Tiny Babies and Huge Obstacles

It has been the hardest first week of my life with these wee babies. Two days in and they had all rapidly lost weight and Mum had very little milk. I was devestated. After having my four previous litters challenge me in every way, I was ready for an easy one but its not meant to be.

These babies are all being sup fed, taking 5ml each on top of Mums milk every time they feed. I don't get to bed until 11.30ish and get up twice a night. I'm tired but can see the results in that after a week we are almost back to our birth weights.

And to just put the cream on the cake, our choc silver has turned out to be a lilac! Fingers are crossed that everything works out. Its still early days. They have all hit their first milestone and thats to be alive after the first week.

POP goes the Devon

First though, a confession. I had no idea when Titch was due....cause I didn't write down what date she got mated. This is quite unusual for me because I am quite anal about that but she got mated twice. 2times....two....and everyone knows that queens need to be mated at least four times to produce enough hormone to encourage them to release their eggs. ( at least thats what I read somewhere LOL). AND Titch didn't pink up, there were no pink nipples. So I quite wisely deleted the information and forgot about it until she was roughly six weeks along and was quite fat!

That being said though, she remained a bit of an enigma and dug her bed and pretended to have contractions some two weeks before she gave birth.

Last night she was sitting beside me when she gave an almighty push. She gave no other signs that labour was imminent. I organised her crate and sat quietly beside her as she continued to move forward into full, active labour. The first baby was born, a lovely torbie bicoloured baby. Mum seemed more concerned with her own welfare rather than her babies so I quickly took over and revived the little one. Her brother arrived some ten minutes later. He was coldish blue colour with a silver sheen which had me stumped until he dried and became a chocolate silver tabby.

Around an hour later, number three arrived with her Angel Wings intact. She never took a breath, no matter how vigorously I tried to revive her. For anyone who takes breeding lightly and is in it for the money or for the joy of their children experiencing birth? Hold a dead kitten in your hand and marvel at its perfect but stillborn features. Yes, I shed a tear or two because this little one never had a chance.

An hour later number four popped out and is either a cream or white male. At this stage Mum settled down but still had some very strong contractions. By 2am I was quite concerned and bundled the new family up and flew to the vet. It cost me $165 to walk in the door and a little over $110 for the vet to tell me she had a tummy full of food! Cow....(gr)

Home by 3.30, in bed by 4am and now absolutely cactus.

SO...here are our stats.

Torbie girl- 70gr

Choc Silver boy- 90 gr

Dcd girl- 90 gr

Cream boy- 90 gr

A big litter alround!

Mum and her babies, settled in on the heat pad

The wee munchkins after their first bed change.

Now,if you will excuse me,my bed is calling!

I am Nav-Woman!

My husband and I run an antique store and we often have to either deliver stock or pick stock up. For years now, I have been the navigator, the one who directs us to our destination. I rarely get lost unless we have to go to one of the newer areas where the streets are tiny and crammed in and getting lost is easy for everyone!

THEN, on the weekend my husband came home with a NavMan. I am both angry and somewhat hurt. He says its for when he has to go out on his own. He has the sense of direction of a blind dog. He could get lost in a paperbag that has been left OPEN!

I am still miffed....very, very miffed. Why? Because the first time he decided to use it was when I WAS SITTING NEXT TO HIM! So he lied.

Anyway, he plugs it in and off we go. We get half way to our destination and the damn thing goes flat. I looked at him, he looked at me and then he dove for the refidex while still driving. I mildly said that I would gladly navigate if he wanted me to. And I got us to our destination in no time.

Fast forward to Day 2. Second journey....He tells the client on the phone that yes he can find their house because (dun dun DAHHHHH) he has a Navman. On the way there we stopped in to get a holder for the damn thing. I told him calmly that I would figure out how to attach it while he drove. When the salesman handed us the packet, Husband told him that the "little wife" would put it on. AND he wondered why I glared at him.

So, off we go again. All is going well until the Navman told him to take the left exit in 1.5km. He looked at me while I placidly looked at him. "Turn left in 50m". He glanced at me again, "What, this exit?" I just stared at him as the exit whipped past with the Navman telling him to turn left NOW!

"Was that it?" he says. "How should I bloody know, do I have Navman written on my head?"

4.6 km, one U-Turn and 4.6km back the other way and we were back on track with me looking a little smug and him looking downright peeved! Further down the road he was informed to turn left in 600m. He was in the right hand lane. Turn left in 150m, still in the right hand lane, turn left NOW....and we whipped past the next turn. This time I just gaped at him with complete disbelief.

Around we went again. At the next set of lights, I turned on him. "Listen up you great git, if you KNOW you are going to have to turn left, you get in your bloody left lane!" I poked a finger at the Navman."See that little arrow, look where its going every time you stop at the lights, it actually gives you a bloody warning that you are going to have to turn!"

We turned the corner, him very subdued, me quietly seething. Ten minutes later, less than 1 minute from our destination, in failing daylight, the bloody Navman turned off. "Did you charge it...." I asked through gritted teeth. "It was on all day", he whimpered. That left me scrabbling for the refidex, in the middle of a rabbit warren of tiny streets where I couldn't read the map in the light. And to make matters worse, husband kept on driving. In less than 30 seconds he had us completely lost, I had no idea where we were and I had to get us back. A few wrong turns and we finally reached our destination.

After unloading the stock, we went to leave...and he immediately went to drive down the wrong street. He got lost by just turning around.

As we finally headed home, I said to him, with a fully fledged snarl, "Get rid of the bloody Navman, you've got us lost twice with it, it won't stay bloody charged and for the love of God, if it does turn off...STOP BLOODY DRIVING!"

I think its a fair call to say that his bargain Navman is going to be retired...soon.

Catch Up

Where to start! I have so much thats happened that I haven't had a chance to blog about. Valentines day found me with my own sweet valentine. Below is the card Conor made for me. It made me go AWWWWWW! Yes, my delicious little man, I will be your valentine! Caitie and I had a girls night in where I cut her a fringe (looks awesome) and we did facials and makeovers. She had her piccie taken with Nightclub style makeup on. Yes, she is 12 but I am teaching her how to wear makeup responsibly and she likes to look girly now and then. I told her to pout LOL, she took me literally. She isn't a fan of heavy makeup and thinks the girls who wear heavy eyeliner to school look daft. Around a month ago our very much loved Devon X Mask slipped out the back door and took off. Tony and Caitie spent ages trying to find him with no luck. We looked for him everywhere and I called and called. We kept an eye on the local pounds all to no avail. Four weeks later I was calling my chickens in for some food when I heard a tiny little Miaow. I kept repeating the call until finally, around the corner of the neighbours shed, came Mask. He weighed nothing, he was all bones and ribs, no muscle. Very weak and sad but very glad to have come home. For a very big cat, there was nothing of him. He is home and we are happy. He has taken to sleeping wrapped around Caitie's head at night. Yes, my 12 year old still sucks her thumb *sigh* He has put on weight, has a long way to go but is feeling fine and frisky. You know, I am convinced all the weird stuff in life happens to us! Coming home from buying chinese takeaway with a friend, we were both startled to see a duckling run across the road. We put on the brakes and both dashed out to see if we could find him. This involved us introducing ourselves to the owners of the home whose yard he had run into. Picture THAT conversation... Hi...we're not crazy, you have a duckling under your house! So, I took said duckling home for the night ready to find him a home the next day. Imagine my suprise when we discovered this the next morning! One of the neighbours ducks, who had got away, heard the baby and figured she would wait outside and see if he would come out. She flew away soon after I took this pic. We found a home for the duckling by the way. I don't like ducks much, they eat and poop, thats it. Conor had a birthday at the beginning of the year and I just had to share this gorgeous photo with y'all. Check out those freckles! And finally, Titch hasn't popped yet. Here she is two days ago looking rather rotund. I don't think her nipples could get any pinker. Happy Autumn everyone. We had a bried spell of Indian Summer but Autumn has crept up on us with soft evenings, crisp mornings and cups of tea. I love this time of year.

7-8 Weeks

We're preparing for kitten countdown now. Titch has around 2 weeks to go and she is starting to really podge up. She is eating more than ever and has a very low tolerance for the other cats. Her nipples have completely changed shape and are no longer little bubbles. Now they are fat and elongated, like a christmas tree light shape, all the better for little tongues to squish against the roof of little mouths when feeding!

This week we will organise her nesting box. My cats usually use a cardboard box or one of my crates. Some of my queens prefer the complete blackness of the box and the soundproofing it provides. Others prefer the airiness of the crate with a blanket over the top. Either way we have heatpads for the babies when they arrive. My vet is usually on speed-dial and I also have oxytocin on hand. I only use it when a queen has stopped active labour for longer than a few hours.

I usually have a bag of saline from my vet and also have needles. I use the saline solution to hydrate struggling kittens and have also found it beneficial if I need to make up bottles. There is another product I like to keep on hand and its from a company called Rufus and Coco. Its a gut formula called Inner Balance and if I have to bottlefeed I always add a teeny bit to the bottle.

Are we ready, yeah I think we are...now we just have to get through the next three months!

How To Deal With Bullies.

There is a video that has gone viral which shows a young man taking a stand against a bully and fighting back. The young man has been labelled a hero and a poster child for bullied children everywhere. Much has been said about sensationalising bullying because this footage has been played over and over again. For me, as a parent, I believe the young man is a hero because, when all was said and done, he walked away. He stood there and took the bullying, snapped, gave as good as he got but then he walked away. He could have beaten his bully to within an inch of his life but he didn't.

I found myself on the other side of the coin on Friday when my husband rang me at our shop to inform me that Conor wanted to tell me something. Slightly bemused, I tried to speak to a little boy who could only say "whennoehrjhokdlkfee....uh uh uh". "I don't understand you", I replied. This was followed by another senence of gobbledygook followed by the word "bully". "You've been bullied at school?" I said into the phone....and this little voice, full of tears whispered, "No, I bullied Jack and made him cry and I bullied A- as well...." He subsided into wails of despair. I counted to three, pulled much air into my lungs and roared,"You did WHAT!"

I don't tolerate bullying. I was a bullied child and I... DO... NOT... TOLERATE... IT... IN... MY... HOME! All of my kids know this.

When I got home, Conor showed me a letter his teacher made him write to apologise to me for being a bully. I decided then and there that it simply wasn't enough. It was time to show my school how bullies should be dealt with. I got down on his level, looked him in the eye and told him exactly how I felt about him, about bullying and I finished with "I love you very much but right now, I don't want to be your friend."

Monday morning rolled around and he was marched up to the school, he was made to stand in front of his class and apologise to Jack, to his other victim even though she wasn't there, to his class and to apologise for not being safe, being responsible or being respectful. I spoke to the students and asked them if they could help Conor to not be a bully to the other students because it is not allowed in my home. And I asked Jack if he accepted Conors apology.

Of course, it would have made more impact if His Nibs didn't have a big shit-eating grin on his face at the time BUT I made my point to him. And besides, I made him cry first....(gr)

And this is how I feel parents should deal with bullying. DON'T accept it as a normal part of growing up, don't expect it to make your child stronger, don't think it fantastic that you have the toughtest kid in the school. And most importantly, don't be afraid to haul your little rotter up in front of the school and make him apologise. Bullying can scar kids for life, it affects how they interact with others and it can affect their ability to make longterm relationships in the future. Stand up for your child if he is being bullied but also stand beside him if he is a bully and make him stop! Its what all good parents do...I know because I did!

Pregnancy 101

I have decided to write a blog on the pregnancy and birth of a litter of my kittens. I'll be featuring week to week updates including birth weights etc. Now, I am a big softy and am liable to cry if I lose any, just thought you should all be aware.

Ok, so Mum-to-be is DGCH Leetamy Shine On, Titch. This will be her second litter. Her first litter she decided to have in a kitchen drawer with a one inch gap at the back. How she got in, I have no idea. We lost three of the six kittens due to being smothered. She has taken a very long time to come back reliably into call.

Dad-to-be is the Chunky Hunky Monkey, Kracken Perfect Storm. Bred by my husband from my lines, this is THE mating I have been waiting for, the litter I have prepared for and bred for. Which means everything that can go wrong, probably will...

Titch is between six to seven weeks pregnant. And below is her first tummy pick. Usually females will pink up, which means their nipples going a bright fluoro pink, at three weeks. Titch decided to pretend to NOT be pregnant and took until six weeks to show off her large pink nipples. The hair has receded around the base of the nipples in preperation for the milk pads becoming swollen with milk.

She is not very big, my guess at this stage is for three kittens. Devon babies range from around 50g to 80g for smaller litters.

I will post more pictures as her belly begins to swell. At the moment I haven't felt any movement but that is quite normal with my queens.