Asia's new babies

Asia finally had her babies on the 24th March. She had them while I was out and decided poor Bali's bed. So Bali was turfed out and she had managed to give birth in amoung Blali's babies. She had two Black babies, a girl and a boy. Then I found one Tabby and white girl down by the side of the cat bed. I put them in her big box with her children but she just would settle. In the end I got so fed up with her trying to put her babies with Bali's I ended up taking her into the bedroom. I thought it was really weird that she had not had a ginger baby as she always does. lol. Last thing I said to her before I went to bed was, Asia, where is your ginger baby? Well to my surprise when I woke up the next day she had a ginger baby over night :0)
So four babies in total all really healthy.
This was not the end of my issues though. She wanted to be in the lounge but everytime I moved her box in there she got confused and kept trying to look after  Bali's babies too. She started driving me crazy as she wouldn't settle in my bedroom as she likes to be with everyone.

So I finally came up with a solution. I had to transform Blitz's dog cage for her. So I moved it into the lounge and made it cat friendly, Asia decided she liked this idea. Everyone could still watch her but she couldn't get confused and get Bali's babies. she is so happy with her new home I don't even have to shut her in now.

She is a super mum :0)

Babies

The babies are doing so well. They are properly up and running around now. They chase your feet when you walk.  I have nicknamed one baby gobby as she is so loud. The only person who can keep her quiet seems to be my mate Jeni...just call her the cat whisperer lol. They have decided following the dogs around is quite fun too. Blitz doesn't have a problem with that but poor Flea tries to run away. They think that is a really fun game. Poor Flea bag, scared of the nasty babies lol.
Little Smartie is the 1st picture. She isn't quite as Alien looking but still. lol

mayhem

Asia is driving me crazy, She keeps trying either steal Bali's children or look after them. As sweet as that sounds it is a real pain. Poor Bali is getting pushed out of the way all the time as there isn't enough space for all of them to be in there. I cannot convince Asia that she hasn't given birth yet and they are her children. I am guessing this means that she will be due to give birth really soon now.
As for the babies, they are doing fantastic. They come out of their bed ever now and then and waddle around. They are very cute now. Although Smartie is looking a bit like an alien at the moment lol. I am sure she will turn out ok as her mum looked a bit like a bug eyed alien when she was tiny.

More Babies on the way

So it turns out that sneaky Asia is definately pregnant! I have felt a baby kicking! She is looking extremely pleased with herself and getting fatter by the day. I really didn't want her to have babies until later on in the summer! Two lots of kittens at once is going to be really hard work. As she has kept it quiet, I have no idea when they will be born...lol .
She is a very good mum and not flakey like Bali but even so.
Speaking of Bali, we have finally come to an agreement about her new spot to keep her babies. She has chosen a half enclosed cat bed. It's not really that big but both her and the babies seem happy enough. Better than under the bed in the draws in any case.
They are still growing well and are almost waddling. It won't be long before they are running around getting under my feet  :0)

sooty

This little dog was brought to agility training. He looks just like a mini Molly. I really wanted to take him home, he was so sweet. What do you think?

Babies Update

The babies are still growing well. Bali is still trying to shove them in my draw if I don't keep my bedroom door shut. I often help her with the feeding just to top up what they are having. They lap the milk from the end of a syringe now. I am very messy though often getting it all over their face. Bali doesn't nind but she does try and steal their milk.
I had a horrible experience with their dad last night. He was sitting on the arm of the chair and sneezed really loudly. I didn't think anything of it until 30 minutes later. I went into the bathroom and saw that I had snot in my hair....How grose is that? Good job I love that cat!!! Anyway more baby pic's

This is smartie, she is my fav at the moment.

Names

So the babies are getting bigger. They are all just about 200g. All of them have their eyes open now and will often gaze at me. So I figure they are over a week now and really should give them names. Trying to tell them apart can be a bit of a mission at the moment. One has a darker nose and the only boy has a really pink nose but the other three are really tricky. I have had to use felt tip pens to mark there tails otherwise I can't track their weights very well.
So onto the names. As they are all chocolate in colour at the moment ( they may turn brown as they get bigger) I decided to go on a chocolate theme:
Smartie,
Wispa,
Crunchie,
Cadbury
Buttons



On another note it seems that Ice hockey might be taking over more of my life than it does already. I have been happily doing front of house this year. BUT the GM wants me to think about taking over as chairman of the supporter club!!!! That would be a huge responsibility but how can I say no? If my club needs me i guess i have to step up!

Cuba timeshare

I am having the weirdest tug of war ever. Bali acts like you have taken a baby away if I pick up Cuba out of her box. Now I understand he is doing his bit and being a good daddy but I am missing my cuddles as it is. She totally freaks out and yells at me until I put him back. So I have come to a compromise! She can have him during the day and evening but come bed time I am stealing him lol. She seems to accept that well enough. I have never known cats like this, a real family unit. It is quite simply crazy.
Some of the other kittens have started opening their eyes now. They are putting on loads of weight and are growing so much. Fingers crossed they will continue to do so.

Sat 6th Dog training and hockey in one day :0)

Lots of ups and downs today.  I took the dogs agility training at an out door venue, Flea was his usual super sonic self but apart from having a few poles down (no surprise there), he did really well.
Blitz on the other hand... oh dear, sometimes she really is so blond. She does well when doing medium or slightly higher hight jumps, but the minute we put them up to her proper hight she really doesn't like it. At the moment I don't know if it is a confidence issue or just that she is on the short side and finds it too much. I'm going to monitor her and see how we go. If I have to make the decision not to jump her at full hight so be it. It just means she will only compete at UKA shows where she can do a lower hight. I do agility for my dogs enjoyment so have no intention of forcing her.
So on to hockey..a big game against the Swindon Wildcats. They are snapping at our heels for the last playoff spot so this promised to be a close game...Wow was I wrong. We were rubbish to put it politely. Oh my god. Our team may not be the best in the league but it has had one thing going for it, HEART. I am not really sure where that went last night. The game finished 8-0 against a team that we should have beaten. Our import forwards looked disinterested as did most of the team, We couldn't believe what we were seeing, Sometimes you watch your team lose and think, well they did everything they could. But no they really did nothing. The only player to mention was Bomber (Kaminskas). There is a reason this guy is my Fav player (not just cos he owns a Bali baby). He was the only one who was putting his heart and soul into the game. It is a real shame this seasonas he thoroughly deserves player of the year. I'm guessing Cesky will get it as he has been a goal scoring machine. But for me player of the year is more than that, Cesky is undoubtably very talented but can go hot and cold and whinges like a girl. Bomber just gets on with it EVERY game.
I was in such a bad mood when I left, I went round a friends house ended up having an arguement and hastly left to go home and sulk lol
I checked the babies on my return to find one of them has one eye open...On day 4, that is really early. Maybe they are going to delvelop early. That has got to mean trouble. They will be climbing up the curtains before I know it :0)

Sadness

Unfortunately little Angel died this morning. I had done absoultely everything I could but it was not to be. She seemed to be doing well when I fed her at 1am. I woke up at 3am to feed her and she was really quite cold. Her family had pushed her out and wanted nothing to do with her. I wrapped up a hot water bottle and laid her on in next to me in bed. sometime between 3.30 and 5am she died. My only consolation was that she was warm and not on her own. I'm old enough to know this is a fact of life but it is hard to take.
I am going to continue to weigh all of the kittens daily so if any others lose any weight I can help them straight away. FIngers crossed they will all be ok.
For once I have a Cuba complaint. Now he is a dad he is spending all his time with them. He didn't even bother to come and sleep next to me like he always done :0) I guess I am going to have to put up with the loss of my "teddy" lol.

Day 3 pic's

             
          Dad doing his bit....again and little Angel

What a day...playing mum

Well where do I start. I got up this morning to find out the small little kitten had been, well pushed aside. Bali had dug her blanket up and left the little one underneath. The poor thing was extremely weak and had obviously not been fed. Aparently cats will push a stuggling baby aside and consentrate on the others :0(  Now I know this is natural, and it's the whole survival of the fittest thing, but it breaks my heart to think that Bali could disgard a baby.
So...action stations!! I was feeling incredibly guilty for not being prepared. I had no kitten substitute milk. The only thing I had in the house was Saline that I occasionally flush Cuba's nose with. So all I could do was use that to try to rehydrate her. Then it was time to go off to work. It was the last thing in the world I wanted do do but I had no choice.I spent the whole morning worrying and pretty much expecting the worst. All I could do was hope she would fight. At lunch time I rushed past the vets picking up some orphan kitten milk powder in the small hope I would still need it. I couldn't believe it but I am pleased to say she was indeed still alive but still dehydrated and not strong enough to suckle. I made up her milk and gave her a small amount. Now I've never played mum before so we both got milk everywhere. Once again it was off to work and I'd done as much as I could.
It is hard when you know you should be feeding the baby every two hours but you can't because of a small matter of earning a living.
I got home as soon as I could and as expected she was incredibly weak, so I had to play mum again. I have been feeding her hourly to build her up a bit. She is getting stronger and yelling at me when I annoy her, which has got to be a good sign. I have called her Angel for now.
I have been out and got some kitchen scales so I can monitor everyones weight. The fattest is 138g and little Angel is only 79g.
I can't say I am looking forward to the night feeds but I am hoping it will be worth it. I'm thinking she will need feeding at 12, 2 and 4 am :0(  
Yet again a special mention has to go to Daddy Cuba. Everytime I come home or look over, there he is cuddled up to the babies doing his bit to make up for their rather flakey mum. I'm probably being a bit harsh but I am still trying understand why Bali would push Angel away. That said she sits and watches me feeding Angel so it is a good sign she is showing an interest. Hopefully not just because she is eying up the milk.

What part of no is confusing?

Why oh why must I have this arguement. Let me set the scene. I am currently cooking chicken breast. For dinner or to put in tomorrows sandwiches I hear you ask!!! Oh no. I thought I'd be nice for two reasons. 1: Bali could probably do with the extra protein, 2: poor Flea has such an upset stomach I can hear it churning from accross the room. Every time I go to check on it Bali is yelling like mad at me.. Eventually I see what is going on! She has grabbed a child and is carrying it to where??? yep you guessed it back to the draw. I'm sorry but I refuse to let her bring up her children in a draw, it's just rude. I rescued the babies and then Cuba and I went for our shower (he has upper respiratory issues and being in a steamy room helps him breath). By the time I get out she has taken babies back to the draw. I have now shut my bedroom door but I am guessing this will be an ongoing battle of wills.

Day two

So on to day two. Bali babies seem to be mostly doing well. There is one small little girl who hasn't got a big belly like the others. Now I have identified the problem I will have to police some meal times and make sure she gets her fair share. I will be getting some scales tomorrow so I will be able to weigh everyone and check they are growing. I'm not convinced Bali has that much milk to be honest so I am a little concerned. I will have to do some research on what I can give her to help her along. The babies aren't crying though so that should mean they are content enough.

Cuba is still insistant on spending "family" time. Luckily Bali seems to enjoy the added company. Shame he can't share the feeding duties.

New beginnings 02/03/10

So my 1st ever blog...How exciting!!!

I'll start as I mean to go on, talking about my pets. If you don't like cats, dogs or ice hockey this blog won't interest you :0)

Bali had her kittens This morning. She decided to give birth in the draw under my bed that i had emptied out for her and put a soft blanket into. I have no idea why she chooses my draws but there you go. She had checked out the other draws under my bed to ensure she picked the best one. Shame in doing this she has ruined an item of clothing that had huge sentimental value...Baggage. Unfortunately I was fast asleep when she gave birth but by the time my alarm went off she had just had her last baby of 6!!!!

Although I am happy to indulge her draw fettish for giving birth once she had finished I moved her into her baby box in the lounge. She seemed happy enough but kept shouting at me every time I left the room. Unfortunately for her I had to go to work so she was on her own.

When I finally got home I settled down in front of the TV and was surprised to see Cuba (the kittens dad) decide to get in the box too. It was so cute, he was washing the babies and Bali then cuddled up with them. After a while Bali decided to leave dad with the babies and go off and have five minutes to herself. Cuba looked so pleased to be trusted.

Burmese are one in a million and Cuba is right at the top. I don't know many cat dads that look after their own babies from time to time.