Zoe - 9 weeks

We are on day 63 and Zoe is 9 weeks pregnant today. The time is drawing near and as you can see (and as can be expected) Zoe is bigger than ever. There's a lot of life (knock on wood) in there waiting to get out.

We are very happy Zoe decided to keep the kittens in several days beoying the discharge and mucus-plug incident we had on day 59 - but I must also admit that I feel a little bit worried that something is wrong because that happened.

There is no use worrying in any case. Today, or in a few more days at least, we will know how it went and I hope and pray that there will be a big bunch of happy, healthy kittens nursing in her box.

Zoe is in excellent health. She is in a good mood, plays, eats and drinks. Despite her size she will still happily race after her favourite toy and she acts in all ways like a happy, healthy female. I should not let that blood a few days ago disturb me so much... but I do a little bit anyway.

Zoe is now confined to the master bedroom, since today. She has started nesting a little bit and we feel it prudent not to let her out of our sight any more. I took a little video of her luxorous maternity ward for those interested :)

Zoe - 8 weeks

Zoe is 8 weeks pregnant today. Could she GET any bigger?

My pretty pretty girl =) I still can't feel any movement, but then her tummy has been so swollen almost from the start that I haven't been able to feel anything in her besides it getting bigger...

Zoe - Day 52 : Let's count'em!

Zoe is 52 days pregnant today. It's beginning to get uncomfortable, but she is very happy in her pregnancy. She purrs a lot, is seeking more affection and just generally lounges around looking rather content with life. The picture above was taken this morning as she basked in the sunlight.

Today we went to the vet-clinic for an Xray. I've never worked with these lines before and taking an 8th week Xray is a (relatively) cheap insurance to prevent panic trips to the vet because you think the cat still has a kitten in there, when she doesn't. Or, alternatively, NOT going quick enough because you think she is done when she is not.

Since the cat has 2 tubes to her womb counting kittens is not an exact science, unfortunatly. Above is the Xray of the same tummy that is basking in the sun on the picture above. The photograph did not come out very clear, unfortunately - but I have marked with arrows where we could clearly see heads - and attached spines, in real life.

So now we know. There are 4. At LEAST 4, I should say - there could very well be one or even two hiding behind its littermates - but 4 is the bare minimum that she is carrying. That's a nice littersize, I think - not too draining on the mother and not too few to make birthing hard - so if this is the number we're getting I'm more thasn happy.

Now let's just pray for health and an easy delivery! 13 days to go...

Zoe - Day 49

WOW!

It's a good thing I started measuring, or I would never have believed this myself. If you recall, last time we measured her was Tuesday - 3 days ago. She was 42 cm (16 1/2 inches). Today she has grown by an amazing 4 cm (1 1/2 inches)!!

Her weight today is 3,6 kg, or 8 pounds. Before getting pregnant Zoe was a 3 kg, or 6,6 pounds, female.

As you can see from the pictures, she's still not too hot about being held for photos - but I want to clarify that there is no struggling involved. It's the way she is held that makes her squint - she has beautiful LARGE round eyes. You can tell a little bit from the first photo.

Today was Zoe's first day of double dose Raspberry Leaf (1 ml, the alcohol free extract). I'm running out so I have to get more.

I had to do a LOT of hunting to find a good place to buy this in Europe. I can easily find all the animal supplies I need, even herbal and holistic, at websites from the US, but we seem to be sadly lacking on this continent.

It would be perfect to find a supplier in Sweden, but since I haven't been able to, I order from an online shop based in the UK - Your Health Food Store. Nope, I'm not sponsored, they don't even know I linked - just thought some of you Europeans may want to know where to find it. Search for everything made by manufacturer "nature's Answer" and then scroll down to Raspberry Leaf. Reasonably priced and ships all over.

Zoe - Day 45

It is beginning to be kind of hard to believe that we still have 20 days to go, isn't it?

Zoes girth is 42 cm today, or just over 16 1/2 inches. She is still eating alot, but after gorging herself on kitten food (Royal Canin Persian Kitten) last night she ended up throwing most of it back up in the floor. Honey, there just isn't room for you to gorge!

Unlike dogs, cats usually don't eat the food they have thrown up, so I was greeted this morning by a great big pile on the living room floor. Good thing Leia is not in the living room at night, she would be sure to have found it irresistable!

Zoe - Day 39

We weren't planning on taking a bellyphoto today - but as Zoe was luxoriously stretching out in a patch of sunlight in the living room, we just had to take a picture.

Our hearts are heavy with the sudden and terrible loss of Trixie, so right now its hard to feel happy about anything. But, watching Zoe enjoying her impending motherhood goes a long, long way.

Zoe - 5 weeks

Zoe is 5 weeks pregnant today. Just look at the size of her! It seems to me that this is a cat that will need help to keep clean towards the end of her term - she's going to be HUGE!

We shaved Zoes' tummy today, so now you can really see her "wild strawberry"-nipples in all their glory.

We went to the vet yesterday for health certificates and rabies shots. I really didn't like the idea of giving the girls a rabies shot while pregnant - but what can you do? If I was to wait until after the birth it would have been too late and we'd have to re-do the process of titre-testing before we could travel with them again.

Zoe - Day 31

This is Zoe - or CH De Bolero's Zoe of CyberCats. Zoe is an adorable female who is just over 1 1/2 years old and currently pregnant with her first litter.

As you can see from this pictures, Zoe is less than impressed with the position I'm holding her in, but she doesn't mind too much as she trusts me. I only subject her to this undignified treatment on a very infrequent basis, with the purpose of getting "bellyphotos" for this blog.

The red arrow points to one of her nipples, which in the past 2 weeks have swelled up to about 4 times it's original size, and turned a rosy pink. This is one of the first signs of pregnancy in a cat. See separate entry: "Pinking up."

Already at 31 days we can start to see her abdomen swelling out towards the sides. This is unusually early and could indicate either that she is a little piglet when she eats or that she is carrying quite a few kittens in there.

As this picture shows you, Zoe has been clipped down from the magnificent coat she had in the top picture. This of course helps us show the changes in her body more clearly than if she had been overflowing in coat. This picture, taken from right above her, also shows her sides ever so slightly bulging outwards.