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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / June 2004We Gotz Baybeez!!!
I'm hoping that 5 new kittens is the final count. All healthy, active, noisy and feeding well. For some reason, my wife, Heidi, couldn't sleep last night and was up at 3am. I was watching the 24 Hours of LeMans coverage and was still up anyways. I had a feeling today was going to be the day the kittens arrived. At chow call last night Sammy went to the feeding spot and laid down while I got the food ready. She never sat up to eat, electing instead to allow me to push the plate under her nose. She took a few bites while laying down and lost interest. At 3:55 this morning, she followed me into the kitchen, sat down, looked up at me and let go a strange meow - kind of a meeeyap! Then she immediately started panting. I called my wife in. Sammy repeated her vocalizations a few times more. I picked her up and took her to the birthing box in the bedroom. She laid down and went into hard contractions right away. At 4:10am the first kitten arrived, a carbon copy of mom. Twenty minutes later the second one came, pure black with just a small white spot at the base of each ear. The last kitten arrived at 7am. There are 4 of them in varying intensities of orange tiger like mom and the one black one. Sammy did real well cleaning them up but was quite tired after number 3. I had to extract the placentas and cut the cords for the last 2 as Sammy was quite weak by then. Delivering number 5 took a bit of help, holding Sammy upright on her haunches so she could get better leverage and a bit of gravity assist. My wife said that every time I left the room Sammy became noticeably anxious, raising up trying to see over the top of the box. Whenever I called out to her, Heidi says she relaxed and started making goo-goo eyes and kneading motions with her front paws. Five kittens, all healthy, mom tired but doing well and nobody in the house got any sleep. Life is good... Our 4 year old neutered female, Cassie, came in to inspect the event and seemed quite pleased. Sammy didn't seem at all distressed and in fact acted quite content to see her buddy there. I'll wait till later to try and determine sexes and try to get some pictures too. > I'm hoping that 5 new kittens is the final count. Ooops... Just when Sammy looked settled in and finished, she started with new contractions. Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. Congrats! Holy crap... that's a LOT of kittens though! Hope your new additions are doing well and keep us updated!  Signaturerach > > I'm hoping that 5 new kittens is the final count. > > Ooops... Just when Sammy looked settled in and finished, she started with > new contractions. Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. "RobZip" <robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com> wrote >Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. Ha! What color? circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:17:53 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, > > I'm hoping that 5 new kittens is the final count. > > Ooops... Just when Sammy looked settled in and finished, she started with > new contractions. Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. Wow! That's a big litter unless she's Siamese. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:17:53 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > > Wow! That's a big litter unless she's Siamese. Plain ole mixed breed and small at that. Her pre-pregnancy weight was only about 7 1/2 pounds. I was able to detect 3 for sure and possibly a 4th one during her pregnancy but 6 was completely unexpected. circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 19:17:30 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, > > > > I'm hoping that 5 new kittens is the final count. > > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > about 7 1/2 pounds. I was able to detect 3 for sure and possibly a 4th one > during her pregnancy but 6 was completely unexpected. I'll bet! :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde >> I'm hoping that 5 new kittens is the final count. > > Ooops... Just when Sammy looked settled in and finished, she started with > new contractions. Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. Wow! Poor Sammy needs a rest. Good thing you are such attentive slaves :) Congrats!! << Ooops... Just when Sammy looked settled in and finished, she started with new contractions. Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. >> Oh, wow, you're gonna have a houseful. Congrats to mommy and grandparents. You did a god job birthing those babies. Good thing Sammy found you. Do you think you'll be able to part with any of those babies? Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human." (Loren Eisely) I think another question is this? Will he be having any of the cats and kittens spayed or neutered? SignaturePanther TEK: Staying On Top Of All Your Computer Needs! www.members.cox.net/catprotector/panthertek Cat Galaxy: All Cats, All The Time! www.catgalaxymedia.com > << Ooops... Just when Sammy looked settled in and finished, she started with > new contractions. Baby number 6 came at 8:05am. >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other > than human." (Loren Eisely) > I think another question is this? Will he be having any of the cats and > kittens spayed or neutered? Before you even THINK of going off about it, here's a few facts to consider. I've owned animals for 30 years - all have been neutered. Sammy was scheduled for neutering when heat set in. Upon vet advice, her surgery was rescheduled for 2 weeks later. Despite the precautions I had taken, my 8 yr old son let the father of the kittens in the house while I was out mowing the back yard. I'm not at all pleased that his whimsical child view of things resulted in this animal becoming pregnant, but, OOOPS !! sh.t happens. Over 30 years of pet ownership and this is my first litter of kittens. Sammy will be neutered after she is done nursing this litter, when the vet says it is oky to do it. BTW - my vet is not one of the gung ho chop at any time and animal be damned types. She is very considerate of the welfare of the creature involved. All of those who have committed to taking one of the kittens have their current pets neutered and intend to do so with the kitten they get from me. These are long time friends. If there are any I haven't found homes for when weaned, a friend who works in a local rescue will take them for placement. They neuter upon adoption prior to the adoptees taking the kitten home. circa Mon, 14 Jun 2004 09:13:07 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Cat Protector (catprotector@cox.net) said, > I think another question is this? Will he be having any of the cats and > kittens spayed or neutered? Try to keep up, CP. Rob has been posting about this for some time. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > The last kitten arrived at 7am. There are 4 of them in varying intensities of orange tiger like mom and the one black one. They sound really beautiful, please post photos!! > My wife said that every time I left the room Sammy > became noticeably anxious, raising up trying to see >over the top of the box. Whenever I called out to her, >Heidi says she relaxed and started making goo-goo eyes >and kneading motions with her front paws. Aww, you're a good dad! Tell me, did she purr while giving birth? My Gnarly purred the whole time, my first clue that purring can indicate emotions that are not entirely pleasurable. Thanks for the report, it really is a neat thing to witness and those of us who adopt adult, spayed cats don't get to see kittens very often. (Gnarly was pregnant when I adopted her off the street.) circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 16:08:34 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Mary (rosefan@email.com) said, > Thanks for the report, it really is a neat thing to witness and those of us > who adopt adult, spayed cats don't get to see kittens very often. (Gnarly > was pregnant when I adopted her off the street.) Yup. If Mamacat, who as far as I can tell was a feral, hadn't shown up at my place, I'd never have seen it happen. :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > > My wife said that every time I left the room Sammy > > became noticeably anxious, raising up trying to see >over the top of the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > purred the whole time, my first clue that purring can indicate emotions that > are not entirely pleasurable. Sammy purred quite a bit - even when I had to help extract placentas. Definitely not the most pleasurable circumstances. Another thing very noticable was the amount of kneading she did. I would rub her head and behind her ears and she would lightly grasp my hand with a paw and curl her toes around my fingers. Sammy had 6 kittens total - 5 of them are pale orange tiger marked like her. The 6th one is pure black except for a white diamond shaped badge on his chest and a bit of white at the base of each ear. circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 19:03:52 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, > > Aww, you're a good dad! Tell me, did she purr while giving birth? My > Gnarly [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > behind her ears and she would lightly grasp my hand with a paw and curl her > toes around my fingers. Mamacat did that, too. I've read that cats purr whenever they feel something profound; I'm guessing birth must be pretty profound for a cat. :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 19:03:52 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Laura I think purring may also act as a natural sort of tranquilizer for when in pain. Cathy "Cathy Friedmann" <clfr@adelphia.net> wrote > I think purring may also act as a natural sort of tranquilizer for when in pain. Interesting. It follows that a behavior most often engaged in when content might comfort a creature in pain--like kneading and purring for cats. "Laura R." <UseFirstInitialPlusRobinson@technologist.com> wrote > > > Mamacat did that, too. I've read that cats purr whenever they feel something profound; I'm guessing birth must be pretty profound for a cat. :-) Buddha does it most loudly when she hears the pop top of the cat food can, which for her, I KNOW is profound. My darling chowhound who cannot tell time, so she shows up in the kitchen EVERY time I do, hoping is is meal time. circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 20:31:56 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Mary (rosefan@email.com) said, > "Laura R." <UseFirstInitialPlusRobinson@technologist.com> wrote > > > > Mamacat did that, too. I've read that cats purr whenever they feel [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > time, so she shows up in the kitchen EVERY time I do, hoping is is meal > time. Well, see? More proof! ;-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde "RobZip" <robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com> wrote> > Sammy purred quite a bit - even when I had to help extract placentas. Definitely not the most pleasurable circumstances. Another thing very noticable was the amount of kneading she did. I would rub her head and behind her ears and she would lightly grasp my hand with a paw and curl her toes around my fingers. She sounds like a total darling. > Sammy had 6 kittens total - 5 of them are pale orange tiger marked like her. The 6th one is pure black except for a white diamond shaped badge on his chest and a bit of white at the base of each ear. What a huge responsibility. Do you think you may be able to find them homes yourself, with friends, family, and acquaintances? I wish I had spayed and neutered Gnarly's kittens before I let them go--if only because I know one of the people I gave a kitten allowed her to have kittens. But at that time that would have been an expensive proposition at my age for four kittens, and six is even worse. Can't wait to see the photos! I wish I could take an orange one. I want a little orange cat, and one that has Siamese markings. Unfortunately, I have all I can handle now with two. > She sounds like a total darling. Sammy is an absolute charmer. If there is a finishing school hidden away in the cosmos somewhere that teaches cats the most endearing behavior to display towards humans, Sammy graduated with honors. > What a huge responsibility. Do you think you may be able to find them homes > yourself, with friends, family, and acquaintances? Three of them were already spoken for a few weeks ago - all good friends who have anywhere from one to four cats in residence already. If I had known there would be 6, I maybe could have had committments on more. >Can't wait to see the photos! I should have some up in alt.binaries.pictures.animals by tomorrow afternoon. I'll post a pointer here after the pics go up. >I wish I could take an orange one. I want a little orange cat, Got one!! Cute, fuzzy, squeaky - itsy bitsy tiny claws, dainty little whiskers. C'mon, what's one more, eh? circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 22:58:30 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, > Got one!! Cute, fuzzy, squeaky - itsy bitsy tiny claws, dainty little > whiskers. C'mon, what's one more, eh? Wanna send one to New York? ;-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 22:58:30 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > > Wanna send one to New York? ;-) Oooo, hands off my kitten! circa Mon, 14 Jun 2004 03:26:12 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Mary (rosefan@email.com) said, > > > Got one!! Cute, fuzzy, squeaky - itsy bitsy tiny claws, dainty little > > > whiskers. C'mon, what's one more, eh? > > > > > Wanna send one to New York? ;-) > > Oooo, hands off my kitten! Don't worry, I like black ones. :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Mon, 14 Jun 2004 03:26:12 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > Mary (rosefan@email.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Laura Black ones? Oh Good! I've got two of them. LOL W circa Mon, 14 Jun 2004 07:05:29 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Wendy (wendypart@nospam.com) said, > > > > > Got one!! Cute, fuzzy, squeaky - itsy bitsy tiny claws, dainty > little [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Laura > Black ones? Oh Good! I've got two of them. LOL Wanna send 'em to NYC? :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde > circa Mon, 14 Jun 2004 07:05:29 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, > Wendy (wendypart@nospam.com) said, [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Laura Ah! just a short hike up the Jersey Turnpike. W circa Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:25:39 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Wendy (wendypart@nospam.com) said, > > > > > Oooo, hands off my kitten! > > > > > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Ah! just a short hike up the Jersey Turnpike. Well, I'm looking. :-) Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde >> > My wife said that every time I left the room Sammy >> > became noticeably anxious, raising up trying to see >over the top of [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >The 6th one is pure black except for a white diamond shaped badge on his >chest and a bit of white at the base of each ear. This type of purring is her comforting herself. Life can be hard for kitties sometimes. I'm glad she has you to comfort her too. circa Sun, 13 Jun 2004 11:22:09 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, > The last kitten arrived at 7am. There are 4 of them in varying intensities > of orange tiger like mom and the one black one. Sammy did real well cleaning [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > her front paws. Five kittens, all healthy, mom tired but doing well and > nobody in the house got any sleep. Life is good... Awwwwwwww.... :-) > Our 4 year old neutered female, Cassie, came in to inspect the event and > seemed quite pleased. Sammy didn't seem at all distressed and in fact acted > quite content to see her buddy there. I'll wait till later to try and > determine sexes and try to get some pictures too. Looking forward to the pictures, and congratulations. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde |
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