Elsa's Kittens Are One Day Old

Late last night when I checked on the babies, a few of them either weren't nursing or couldn't find a nipple.  I picked them up and they were limp.  I thought they were dead, but there was still a little life in there.  I opened a can of kitten formula, filled five 3ml medicine syringes (a little over 1/2 teaspoon), and gave a couple mils or more to the ones laying on the outskirts.  They wouldn't take the nipple, but did suck and swallow the formula.  I kept giving a little here and there till the syringes were empty.  All of the four or five I fed crawled to mom and found an empty spot to nurse, which surprised me, but I was very relieved and hopeful.  

I set my phone alarm for 4am to check on them, but I evidently slept through it and woke up at 9am.  I didn't know what to expect, but all eight were squirming around.  It looked a lot like when you first open a container of worms and they all get excited.  I was just as excited.  All eight of them were in a pile. I watched them crawl all over each other for several minutes.  The pile stayed the same width and in the same place, but all eight kittens were in constant motion - over, under, and around the next guy.  It finally dawned on me that they were exercising!  They were using their muscles and learning how to crawl.  Their eyes won't open till about day 10, and they can't hear for a while, but they sure knew how to work out.  Then, they all decided at one time to eat breakfast.  That's when I went downstairs and got the camera.

 This is a while later after they ate.  Everybody had a nice round belly and was ready for a nap.  This is when I got a carrier, put Elsa in it and gave her a much-needed shower.  I put a heater in the bathroom and ran my hair dryer, too.

 She didn't like it much, but she sure looked a lot better afterwards.  Before I let her out of her carrier, I changed the towel - Elsa was spotting a little - and tried to get some of the blood stain off the new box.  For all you CSI fans, blood does not come out of cardboard.

Being the anal type, I was going nuts not being able to identify eight orange kittens.  I couldn't record their weights, know who was eating when, and who was more active.  I need to know who is who.  I got my collection of Velcro out and made little collars.  As soon as I was done and took the picture, I decided the kittens were too little and took them all off.  I'm trying to chill.  Nobody is limp.  Nobody is skinny.  Everybody is active and eating.  But, didn't they look cute!


Three kittens are lighter, called buff, and two of the buff ones have a wavy coat.  So, I can identify ONE.  I can't tell you how much this bothers me.

This is one of the wavy-coated buffs. I'm going to try to document this same kitten throughout the nine weeks before they get neutered and vaccinated and available for adoption.  Mom's already been tested and is negative for feline leukemia and aids, so babies most likely are too.

I checked six of the eight and they are all boys.  The other two were eating.

He still has a little of the camel look.

Elsa Has Her Kittens

Kitten #1

Just when I thought Elsa would be pregnant forever, her water broke about 10 minutes after I got home from my mom's house this afternoon.  She was waiting for me in her birthing box, something she's never done without me coaxing her in it.  After that, things progressed at a rapid pace.  I got home about 4:30, and the first kitten was born at 4:51pm.  There's usually somewhere between 15 and 40 minutes between births, with longer periods for the later ones.  However, once Elsa got started, she was popping those babies out one after the other.  The first five were all born in less than an hour!  No. 6 took 28 minutes, #7 took 48 minutes, and #8 was an excruciating 1.5 hours later at 8:22.  He was a little smaller than the others, but only by .25 of an ounce.

Eight kittens in 3.5 hours has to be a record.  I don't know if it makes any difference, but I talk softly and slowly to my pregnant cats almost during the whole birthing process.  I tell them they're doing so well, just a couple more pushes, you can do this, let's go, etc.  I hold their hand or hold their back leg up to give them more room.  And they push a couple times, and out comes a kitten.


On an earlier post, I said I'd found a use for a wooden back scratcher with a curved hand on the end.  I used it to lift Elsa's tail to check for signs of impending birth for the last two weeks.  She didn't like my hand touching her below her neck, but the scratcher was fine.  I found another use for it tonight.  I held her leg up for her during each birth.

Having so many solid blacks cats that don't get adopted, I was so hoping that daddy wasn't black.  Once again, be careful what you wish for.  All eight kittens are orange.  Some a little darker, some a little lighter, but all are definitely orange tabbies.  They came so quickly, that I didn't take time to check for boys or girls, but most orange cats are boys.  I'll check tomorrow.

There are eight kittens, and mom has eight nipples.  No problem you say.  Well, one pair are located under her front legs, and one pair are under her back legs.  Two pair are out in the open.  Except when she's laying on her side to nurse, unless she's almost laying on her back, the bottom ones are hidden.  So there's usually only two nipples obviously exposed.  That does create a problem with eight hungry mouths.  After the first 24 hours when mom quits producing colostrum, a part of her milk that's very good for the kittens, I can supplement several times a day with a bottle for a few.

Even though things went perfectly, I was still as exhausted as Elsa.  I had to take a couple Advil for my back from bending over her box for five hours.  There seemed to be more bleeding with Elsa.  She was quite a mess, and I may take her in the shower tomorrow.  Or it could be that because this is my first light-colored mom, the bodily fluids were more obvious than on a gray, brown or black cat.

Even after four years of birthing kittens, I still sort of gasp when some come out looking like camels.  Their necks are long and their heads are small, but their noses are huge.  In less than five minutes, they seem to change into something that resembles a little kitten and I know they're not deformed.

This is Elsa with her first three kittens.  After each birth, I'd let her clean it well, and then the next one was coming.  I had a plastic tub ready with a heating pad covered with a towel.  I'd put each kitten in it before the next one came.  Mom moved around and changed positions a lot, and the babies tend to get trampled if left in the birthing box.  After the first five, when things slowed down, I always let her keep the last one until the next one came.  She'd hear them crying sometimes, but never seemed worried about where they were.

I didn't put this one there.  He climbed up all by himself.

I think this is all eight kittens before I had to get a clean box.  It was really icky.

 This is Elsa and all eight kittens in her clean box and almost clean towel.  The lightest one by Elsa's foot is the last one born that I was worried about.  He's going to be my favorite.  I tried to clean Elsa's back end up with a warm washcloth, but unless she spends all night cleaning herself, she'll be getting a shower tomorrow.

I'm a wreck, but everyone else is doing well.

March O'Morty

Jeanne did not disappoint us at guild last week.  Things have been a little hectic around here and I haven't done Morty's post.

O'Morty, the leprechaun, was complete with a green hat, green bow tie, white shirt, a sweater vest and plaid pants.  He even had a beard and hair! 

On the chair is a wee pot o' gold.  We each got a chocolate coin and they were delicious.  Thanks, Jeanne.

None of us knows how Jeanne comes up with all these creative ideas every month.  She really should be a professional event planner.  She's in charge of planning a quilt retreat for another group she's in.  I can tell them from personal experience that they are in for a treat.  The time and energy she devotes to whatever she does is amazing.

He also had his black shoes from last month, but they just wouldn't stay on his fat little club feet.

What will April Morty be?  April Fool's, Easter bunny, tax man?  I found a website,  http://www.holidayinsights.com with hundreds of "National Day of....." listings for things you never thought there could be a day for.  Did you know that April 1st is International Tatting Day?  I didn't think so.  Or that April 2nd is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.  I didn't think so, either.  And the list goes on.

No Kittens From Elsa Yet

Today is Saturday.  I've had Elsa, my pregnant cat, for 16 days, now.  Sixteen days longer than I thought she'd be pregnant when I got her.  I check her back end 8 to 10 times a day with a flashlight for a sign the birth canal is getting bigger.  So far, no change at all.  She will let me touch her belly if I go slowly, but she doesn't like for me to touch her butt, and will rabbit kick my arm and hand with her back feet.  She's even teethed me quite often when I've gotten too close.  I can't blame her.  She feels like a beached whale, was taken from her home, even though it wasn't a good home, and given to a strange lady in a strange house with clean floors, clean beds, clean water, no-grain cat dry food and good canned food every day.  I do have to say that Elsa is adapting quite well.
 

I've put a chair next to the bed so she can jump on it and then onto the bed.  She likes to lay next to me and have her head rubbed.

I check her every few hours and have figured out that if I use a wooden back scratcher with a little curved hand at the end to lift her leg up when she's laying down, that she lets me check her with no kicking or biting.  Go figure.  Now, THAT would be a picture.  John can take one tomorrow.

With her belly shaved, I can now see the kittens moving.  On her back seems to be the most comfortable way for her to lay.




My niece, Brooke, spent Wed to Sat here waiting on kittens with me.  She went home today very disappointed.

 Elsa looks so uncomfortable.  She's waddling instead of walking.  When she goes from the bedroom carpet to the closet vinyl, her feet splay out and she has a hard time getting her footing to walk.

She also has this habit of walking between my legs and following each of my feet when I take each step.  So she's weaving left, right, left, right.  If I don't walk very slowly and carefully, I'll step on her or trip over her with every step I take.

On the left is Elsa a couple days ago.  On the right is her today.  I don't know how she can get any bigger.  The skin over her belly is very tight.

My 911 Call

Last Thursday morning I was driving my mom to Chester, IL, for a second look at the assisted living facility she'll be moving into in May.  It's just under a 2-hour drive.  About half-way there, the car in front of me was weaving from one side of the road to the other.  Then he'd be okay for a few miles.  Then he'd cross the center line and jerk back to our lane.  It's a two-lane road, so crossing the line can be a head-on collision.  I watched him repeat this for about 15 minutes and decided I needed to do something about it.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the 20 hours of cop shows we watch every week.

I called 911 from my cell phone and told the operator what was going on.  She connected me with the Monroe County sheriff's office.  I repeated my observation and gave them his license plate number. I had pulled up close enough to get it, then backed off about a fourth of a mile.  She asked my location. We were just coming into Red Bud.  At the stop sign in town, I told her that he turned right and was going south on Rt. 3, the same way I was going, and that it was a white PT cruiser with no side windows - like a panel van.  She asked my name and phone number, which I gave her, and asked if I could stay on the line, and I said yes.  No further conversation for about 10 minutes.  Then, I saw a police car in my rear-view mirror.  When he got behind me, he turned on his lights.  I pulled over, he went around me and up behind the weaver, who pulled over, too.   The cop got him.  I was so relieved and very curious about why he was all over the road.  It WAS a guy, and he did look kind of weird. 

In my fantasy, he was drunk as a skunk and I saved a family from being hit head on and killed.  Or he was a drug runner from Mexico with 200 pounds of cocaine lining his car doors.  And no, I don't think I watch too much TV.  I'd like to call the sheriff's office tomorrow and find out what really happened.  He was probably falling asleep, which would be a logical explanation for the erratic behavior.  But, I like my fantasy better.

Later, I wondered if by me staying on the phone with the dispatcher, the police were tracking ME through my cell phone to get the idiot's location.  They never asked where I was exactly after the first time.  I don't know how technically advanced the county police are in southern Illinois, but I'm very thankful they responded and pulled him over.  I hope they did more than just give him a ticket, too.  Four hours later when we were going back home, there was no white car where he was pulled over. 

Elsa, my pregnant cat, is still pregnant with eight kittens.  When I got her a week and a half ago, I didn't think there was a chance in the world that she'd still be pregnant by the third Tuesday of the month for my quilt guild meeting.  Well, my meeting is in two days.  I think she'll be another week and I'll make the meeting.  However, I missed two meeting in three months last summer because of cats going into labor.   How do they know???

Be Careful What You Wish For

You know that old saying - Be careful what you wish for?  It was said to me yesterday by another foster mom, Jen, who called me Miss I-Need-a-Kitten-Fix.  Yes, I Am.  It's no secret I've been waiting for kitten season since last fall.  I was so thrilled to get Elsa last week and thought she was very close to giving birth.  Five days later, no kittens.  Not even any of the usual signs since she faked me out the day she came.  I'm not feeling kittens move, her nipples aren't pink and filled, she won't go in the birthing box, and other signs I won't go into.



Elsa has a hairy back end, called pants, that she can't reach to clean because of the kittens, but she won't let me clean her, either.  I took her to the vet yesterday so they could shave her pants, and they did her tummy, too, and trimmed her back nails.  They also took an x-ray so I'd know how many kittens to expect.  The vet called me into the exam room and had the x-ray on the screen.  I figured there were six, but wasn't expecting Marcy to tell me Elsa was carrying EIGHT kittens! She's not as close to delivery as I thought because there's eight instead of six and she's just bigger.  She's got a couple weeks to go and should be HUGE by then. In the four years I've been with Heartland, I don't remember a cat having eight kittens.

She's not much older than a kitten, herself.  Marcy said less than two years, so I put down 1.5 years old on her form.

I feel better about being gone all day today,  and having meetings Saturday and Tuesday.  Tuesday is my monthly quilt guild meeting that I had to miss twice last summer for kitten deliveries.  I just knew Elsa would wait till Tuesday, but now it looks like I'll get to go to my meeting.

Elsa is so sweet and beautiful.  I named her after my wonderful grandmother, who everybody in town knew as Elsie.  It wasn't until I started doing genealogy 15 years ago that I found out her name was really Elsa in English, but she was baptized as Ilsa, the German form of the name.  Like Ingrid Bergman's character in Casablanca.

Introducing Elsa

I got my first pregnant cat of kitten season on Thursday afternoon.  Elsa was rescued from a hoarder in Bowling Green, Mo, by a group called C.A.P.A. in Bowling Green.  It stands for Community Animal Protection Assn.  A very nice lady named Gail drove her all the way to my house.  They thought she was going to pop any day, and I think they're right.  Gail arrived about 2:30 pm, and by 5:30, I thought kittens were on the way.

This is two hours after she got to my house.  Oh, boy, kittens tonight!!!  Elsa was laying in her birthing box, on her side, panting and kneading my hand.  After 10 minutes of that, she got up, walked out of the box, explored the room, and ate a whole small can of cat food and drank lots of water.  Then went to the litter box and peed and pooped.  My question of if she was litter box trained was answered.  Then, she layed on the floor and showed no signs of impending kittens.

Later that night, I let her out into the bedroom.  She jumped up on the bed with me, and I trimmed her front nails.  She is so sweet and loving and rubs all over me.  I can barely walk in the room without tripping over her.  I didn't know what to expect, except I knew she wasn't black, but was white and orange and long-haired.  Well, she turned out to be medium-haired, and cream with orange ears and buff tail and legs.  I hope her kittens are half as beautiful as she is. And I hope Dad wasn't black.  I still have four black cats I can't find homes for.


 This was 10  minutes after she faked me out. 

 Elsa was exploring the bedroom.  Even without the longer hair, she's still carrying a load.  Without an x-ray, I'm going to say she's carrying six kittens.  I don't know how old she is, but CAPA had her tested , and she's negative for feline leukemia and aids.  Her eyes had some goobers in the corners, and her nose is a little stuffy, so she's on an antibiotic that's safe for pregnant cats.

No fleas or ear mites, but I gave her a dose of Revolution for worms, fleas, and a few other things.

I don't know the extent of the hoarding - how many animals there were, and I'm not sure I want to know.  She appears so be in very good health, considering her circumstances.

 Maybe the cooler floor felt better than the box.

 She doesn't eat standing up, but lets her rear end lay on the floor.  I can't blame her.  Why hold something up if you don't have to.

She ate three cans of food and almost a whole bowl of dry the first day.  Pregnant and nursing cats need three times their normal amount of food.  She's got lots of milk to produce soon.
So far, she's more comfortable on the floor than in the birthing box.

1:00 am Sat morning and no kittens.  If things still look okay by late Sat morning, I'll still take cats up the Petsmart, but if if looks like she's serious, I'll stay home.  When I first got into fostering, my mentor, Angie, took a lot of the pregnant cats, because she was home during the day.  She would tell me stories about needing Marcy, the vet, at 3am when a cat was in trouble and needed medical help to live, etc.  I thought there's no way I could ever do that.  Then, a pregnant cat needed a place to go and I was the only one with an empty bedroom.  Piece of cake!  The cat had two of them when I walked in one morning to feed and scoop and check on her.  I watched while the other three were born over the next four hours.  Up until this time, I had only had orphans that needed bottle feeding six times a day.  Well, this was great!  Mom feeds them, cleans them, and cleans up after them.  All I did was feed and scoop mom.  I was liking this.

Elsa will be my sixth or seventh pregnant cat, I think. Knock on wood, the most I've had to do to help was to gently pull one out that was back feet first, and wipe the sac away from the nose of #3 while Mom was still licking #2 off.  Now, I love the births.  I'm so excited, I'm going upstairs and check on Elsa.

More tomorrow

Triangle Quilt

Last month, I took over as the leader of the Bound Together Quilt Guild in O'Fallon.  A week from today is the meeting and I'm doing a program on half-square triangle blocks. I've been researching how many different ways they are to make them.  Lots more than you would think.  I've been cutting and sewing triangles for a week.  I have another whole week before the meeting so why not just cut and make some blocks for a real quilt! No problem.  It's only going to be a twin.

I've made samples of quite a few different methods, but found one that is suited to my needs of using up my stash with no specific pattern in mind.  I can cut strips that I can use for either squares or triangles.  For four days I pressed, cut, and stacked strips in 2.5", 3.5" and 4.5" sizes.  Most were cut the larger size, as I can always cut them smaller if I need to.  I pulled long and fat quarter yards, some half yards, and found little pieces as small as 5x8 inches that I have no idea why I put them back on the shelves.  I must have cut up over 100 yards, really, and am still cutting.  Sadly, I can't tell anything is missing from my stash.


I found a picture of a quilt online that was just perfect.  As I made 4" triangle blocks, I would need more purples or more blues and would press and cut more strips.  Since a whole-width strip was too long - I didn't need or want 16 blocks of the same two fabrics - I divided my stacks of strips into full and partial strips.

After I separated the full and partial strips, I decided I needed the lights separated from the darks in the 4.5" stacks for faster coordinating.  The front row is the full strips, the back row, the partial strips.  From the left, the stacks are 4.5" lights, 2.5". 3.5" and 4.5" darks (mostly).

 

 There are two different alternating blocks, a diagonal square and a star.  Each finishes 16".

 The first three blocks.  After I made more little blocks, I changed some of the triangles in the first two blocks for a better mix of colors and fabrics.  I love scrap quilts and love mixing all the fabrics and getting the sparkle.

Four blocks done.  After a week of cutting and making little triangle blocks, the real blocks are going together pretty quickly.

With this method, the strips are cut 1/2" wider than the finished size, just like cutting squares.  This is a very versatile method when you don't have a specific pattern in mind.  A light and a dark strip are placed RST.  A light steam PRESSING will bond the fibers together almost like they're fused.

Instead of using the triangle ruler to cut triangle after triangle, I found that if I cut rectangles a couple threads less than 5 1/4" long, I can cut two triangles from them and get better results.  I can get 8 4" finished blocks from two half-width strips.

I bought an Easy Angle triangular ruler that does great. I put sandpaper dots all along the edges and have a suction-cup knob that helps a lot in maneuvering the ruler just a tad.

With this method, one of the corners of every triangle is trimmed, and one isn't.  I like them trimmed, so I do another step.

I have to turn all the triangles over or else take the suction cup off and turn the ruler over to get the correct angle. I've turned the little trimmed point over so you can see it better.

 I also press all my seams open, so that's another step, but one well worth the trouble to me.  I like nice flat blocks.

 Three of the blocks I just pressed.  The blocks are cut and sewn to the correct size and, if not dead on, are within a thread of being perfect.  No squaring up.

Six blocks done, and I love it!

Jilly's Calming Collar

Last Saturday at Petsmart I was talking to another foster mom, Jen, about a couple problem cats I have.  One, Jilly, is taking up a whole bedroom.  She got along with her sister, Josie, and two kittens, Zack and Cody, who were put in with Josie and Jilly as kittens.  The sisters adopted and cared for Zach and Cody from the time they were about 10 weeks old.  Josie and the kittens have been adopted out, and Jilly is all by herself.  She cried by the door, and I've let her out a few times, but she was so hissy and picked fights, that I had to put her back after 10 minutes or less. 

Jen told me about calming collars and how much they helped a couple of her cats get along with other cats.  She even went and got a box of three for me in the store.  Sentry Calming Collar, three for about $32.  Labeled as good behavior pheromone technology, lavender chamomile fragrance.  I bought them and put one on crabby Eva when I got home.  She did seem more relaxed and not as crabby.  The next day, Sunday, I put one on crabby Jilly.  I had started her on the Prozac gel, rubbed in the ear, the day before, but it usually takes two or three weeks to see any effect.  A few hours later I opened Jilly's door.  She slowly came out, walked around, saw other cats and layed on a kitchen chair.  This was eerie.  I went downstairs to check and answer email, and she came down, too, and explored.  She was out, THE FIRST DAY, for six hours!  There were a couple tiffs and hisses, and a couple spats, but nothing serious.  I let them sort it out. 

The next day, she was out for 10 hours.  She's been out every day since, and the hissing is getting less each day.  At bedtime, I tell her it's time to go back in her room, and I head upstairs.  She follows me and goes right in.  I give her half a can of food and tell her what a good girl she is.  I didn't think I'd ever be able to let Jilly out in the house, but in one week, she's almost like one of the gang.  To see her free to roam two levels of the house is almost beyond belief when I had her in a bedroom for a year.

 This is Jilly tonight while we're watching TV. She's like a different cat.  I know she looks just this side of comatose here, but she's just relaxing and got up to lay on me a few minutes later.  Last night, when Buster was on me in the recliner, she jumped on John and layed on him for a while.  He couldn't believe it and said, "Look at this!"  About 10 minutes later, with Buster still on my lap, Jilly got off John and jumped up on my recliner and slowly layed across my lower legs, 3" from touching Buster.  I said, "No, look at THIS!"  After about five minutes, Buster didn't think this was good idea, and very slowly got up to leave.  That's when Jilly got up, all hissy and spitty, and chased him up the stairs - using my legs as a launching pad.  Ouch.   All is not perfect, but we're a good 80% there.

Before the collar, I would take my Kindle in her room every night, sit in a recliner, and try to get her to come up on my lap.  She wouldn't.  I'd pick her up and gently put her on my lap.  She'd never stay longer than two minutes.  Now, she's on my lap for an hour - in the family room - with other cats.

I'm just blown away by this whole thing.  I understand from a little online research that the collars work on most cats, but not on all cats.  Those not affected by catnip are the ones not affected by the collars.  Thankfully, pheromones affect Jilly.

Saturday Photo Hunt Word - LOUD

Today's Photo Hunt word is Loud.  Since cats aren't too loud unless they're running through a room or having issues with each other, and I have no picture of that, I had to look to another source.  My quilts were the most likely, and I found one that fits the category.  This is the second twin quilt in these fabrics that I've made.  I sold the first one, but this one is going on the bed in the panthers' former room, and currently Jilly's room - if it's ever catless.

Although it's not quilted here, it IS quilted now.  However, I quilted it before I got a new mattress for that room.  It's an extra long twin - 5" longer than standard.  I want to make this quilt longer, now, and have a small striped fabric in these colors with a black background.  I'll put a thin border on the sides, and wider ones on the ends.  I'll do the sew-and-flip method to add the borders and quilt it on my Bernina.