13 days old : 5th July 2008

I knew it would happen, but was still surprised for some reason. And now..........well, life will just become more fun (I think!) I went upstairs this evening to see the Sweeties. They were all wide awake and wandering all around the kittening box, yelling quite loudly when suddenly Mojo made her move..................and of course when the first kitten does something, their siblings are never slow to think "What a great idea - let's all have a go!" And they did.............. And now they know there is a wider world there is no way they will be content with staying put.

Mimi was not pleased!  She didn't leave her box but every time one of the kittens walked past the 'front door' she grabbed them by the scruff on the neck and hauled them inside! She even got upset enough to try to round up all the babies inside the box into one corner which was, of course, as successful as painting the Forth Bridge - as soon as one kitten was in it's place two others had wandered off! 

11 days old : 3rd July 2008

I had such a worrying shock tonight - I weighed the babies as usual and they had all lost weight. I felt sick worrying as weight loss is usually the first indication of something being wrong. After an hour I decided to recheck and..................well, I don't know what the problem with the scales had been but everyone had put on exactly the amount they should have!!

Perhaps we should share the weights:

1 week old : 29th June 2008

Well we can't believe a whole week has passed by already. The babies are thriving despite me worrying about Ponty (Pontefract) as I thought he wasn't putting on enough weight but I am worrying needlessly as he keeps having growth spurts and, after all, one kitten has to be the smallest.

After having litters of Siamese in the past where all of them look the same and need to be marked to be identified it's lovely that we know each of these kittens by sight. Although we have three black torties they all having different markings.

Although the babies are still only one week old I am always amazed at how they progress so quickly. Yesterday I watched Mojo starting to clean herself - she was licking her leg. Fabulous! I spend ages watching the babies. They don't need me at this age except to change their bedding and to weigh them daily (which of course they don't see the need for!) but I just love spending time with them, chatting to them, and giving each a cuddle.

With their weights we are delighted to say that last night, at only six days old, both Smartie and Minty had doubled their birth weights, with Dolly only 4g off having doubled. All the babies now have their eyes open and are getting stronger every day.

Minty is a girl - We've decided at last! We are also sure she will be a seal point as she already has darkening colour around the edge of her ears, her tail and her nose!

We're not sure how much tortie Dolly will have in her - she is still very predominately blue, but we will see.

Photo's of each baby is on the Available Kittenspage.

3 days old : 25th June 2008

I am happy to repeat the words........All is well. I tried today to get some good pics of all the babies - I fed Mimi downstairs with a plate of fresh chicken but even before I had taken picture number one she was on the bed trying the grab the babies back. What a good mum she is! This morning it was lovely that when she heard my alarm she jumped onto the bed, purring, for her cuddles, which is what she always does. The second there was the slightest squeak from the kittens though she was back to them.

The excitement for me was that Mojo had one eye open yesterday! It was such a lovely surprise as I always feel as though they start to look like proper little kittens when they can see the world around them.

Weight gain is excellent, such a relief when there is seven babies and I'm not surprised that Mimi is eating me out of house and home - she is always hungry!

The kittens get strong limbs so quickly. Already they can move themselves around the kittening box quite well and quite quickly.

I have also made the decision that Dolly will be staying with us. If she is of show standard then that will be a bonus, but I have always so loved the blues of Ori's and Siamese so one way or another she's not going anywhere. Liquorice will probably only stay if she is of the show standard we are aiming for.

The only pic I can attach today is of Minty (Mint Imperial) as Mimi really isn't having the babies taken away from her, even if it's only outside of the kittening box. I am in a quandry about Minty as I really can't decide if he is a boy or girl! The other kittens are very clear with no questions whatsoever but Minty............. I think although my initial thoughts were a girl I feel he's a boy as he is the biggest of the litter and boys are normally larger than girls. It may be that he's just not so "well-endowed" as Pontefract that's confusing me!! If Minty is a boy then he could be Blue Point, Seal Point or Red Point. We will just have to wait and see.............

1 day old : 23rd June 2008

All is well. Mimi is being the most attentive mother and is reluctant to leave the babies. If she has been eating the slightest noise causes her to go straight back to them. But saying this it has been wonderful that she has not minded us handling her babies today, as I have weighed each kitten, made sure I know who's who, and tried to decide on sex. As Torties can only be girls this has made my job considerably easier as we have a bottom to compare the others to !!

On the 'Available Kittens' page I have listed each baby and this litter will be known as The Sweeties.

We are so excited about these kittens. We very much hoped to have a Black Ori girl, which we have, and the birth of a Blue Tortie girl was a real surprise! At the moment we are keeping both of these babies back to see how they develop with a view to being of show standard.

Although not 24-hour weights, we did weigh all the babies at lunchtime and all had shown a good gain - as always some better than others. We need to keep a check on everyone getting their share at the milk bar!!

Pics. But the pics of our Siamese girl, Mint Imperial, will have to be retaken!

Our three Black Torties : Sherbert, Mojo and Smartie

Our two Black Ori's: Pontefract & Liquorice

Our Blue Tortie girl : Dolly Mixture

The Birth : 22nd June 2008

After having spent three days almost not leaving Mimi for more than 10 minutes, it was apparent at 3pm on Sunday that things were happening and she was in the early stages of labour. It was 6pm before she had strong muscle spasms but by 7pm there was no baby and I was starting to worry. The reason for all this became apparent a few minutes later when baby number one started to appear and was breech - tail first. It look poor Mimi another 15 minutes to deliver this kitten and number two followed soon which was breech as well, but luckily caused no problems.

It was a slow labour for Mimi and she was terribly tired by the time that last baby was born at nearly 10pm, and that's not surprising as she delivered SEVEN babies!!  That is amazing for a first litter, and the birth weights were good as well. No wonder she couldn't jump over the stair gate the last few days - we had to put a stool to help her!

It was impossible tonight to sex all the kittens and decide what colours etc they were as Mimi needed attention and rest, and the kittens needed to latch on and setttle down, so I will be completing that task tomorrow afternoon. Also this was the only pic I could managed last night, so better ones tomorrow as well:

9 Weeks Pregnant : 20th June 2008

Well this will be the last entry until I report the news that Mimi has hopefully had her kittens problem free and all is well. On Wednesday night (18th) I was certain she was going to have them! She spent all night nesting, ie looking for somewhere safe to have the babies. She was in the laundry basket, trying to get into corners and under cupboards, and in and out of her kittening box. On Thursday morning the babies were so incredibly active inside her that I swapped my booked leave at work to be off now instead of early next week but it's Friday lunchtime and I'm still hanging around !! She'll have them when SHE is ready, not me!

So watch this space.................

8 1/2 Weeks Pregnant : 18th June 2008

Just an update as I have finally managed to get a pic of Mimi that actually shows how big she is! She has been behaving very oddly this evening, following me around everywhere to the point of tripping me up at every turn, and meowing constantly. She doesn't seem to know what she wants to eat, but is hungry - she managed to pinch the last of my Spag Bol though while I was still eating it!

There is no sign of Mimi settling down to look for a safe place to have her kittens - it really is a little too soon, but then, who knows...............

8 Weeks Pregnant : 13th June 2008

Well, had I written a diary last weekend as I was supposed to then I would have found it very difficult to write one good thing about Mimi - she was THE bitch from hell for the whole week !  She is normally very loving but anyone who went near her got a swipe and/or an annoyed bite! Needless to say we tiptoed around her warily and poor Lily, the puppy, learnt to approach with extreme caution! It is interesting as well that I made the same comments about two other girls who were both around 7 weeks pregnant, that they were pure evil and very nasty for a few days. I wonder if that is typical or just a coincidence?

Anyway, this weekand I can only say..............Poor Mimi !!   She is having the greatest difficulty in jumping over the stairgate that a week ago she flew over effortlessly, and the same goes for jumping onto the kitchen worktops - there have been a few occasions in the last few days that she hasn't managed it and landed back on the floor. I also leave a window open between the hall and the conservatory that is hinged at the top and now every time Meems goes through it she can't fit properly and I hear the clunk of the window banging back down.

Apart from this though she is in fabulous condition - her coat is so glossy and smooth. She is suddenly eating as though I have starved her and is having food almost every hour.

The best thing though was last night as she was laid across my lap, purring and being fussed. All I could feel on my legs was the constant kicks and bumps from a tummy full of kittens - what better way to spend an evening!

And I have now cleared the area of my bedroom where Mimi will be installed next Friday and placed the kittening box there full of cosy bedding. I have the scales, equipment, clean blankets etc all ready and have the luxury this time of the new '3-second kettle' as when you are kittening the thing you want the most at 4am after sitting on your knees for an hour or more is a nice cuppa, but you daren't leave the queen to fetch one!

Again not the best pics - I'm sure it's because she is a dark coloured cat! Also this was taken a whole week ago, so I will endeavour to get something up to date during the day.

And now will a 'certain someone' stop nagging me to do a diary lol ??!!!

6 Weeks Pregnant : 30th May 2008

Otherwise Meems is in such fabulous condition. Her coat is still so beautifully glossy and she is very energetic when awake but I have noticed her sleeping alot more in the daytime. Her appetite hasn't increased too much yet, but she is on kitten food which gives all the extras she needs.

And she is thankfully beginning to tolerate Lily, our Cav puppy. She's still totally unimpressed but as long as Lily isn't too boisterous they are OK - they even curl up together in the basket!

5 Weeks Pregnant : 23rd May 2008

Well, what a week we've had! Four days ago we added to the household when we brought Lily home, a 9 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Mimi is NOT impressed! She started by viewing Lily from a distance with a look of total disdain on her face, until tonight when she actually rubbed herself up Lily's face - and then hissed and swiped at her!! They will end up friends, but at the moment Lily is a little too enthusiastic for the cats!

Mimi has really started to get a nice round tummy on her in the last few days. I have tried to catch this in a photo but it's very difficult and I don't really think you can tell from the pic I've attached - I will try for a better one over the weekend.

And now it's only 4 weeks to go! We really are excited about this litter and we are so hoping that there might be a show quality black girl there.

It has also dawned on me today that if there is only 4 weeks to go that means I have only 4 weeks left to finish constructing the purpose built kitten pen I am building. I don't like kitten rooms as the babies are shut away from everything they need for good socialisation, but then to have them run riot over the whole house is also not ideal! So my solution is to build a portable pen that is roomy, can be made bigger/smaller, is secure but that can be put into any room so the kittens are part of the goings-on. I'll let you know how it goes!

4 Weeks Pregnant : 16th May 2008

And nearly half way through........ The weeks do seem to go oh so slowly though.

Anyone who doesn't know Mimi well wouldn't think she looked pregnant as she still looks a normal sized girl, but I know how slender and elegant she usually is and so her developing bump has become quite noticable to me.

Mimi is also leading me a merry dance still with her eating habits! She decided last weekend that the only thing she will eat as well as her dried biscuit is fresh cooked chicken. Fine - I have been buying it daily for her since but, of course, she wants about 6-7 small meals daily so I seem to do nothing but prepare chicken.

Also after trying her on most of the brands of meat pouches she decided today she rather likes Hill's Science food so hopefully this will  give some more variety for her and stop me from worrying quite so much, although I'm sure I'll find another thing to worry about instead!

Mimi has become so much more affectionate this last week - if that were at all possible! She follows me every where and if I have to leave the house - even for 5 minutes - I get such a telling off from her when I return!

Pregnancy hasn't stopped her having her mad half-hours though, tearing around the house like something demented - or actually, just like a tortie !!

3 Weeks Pregnant (nearly!) : 6th May 2008

Well it's not quite three weeks, but Mimi today 'pinked up' which is the expression used to desribe the colour change to a queens nipples that occurs when they reach about three weeks pregnant, and is the first definite sign of a pregnancy.

We have suspected for the last few days though that Mimi was indeed expecting as she hasn't come into call, or shown any signs of 'showing off' to JJ, our neuter boy. Quite the opposite in fact, she keeps attacking the poor boy and kicking the hell out of him!! 

We have already put Mimi onto a kitten food which gives the extra nutrition needed by an expectant queen but she is showing every intention of being a fussy madam and is sticking to her dried food, but that is a quality kitten food - Iams or James Wellbeloved (JWB) so that's OK.

This litter is so exciting for us as Mimi carries excellent type both herself and in her line, and the stud is a beautiful Grand Champion Havana boy. Both have fabulous temperaments so what more could we ask for!

We hope to keep a girl back from this litter for showing, so the next six weeks are going to go very slowly we think!

We will update these pages weekly unless there is any other news to share.

Here is Mimi sitting still for once:-