Kitten 1 (plus stats)

This little darling is Digory. His eyes were both shut yesterday, but he's just starting to peek at us now.

 

Digory is named after Digory Kirke, who features in the first book, The Magician's Nephew. Digory the kitten was the firstborn, is the heaviest, and the first to double his birth weight- yesterday. He has quite a dark tone to his fur (in comparison, they are all a pale cream, in fact, just different shades!) and if that is indicative of future colouration I'd say he was a chocolate solid.

ALL of my kittens have now doubled their birth weight, right on cue. Good kittens! I was expecting some of them to do it today, but not all of them so I'm extremely pleased with them as you may imagine. I'll be keeping a close eye on their weights this coming week as from previous litters I know it's the time Inds has struggled a bit, plus they have just started to move around a lot in their pen, which always seems to lead to a lesser weight gain for a time. One of my kittens, the lastborn, is a very active little thing, and so is Little Scrap... I'm sure it's no coincidence they are the lightest kittens- they burn all their energy off, exploring!

Aaaaand it's that time again! Stats!

 

Digory

Birth: 84g

1 week:186g

 

Kitten 3

Birth:72g

1 week:151g

 

Kitten 4

Birth:89g

1 week:185g

 

Kitten 5

Birth:83g

1 week:171g

 

Kitten 6

Birth: 84g

1 week:177g

 

Kitten 7

Birth: 90g

1 week:184g

 

Kitten 8

Birth: 80g

1 week: 163g

 

Aaaand comparisons of all the litters to date:

 

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

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

Narnian litter 72-90g. Average 83g
 

1 week
REM litter 182g-217g Average 195g

Von Trapp litter 150g- 205g. Average 175g
Narnian litter:151-186g. Average 174g

 

 

It's interesting to note that although the kittens are smaller, the total weight of collective kitten at birth has increased each time. Mama was carrying over 100g more kitten with this recent litter than she was with the REM's, not to mention the extra weight in placenta, fluids and so on. It will be interesting to see if they go on being small, because dad cat isn't a small cat this time... so their genetics presumably dictate an average size. They seem to be closing the gap on their predecessors. Will my Narnians overtake the Von Trapps, or will they continue to be little? Tune in for the next wet-your-pants thrilling instalment next week!

Narnia!

Yup, Narnia is the theme for this litter. All seven of the books, not just the most famous, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. There are some most excellent boys names that it's a shame not to be able to use... but never mind. Like many older book series, there's quite an imbalance of male and female characters, usually to the male advantage, and Narnia is no exception!

But there's enough female names, so it's all good. We'll be meeting Kitten 1 tomorrow. Kitten 2, the little one who didn't make it, will be getting a name too.

There's no photos today. The light quality has been simply awful, and I haven't wanted to use the flash because... they are opening their eyes! Well some are. Some are totally shut, some have eyes cracked open, one has one eye fully open and the other fully shut... it is adorable.

They've been putting on weight like good-uns, these past few days especially, and Kitten 1 has doubled his birth weight. I expect several of his siblings to join him tomorrow. On average kittens double their birth weight in a week, at today's weigh in they were 6.5 days old, so y'know, they are doing pretty well. And Little Scrap has nearly overtaken his smallest sister weight wise. He probably will soon, boys tend to be heavier than girls, even when they start out small. I'd be very surprised if he stayed the lightest.

Photos tomorrow!

Girls And Boys... Again!

According to some websites, it's simple to tell if your kitten is a boy or a girl.  Girls have what looks like a dot and a slit, with a smaller gap between the two, and boys have a dot and another dot, further away. So just look to see if they have a dot or a slit. Easy, right?

 

Hahahahahahhahahahaha... er... not so much!

 

The first thing to remember is that kittens wriggle! They don't stay still, and as such will not be terribly obliging when you try to look at their nether regions. Getting a good look, therefore, is a chore in itself! They may also pee and poo on you in the process. Nice. Keep the wet wipes to hand!

 

Once you have had a good look, there are several complicating factors. Testicles, in short! A pair of balls, side by side, can actually look very slit-like. So you look for the 'dot' under the slit... but therein lies another issue... the girls have a small 'pouch' under the slit too, (like a three sided purse) which can look dot-like. Boys bits tend to stick out more... but even that isn't a dead giveaway as for a week or so after birth, things can be a bit swollen down there anyway- result of maternal hormones.

 

What I'm saying, in short, is they can look very similar. Easy my backside! I was told the other day that Tonks are harder to sex than some other breeds... don't know why, but apparently it is so. It wouldn't surprise me, awkward little things *grin*

 

I am heartened though, by remembering a kitten from the last litter, Louisa. If you were reading then, you will remember that I had her down as a girl, but she was seven or so weeks old before this was finally confirmed by the vet... we had the whole surgery in, on several visits, speculating over this poor kitten's bottom, and the first time they saw her, they said boy.Well if a roomful of experts could get it wrong, it can hardly be as simple as the websites claim.  

 

So anyway, back to this lot. I've ummed and ahhed for days, and I keep coming back to five girls and two boys. What do you think?

 

 

Kitten 1. Looks like a boy to me.

 

 

Kitten2: Another boy. This one (little scrap) is HUGE! Or is it just that the rest of him is tiny? But do you see how what I presume are testicles can look like the slitted opening of a female?

 

 

Kitten 3: Girl- dot and slit. (but it just seems rather large!)

 

 

 

Kitten 4: Girl. I need another photo of her though, because yesterday I could have sworn she was a boy! This one is so feisty it was hard to get a photo at all.

 

 

 

Kitten 5: Girl.

 

Kitten 6: Girl

 

 

 

Kitten 7: Girl.

Moustaches

The kittens are starting to develop colour on their faces. Chocolates, even the solids, are quite pale in the body, and it is quite a contrast with the dark of their points.

Of course the babies have a long way to go but it is hilarious.... their noses are starting to develop a blush of colour, they have 'freckles' where their whiskers join, and they are developing moustaches. Moustaches! Hold the 'Kitler' jokes please...

 

Can you see? It was hard to get a shot, they wiggle so and my phone camera isn't brilliant.

Needless to say, 1930's Germany will NOT be featuring in our name theme... ugh...  although if I was feeling wicked, I'd be tempted to go with a Poirot theme!

The Hokey Cokey

 

You puts your right paw in...

 

 

Aaaaaaand your left paw in...

 

 

and give the baby a snuggle

 

 

Babies remain unimpressed by this Hokey Cokey business.

Pics!

 

All seven with Mama

 

 

sleepy baby

 

 

and another one!

 

Mama and babies all continue to do well. They all have fat little bellies, are vigorous and healthy and are putting on weight at a reasonable rate. They are quite small kittens- the larger the litter the smaller the kittens as a general rule- and all weighed between 80 and 90g at birth except for Little Scrap who was 72g. Most of them, all but Little Scrap, have topped 100g at today's weigh in, and some are in the teens so that isn't bad going  considering the size of their tummies.

 

I have read that kittens under 80g mostly don't live... Little Scrap is the lightest kitten we've had, and I've been keeping a special eye on him, but he seems just like the others so...? I wonder if that is because a kitten that light is often premature, whereas these guys were full term, there were just lots of them. After all, poor Inds was carrying almost 700g of collective kitten, plus goodness knows how much in placenta, fluid and so on. 

 

I'm not totally sure of the genders, but we do seem to have a lot of girls this time! Plenty of time for the sex change fairy to visit, but last night my reckoning was 5 girls and 2 boys, and the kitten that didn't make it was a girl, poor little thing, it was easy to tell with her as she didn't move a lot. When I looked this morning I thought there was another boy though... so I'm still not sure about this one!

 

Little Scrap with the kinked tail(must get a pic, it really is adorably silly!) is VERY obviously a boy although now I've said that... lol! I've had a lot of interest for these kittens but mainly for the boys... so I'm hoping people aren't necessarily dead set on a boy or they might just be disappointed this time!

 

It's too soon to tell which will be minks and which solids, but there do seem to be three kittens who seem a shade lighter than the others- poorly baby was, as well. I don't know if this is pure chance, or if the blondies will turn out to be the minks, it will be interesting to see. They have a half and half chance of being either you see, so I wonder. It is the tiniest difference, in a mixed litter with just one choc alongside other colours, you'd never be able to tell if it was one or the other.

 

Awww, off to pet Indigo and stroke a few velvety heads! 



Hello, Goodbye

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

A.A. Milne/ Winnie the Pooh

 

Sorry to not have updated earlier, but have been super busy. Yesterday evening, Indigo had a whopping eight kittens after a previous false start (all) the night before. Seven are healthy and thriving, as is Mama, for which I am very thankful. All smallish, between 80 and 90g except one little scrap at 71g, but eight is a lot of space to find room for, after all! Little Scrap has a kink at the very end of its tail too, it looks ever so silly!

 

Sadly the second born of the litter, a little girl, was put to sleep this morning. She didn't breathe at birth and had to be revived, but never really picked up. He lungs were failing and breathing was an effort for her, her heartbeat was slow, she was cold, floppy and she couldn't feed. Poor baby.

 

Mama is fine. With seven others she has her paws well and truly full. And she knew. She hadn't rejected the kitten, and would lick it occasionally, but didn't show any anxiety when I handled it, in the way she does for the others.

 

I've been lucky so far, but I knew we'd lose a kitten one day. Now we have. This breeding business is bittersweet indeed.

 

But the other seven are most comforting. They've all put on weight in the first few hours and have round, milky bellies. And they are gorgeous. Look!

 

 

No idea as to boys and girls, I'm too sleep deprived to tell!!!It's not as if they stay still enough to get a proper look!

 

So anyway. That's our news. Merry Christmas! I'll be back in a couple of days with an update.