And how are Lily's babies doing? I couldn't be more proud! Everyone is thriving, and Lily has turned out to be an exceptional little mommy! These babies moved into the "big kitty" nursery yesterday and have settled in nicely. They're getting around well and exploring like crazy! We're eating a very soupy milk and chicken baby food mix right now and will start eating from a saucer within the next few days... by next Friday, they'll be introduced to the litter box - amazing how they grow, isn't it!
We have decided to give Lily another try, but we won't be breeding her after this until the fall. Normally, I breed my girls twice a year, and I like to breed their litters close together and then give them the rest of the year off. But even though the vet said it was safe to go ahead and breed Lily, I just feel better waiting!
It would break my heart if something happened to my girl! That's something everyone who decides to breed their kitty should think about... you are ALWAYS putting your cat at risk and could lose them with any litter! When you breed your girl, you must take your responsibility to her VERY seriously, as well as the lives of her kittens. We like to think that kitties handle birthing like real pros, and most of the time they do - but not only did I have a c-section this spring, so did 2 other very close friends out of the handful of breeders that I know personally... that's a high average! All were emergency c-sections, and all of us could have lost our girls! Just something to remember.
Oops, lunch time for the babies! :-)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Poppy, due May 4
Our Poppy Love is doing VERY well and progressing nicely with her pregnancy. We are expecting beautifully marked kittens from her in the same color varieties as Jasmine had...
Boys - black, blue, red, cream, brown classic tabby, blue classic tabby
Girls - tortoiseshell, blue cream, red, cream, brown patched tabby, blue patched tabby
The tabby gene won't be as strong with Poppy as they were with Jazzy because Jazzy is a lynx point and doubled up on the tabby genes with Hooch. Poppy has a very strong chocolate line, which will be unlikely that we ever benefit from with Hooch, but when we get a cream point stud male, I will look for one who is a chocolate/lilac carrier.
Poppy has some lovely qualities we'd like to see her pass on to her children - she has a checkerboard chin and a beautiful blaze up her forehead, and her colors are very vivid! She should produce NICE reds and torties!
She moved into the newborn nursery yesterday and has already started nesting today... only 8 days now! I can't wait!
Boys - black, blue, red, cream, brown classic tabby, blue classic tabby
Girls - tortoiseshell, blue cream, red, cream, brown patched tabby, blue patched tabby
The tabby gene won't be as strong with Poppy as they were with Jazzy because Jazzy is a lynx point and doubled up on the tabby genes with Hooch. Poppy has a very strong chocolate line, which will be unlikely that we ever benefit from with Hooch, but when we get a cream point stud male, I will look for one who is a chocolate/lilac carrier.
Poppy has some lovely qualities we'd like to see her pass on to her children - she has a checkerboard chin and a beautiful blaze up her forehead, and her colors are very vivid! She should produce NICE reds and torties!
She moved into the newborn nursery yesterday and has already started nesting today... only 8 days now! I can't wait!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
We're 2 weeks old today!
We got a rocky start with Lily's babies and the c-section, but are are growing and thriving and just as sweet and precious as can be! They are all doing SO very well!
I'm still feeding because they just don't gain as much weight when I wait longer between feedings... so I'm going to stick to every 3 hours until they turn 3 weeks old, and by then, they will be able to lap the milk from a saucer. They will DIG that, and so will their mama! LOL She has become a milk addict since I've been giving it to her to supplement her milk making.
Here are our weights...
Milo - up to 9 ounces from a birth weight of 3 3/8 oz
Thunder - up to 10 1/4 ounces from a birth weight of 3 1/4 oz
Stormy - up to 9 ounces (HUGE SMILE) from a weight of 3 7/8 when I brought him home from the vet's office
They are really getting around and starting to roll and play with me and Lily. They are the cuddliest kittens I've had so far - probably because of all the handling and feeding. I read somewhere the other day that handling a kitten for 40 minutes a day makes it smarter - these oughta be SMART SMART smart kittens, that's for sure! We can do 40 minutes standing on our heads! hahaha
And thanks to ALL of you for all the thoughts and prayers and wonderful emails that kept me going through Lily's ordeal and also helped our babies heal, I'm sure! You are all very much appreciated!
I'm still feeding because they just don't gain as much weight when I wait longer between feedings... so I'm going to stick to every 3 hours until they turn 3 weeks old, and by then, they will be able to lap the milk from a saucer. They will DIG that, and so will their mama! LOL She has become a milk addict since I've been giving it to her to supplement her milk making.
Here are our weights...
Milo - up to 9 ounces from a birth weight of 3 3/8 oz
Thunder - up to 10 1/4 ounces from a birth weight of 3 1/4 oz
Stormy - up to 9 ounces (HUGE SMILE) from a weight of 3 7/8 when I brought him home from the vet's office
They are really getting around and starting to roll and play with me and Lily. They are the cuddliest kittens I've had so far - probably because of all the handling and feeding. I read somewhere the other day that handling a kitten for 40 minutes a day makes it smarter - these oughta be SMART SMART smart kittens, that's for sure! We can do 40 minutes standing on our heads! hahaha
And thanks to ALL of you for all the thoughts and prayers and wonderful emails that kept me going through Lily's ordeal and also helped our babies heal, I'm sure! You are all very much appreciated!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Meet Stormy and Windy...
They were joined at the vet's office by their earlier arrivals, Thunder and Flash. All four kittens are spending the weekend at the vet's office with their mommy, and everyone is doing well! The vet says she is nursing and caring for her kittens, so she started producing milk after all the kittens were delivered.
We have 1 solid black male, 1 classic red tabby that might be a boy OR a girl (probably boy), 1 blue cream girl and 1 solid blue boy. We will be waiting for the kittens to come home to be with us before taking reservations for them, but I will be in contact with those of you on our waiting list. We "might" be keeping Windy, the blue cream girl... I'm waiting to get a closer look at her sweet little face.
Thanks for all your kind thoughts and emails, and we certainly appreciate the prayers for our babies!
We have 1 solid black male, 1 classic red tabby that might be a boy OR a girl (probably boy), 1 blue cream girl and 1 solid blue boy. We will be waiting for the kittens to come home to be with us before taking reservations for them, but I will be in contact with those of you on our waiting list. We "might" be keeping Windy, the blue cream girl... I'm waiting to get a closer look at her sweet little face.
Thanks for all your kind thoughts and emails, and we certainly appreciate the prayers for our babies!
Update on Lily...
Update on Ms. Lily FooFoo... She is at the vet's right now having a C-section. The vet says there are quite a few kittens in there (how they are, we don't know yet), and he thinks one is just blocking the way. 2 shots of oxytocin didn't produce a kitten, and he said that was too much of that as it is. So we may or may not bring more kittens home. If the remaining kittens don't survive, Lily will also be spayed, and she will come home tonight. If the kittens do survive, we will take Thunder and Flash to join their family for the weekend - oh you know how it will kill me having them out of my sight!
Thanks for all prayers! Lily is being a wonderful girl, and the vet thinks she will be just fine... I'll post an update here in about an hour.
(((((HUGS)))))
Dar
Thanks for all prayers! Lily is being a wonderful girl, and the vet thinks she will be just fine... I'll post an update here in about an hour.
(((((HUGS)))))
Dar
Friday, April 4, 2008
We are most definitely in labor...
Lily's water has broken, and she's panting. She's behaving just like her mommy does in labor, so I should know just what to expect as we go along. I'll let you know the moment the first kitten is born!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Today's our due date...
We've got serious nesting and clinginess going on, but no signs of immediate labor... I expect her to go tonight or tomorrow sometime and will definitely keep y'all posted! All is well and appears to be on schedule! :-)
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