more has doubled birthweight today... but the remaining four are all mere grams away... come on, slowcoaches!

A Very Good Place To Start

Here's Friedrich!



I discovered something last night. None of my cats will touch raw meat. They all sniffed at it, looked at me like I was insane and resumed howling for their food, and no redirecting would persuade them to eat it. Yes I'd rinsed it thoroughly.

One lot into the bin. And only one, Indigo, and I suspect she will eat anything right now, will eat the turkey and rice concoction I then cooked up for them. What a waste of four turkey steaks THAT was (ok the teenager had one, so three...)Next time I will just do the turkey, rice is an odd thing to be giving to cats anyway isn't it, well it sounds an odd thing for a carnivore, but that was the recipe!

And here's the weights this week: as you can see a couple of the kittens have doubled their birthweights, some are very nearly there and will hopefully hit it tomorrow, but I'm happy all are making steady progress. See what a good job I am doing of Not Panicking Unnecessarily this year? Heh!
 Can you believe they are a week old already?

Kitten 1- Liesl

Birth 96g
1 week 172g

Kitten 2- Friedrich


Birth 101g
1 week 187g

Kitten 3

Birth 102g
1 week 205g- doubled!

Kitten 4

Birth 82g
1 week 157g

Kitten 5

Birth 83g
1 week 179g- doubled!

Kitten 6

Birth 91g
1 week 178g

Kitten 7
Birth 81g
1 week 150g

Let's Start At The Very Beginning...

Having agonised over the sexes of the kittens, I have finally (well, for now!) decided we do in fact have two boys and five girls!!! What are the chances of that happening eh? So the names are a foregone conclusion, really. After all, I did promise the teenager, (he's thrilled!) so this litter will be named after the Von Trapp family children. Unless the sex change fairy visits us again, that is...

This little darling is Indikon Liesl, who I am reliably informed does NOT need a governess. She will need lots of love and kisses and care though, and it will be a pleasure to give them to her. Here she is :)

And yes, I know there's already a tag for 'Lisl'- our Indikon Hope was named Lisl by her family. No problem, I'll tag these kittens by their full pedigree name. So 'Lisl' refers to Hope, 'Indikon Liesl' refers to Liesl. Confusing, much?

Boys And Girls

How on earth...

...did she fit them all inside her???



Ok. I THINK that kittens 6 and 7 are girls. I'm not sure, but they are looking more dot-and-slit than two dots as they get older. That just leaves kitten 4, which doesn't look like either! Interestingly its the smaller kittens that are the more difficult to discern, even though they are bigger than the biggest ones were at birth.

I reckon what I'm going to have to do (because I'm itching to pick names out of course,) is just make a good guess about kitten 5, name them, and be prepared to rename one or possibly all of them depending on how the theme fits in a month or so when the gender should be more obvious. Or when the vet sees them first and tells me I've got them all completely wrong... lol.

Indigo moved her kittens last night, so I shall pack up the old nest. She's currently in a rabbit run, with front section removed and a throw over the top- it's like a cave, in fact. She seems quite happy with it.

Kittens are fat little things and putting on weight every day. Some of them have quite a way to go yet, if they are to double their weight by Thursday morning, but I guess in a large litter there's more competition. I have a kitten growth chart, and last year my brood were dipping below the average (but still within 'acceptable') at first, but by the time they were ready to go home they were massive. This year I am expecting them to be smaller anyway, as Daddy is petite and we seem to have more girls which are usually smaller even at this age.

In other news, some of the babies are starting to open their eyes, with kitten 3, a boy, leading the way. Tonks are forward little things and they are early for eye opening, 7-10 days being more usual. It gets interesting when they can actually see you, they stop being alarmed at your scent and come to understand you aren't a threat... and then get excited when they see a human approaching. Aww! Can't wait!