News from the baby factory

Today I had a call from Caroline, where Maya lives. When the Cyber household moved out to the island Maya went back to her mum and Nisse went with her - so that they qould be able to breed next time she went back into heat.

But...

Today I get a call from caroline where she tells me that Maya has not gone back into heat and that she is getting quite a bit thicker around the middle, along with growing glands around her nipples. A quick count tells me that Maya - if it took the time she was in heat at our house - is now 7 weeks pregnant. What a surprise! And a happy one!

So, fingers crossed that everything went well and that we have a pregfnant Maya. That means Maya will join the menagerie out at the island and have her babies here. Happy is me =)

Zoe - Day 64 - 9 am

Yesterday evening Zoe started bleeding again. Just very slightly - and the bleeding soon stopped. No other signs, so aside from setting the alarm 3 times this night rather than 2, we did nothing special. My worry increased tenfold though.

This morning she was happily sleeping on her rug next to the bed (the one I incorrectly call "carpet" in the video below) and as I petted her when I got up to take Leia - the CyberDog - for her morning walk I could feel bouncing activity in her belly. Like a flash my worry dispated. However many there are in there, and despite Zoe spotting blood, the kittens are alive and kicking - literally :)

Zoe also had some KMR (milk replacement) last night wich she happily gulfed down. She is a bit of a worry to get extra strength into as she is your classic kibble-addict and simply does not consider anything else food. Not raw meat, not the most delicious wet-food, not even NutriCal. But, KMR was ok - so now at least I kow I can give her a strengthening tonic of that if needed.

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 - Day 60

Zoe gave us a terrible scare yesterday! I thought that she was getting a bit dirty behind because she couldn't reach to wash herself, but when I examined it a little bit closer it turned out to be a bloody discharge. Only a very, very little bit - but still!

She was on day 59 and I really did not want the kittens entering the world yesterday, especially as Zoe has no milk yet - but we did realize that time was of the essence and gave her a bath and a new tummy shave yesterday afternoon. Zoe is a very relaxed cat and doesn't mind being bathed or fussed with, so I assumed/hoped that bathing would not hurry a premature delivery.

Just look at her in the wet - she has true love-handles :)

Later yesterday evening when I checked on her again, she had just dropped her mucus-plug. Since she doesn't really reach to wash herself - nor does she know what is going on, she had made no attempt to remove it - so for a change I got to see one. After the plug had been dropped she kept weeping a blood-mixed discharge for a few hours - but only very very slight. Also, it was not discolored in any way and had no smell, unpleasant or otherwise.

Through this whole process she was completely undisturbed and went about her business as usual, including eating, drinking and just basically lounging around - so after a quick "check up"-call to the vet we decided to wait and see if she'll be one of those girls that drop the plug early. After all, she's huge - there has to be some preassure on her insides now.

Of course, I set the alarm during the night and went up to check on her several times, but all is back to normal now. The discharge has stopped and Zoe seems to be in a good mood. I took her temperature this morning and it is a bit low (38.1 C / 100,5 F) so it could very well be today. I hope she'll be able to keep them in for another couple of days though. Comon Zoe, you can do it!

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...

Day 55 and counting

This week Daniel is out travelling and so my time at the computer is limited. Thank god I'm on vacation - taking care of the cats and the puppy is a full time job right now!

I'm counting the days. We are on day 55 now. Only 2-3 days left until my worst worry will begin to abate. Meaning: Kittens born on day 57-58 can survive. Not easily, but it can be done. I have personally saved a litter of 5 born on day 57.

The main problem with preemies are their little lungs. Up until day 57 they can't survive simply because the lungs are not ready to supply them with the oxygen every animal needs. The final week (57 to 63-65) will mainly see growth in the kittens, that are otherwise done. So the other problem with early kittens are that they are too small and weak to nurse as they need - something that can be helped with good quality kitten formula, and tube-feeding for the weakest ones. So, it can be done. 2 more days to go and I can slowly start relaxing.

With all the incredible bad luck I've had with my animals the past few years I don't dare to take anything for granted, but I hope and pray for a full term pregnancy and an easy delivery.

Zoe keeps swelling - new photos soon!

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 - 7 weeks today

Its a good thing we got Leia, so I am able to leave Zoe alone and not be all over her. This is my first litter in 5 years so I am almost crazily happy about it =)

Anyway. Today Zoe is 7 weeks pregnant. I will measure her girth in a little while, and take a belly photo.

7 weeks also means that it is time to start the second supplement of a cat pregnancy, Marshmallow Root. Check in soon again for an article on that, similar to the one of Red Raspberry Leaf.

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 43

And we're grooooowing

Zoe is swelling almost visibly day by day. Daniel and I had the idea of actually measuring her girth - as you do with human pregnancies. We started today, when she is 3 weeks and 1 day away from her calculated due date (Based on her mothers normal gestation times, and +/- 2 days of course).

It becomes slightly more difficult as finding the thickest point on this barrel on 4 sticks may be hard to do every time. It's not like I have a belly button to go by, but still.

As far as I can tell, Zoe has a girth of 41,5 cm, or 16 1/4 inches, today. As the main growth of the kittens occurs in the last trimester, it will be incredibky interesting to see how this changes as the days go by!

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.

Trixie - Day 9

Trixie to the left, Zoe to the right.

Quite a change has occured in the pecking order here. While Trixie was gone to meet her boyfriend, Zoe has become more and more pregnant, and thereby she has risen in the hierarchy. So when Trixie came home - her body and thereby her rank not yet showing pregnancy - Zoe is all over her. Beating her about. Hissing whenever she comes close. Zoe is all aglow in her thickening waistline and misses no chance to tell Trixie who's the head honcho now.

Isn't she going to be surprised in a few weeks as Trixies star begins to rise? :)

In the meanwhile, poor baby Trixie. I hope the stress she's under will not have any adverse effect on her (possible) pregnancy...

Fact : Pinking Up

So, you have bred your girl and now you're pacing the floor waiting to find out if she is pregnant or not. The first sign that you will be getting kittens is when the girls nipples go through the "pinking up"-stage.

Counting the first day of mating as day 1, pinking up occurs around day 21, sometimes a few days later. If the pinking up takes 22 or 23 days to occur it can be a sign that the mating on the first day did not "take" and you should probably adjust your expected delivery date forward a day or two as well.

What happens is this: 3 weeks after mating your queens hormone-levels have gotten high enough to start affecting her mammary glands. The first sign is that the nipples themselves start changing color from skin-colored to a rosy pink, thus the term "pinking up".

In the next few days the nipples themselves will also start growing in size. On a maiden queen the nipples are hardly larger than the nipples on a male. Once a girl has had at least one litter of kittens, her nipples will remain larger (though not quite as big as when she actually is pregnant and nursing) and will also never return to the exact shade of her skin that they were before her first litter.

Because of this the process of pinking up is much easier to see on a maiden queen. When you know what to look for you will also see it quite easily on an experienced queen, but without a trained eye it may take a few days extra for you to notice.

By the fourth week you will feel her nipples clearly when you rub her belly.

Trixie - Day 5

This is Trixie. Trixie is Zoe's sister and a very, VERY determined young lady. This is a cat's cat, who knows what she wants and what she doesn't want, and is not afraid to tell you so.

Trixie is currently still at the stud's house and only recently stopped breeding. Normally you allow pedigreed cats to breed for approximately 3 days before putting a stop to it. This is to prevent the kittens to be to far apart in age - a kittern concived on day 1 of breeding and one concived on day 7 - if that was allowed - will obviously still be born the same day.

The duration of a cats' pregnancy, in Trixies case day 5, is calculated from the first day of mating.

Trixie is also shaved down, though a bit further back than Zoe so she has a short but very plush coat now. Still this should enable us to see her change as her pregnancy progresses. The picture above is about one month old. I will take a new one to post when she comes home, which should be tomorrow.

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.