So much has happened this week, I haven’t had time to get it all written down, photos sorted, as it’s happened! It doesn’t help that my computer only seems to be able to manage to play a couple of videos before it crashes. It’s taken a while for me to watch all the birth videos myself! So here I am, trying to summarise a pretty amazing week… (I might post birth vids at some point, but I think if I do I’ll make a separate post of it. I think I’ll keep things a bit more nice and fluffy in here for now!)
The first day I was a bit worried how much time Purdey seemed to spend away from the kittens. Probably being paranoid: the room was warm, she did keep checking on them, and they seemed full of beans. Even though Purdey seemed happy for me to be around, I decided to not disturb the box for a while, hoping that would help her to bond. I finally took first weights late that night, but more of that later.
I’d intended to sleep in the living room, but, to be honest, I was feeling a pretty tired and achy, and the couch did not appeal. I also felt it might help Purdey to settle if I slept in the bedroom, since she’s in the routine of settling to sleep in the living room once I’ve gone to bed. Needless to say I could hardly pull myself away. The kittens were showing just how healthy they were by engaging in raging wars over favoured nipples! All had their minor tiffs, but Tabby and Tortie were relentless:
The first day I was a bit worried how much time Purdey seemed to spend away from the kittens. Probably being paranoid: the room was warm, she did keep checking on them, and they seemed full of beans. Even though Purdey seemed happy for me to be around, I decided to not disturb the box for a while, hoping that would help her to bond. I finally took first weights late that night, but more of that later.
I’d intended to sleep in the living room, but, to be honest, I was feeling a pretty tired and achy, and the couch did not appeal. I also felt it might help Purdey to settle if I slept in the bedroom, since she’s in the routine of settling to sleep in the living room once I’ve gone to bed. Needless to say I could hardly pull myself away. The kittens were showing just how healthy they were by engaging in raging wars over favoured nipples! All had their minor tiffs, but Tabby and Tortie were relentless:
(looks like this has posted as very low quality... will try and work something out to improve it. You can actually see more in a proper version!)
Next day someone pointed out to me this might mean there was a problem with the milk supply… I was pretty sure not, since all seemed well, content and I’d seen them all suckling. It was a relief though to take weights that evening and confirm all was well. In fact very good… Doing a bit of reading I found out that kittens are expected to be born weighing 90 to 110 grams. It’s OK for them to loose a bit of weight in the first 24 hours, but after that they should gain a minimum of 7-10 grams per day. Mine, at first weigh in, were: Tabby: 130g, Glossy: 130g, Grey Legs: 126g and Tortie: 121g. So they were either born heavy, or gained weight in the first 12 hours… or both! They also gained between 8 and 18 grams between their first 2 weigh ins. Nothing to worry about… but I’ve still been weighing twice a day since!
About their kitten names (adult names come later of course): Tabby and Tortie are obvious! Distinguishing the two blacks was trickier. I soon noticed that one (the second black, kitten number 3) looked sort of greyer in some lights. Looking closely I could also see a liberal sprinkling of white hairs on his legs, which is what gave him his nickname. I have at times wondered if he is actually grey (especially when you see some photos where he really does look grey…), but putting the two blacks, back upwards together you can see they really are both black. In fact, Glossy’s legs look greyish too. The difference (apart from the white hairs) seems to be texture: Glossy looks like he’s going to have his mum’s fine, flat lying, very shiny coat. Grey Legs is definitely going to be fuzier coated. I think we’ll have to wait to see if there’s more than that to it.
Next day someone pointed out to me this might mean there was a problem with the milk supply… I was pretty sure not, since all seemed well, content and I’d seen them all suckling. It was a relief though to take weights that evening and confirm all was well. In fact very good… Doing a bit of reading I found out that kittens are expected to be born weighing 90 to 110 grams. It’s OK for them to loose a bit of weight in the first 24 hours, but after that they should gain a minimum of 7-10 grams per day. Mine, at first weigh in, were: Tabby: 130g, Glossy: 130g, Grey Legs: 126g and Tortie: 121g. So they were either born heavy, or gained weight in the first 12 hours… or both! They also gained between 8 and 18 grams between their first 2 weigh ins. Nothing to worry about… but I’ve still been weighing twice a day since!
About their kitten names (adult names come later of course): Tabby and Tortie are obvious! Distinguishing the two blacks was trickier. I soon noticed that one (the second black, kitten number 3) looked sort of greyer in some lights. Looking closely I could also see a liberal sprinkling of white hairs on his legs, which is what gave him his nickname. I have at times wondered if he is actually grey (especially when you see some photos where he really does look grey…), but putting the two blacks, back upwards together you can see they really are both black. In fact, Glossy’s legs look greyish too. The difference (apart from the white hairs) seems to be texture: Glossy looks like he’s going to have his mum’s fine, flat lying, very shiny coat. Grey Legs is definitely going to be fuzier coated. I think we’ll have to wait to see if there’s more than that to it.
Pictures at 2 and a half days old:
And just because it’s cute (and to prove Tortie and Tabby don’t always hate each other!)
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