All's well in the Furrydance nursery and Teri can breath a sigh of relief that the babies are doing well after 72 hours--a very critical time. As you followers know, two of the kittens were very, very small and Teri was anxious that they might not survive. In fact, she didn't tell the families waiting for them that they had even been born until 12 hours had passed.
The two babies that were so small (born at 52 and 58 grams, under 2 ounces) lost weight 2 grams that first day, while their larger littermates only gained 4 grams (ideally they should gain 10-15 grams a day). Coco, while familiar with motherhood as this is her 4th litter, is always a bit anxious for the first couple of days. Teri knows just as the kittens all attach to nurse, Coco jumps up and they all fall off the nipple. Then Coco gets nervous when they squeak and won't lay down and relax for long.
While they are all confined to a nice tent, have a pet safe heating pad heating pad under part of their kitten bed (so they can move off it if they get too warm), when Teri had to go off to work, she was anxious til she got home at night, hoping especially with the tiny ones, that Coco wouldn't lay on them and smother them.
So, now Teri has 3 days off and can check on the babies frequently and she's even rented some movies so she can hang out in the bedroom and watch movies and babies at the same time! And today, with good news to report, all the babies are gaining weight again and while the tiny ones are still 10 grams behind, the two bigger kitties have gained the 30 grams they should have in 3 days. Teri thinks by the end of the weekend, they will all be up to gaining the hoped for 10 grams a day.
We still haven't narrowed down the 'Flower' nicknames for all the kittens, but so far Teri likes Daisy for the brown tabby girl, Sunflower and Buttercup for the two red tabby boys and are working on a cute one for the brown tabby and white boy~~maybe Clover or Poppy? All four kittens are promised already, one couple wanting 2 and two kittens will go to homes that have Furrydance cats already.
They will stay here at Furrydance until they are 16 weeks of age, all finished with their vaccinations and are spayed and neutered. Teri lets them stay with mom til they leave home, letting the moms wean them when they are ready and so all our catblogosphere friends have many weeks of kitten news and photos to look foward too...as well as the usual Mancat Mondays and Frootbat Fridays unless a cute kitten photo boots them out of the way, MOL!
And here's a short video of mama Coco and her kittens...so sweet!
I know motherhood can be a challenge, especially in the first couple of weeks. I hope U & Coco find restful moments this weekend. I hope Jake, Maus and i can actually go outside together on Saturday or Sunday. Either way, we will think about you and the kittens ans send good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGood job, Coco! I am so glad all the bebbehs are doing well. I like the idea of flower names, and my favorite name of all is Daisy! For the boy, how about Aster, Sweet William or Snapdragon? I like Poppy, too.
ReplyDeleteThey are SOOOO cute!! No wonder Coco is nervous -- its a big responsibility to take care of babies!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the new momma! They are darling! Our Momma thinks that is the ideal weekend. Watching movies and kissing baby kittens.
ReplyDeleteThat is some super Coco purring while the bubbies are at the milk bar!
ReplyDeleteHow sweet. so glad they are past the danger stage. I love the name Coco. I had a parrot when I was a child named Coco.
ReplyDeleteIt's so special to see Coco's sweet babies!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good mama! I'll keep them in my prayers and hope they all continue to do well!
ReplyDeleteOh Coco what a sweet batch of ickle kittens you have there. I wish to conCATulate you on their birth and that you are taking such good care of them.
ReplyDeleteI am recovering well from all of my surgeries. Mommy is very happy about that. We are very blessed and thankful for our friends new and old.
Keep up the good work Coco and we can't wait to see more photos of the flower children!
Love Miss Peach
We especially loved watching the video! We hope that the littlest ones will catch up quickly! Our little Sei-Chan was also pretty small at birth and look at her now!
ReplyDeleteTommy and The Girls
aaaawwww i loved this video, what a contented mama she is, and they are sooooo tiny. i will be back every day now to check on them....goood girl coco.
ReplyDeleteAll so familiar but I must add very well writen. I enjoyed reading the blog. Our American Curl mom bled to death after a ceasarian. A terrible shock to us. Her 4 babies are now with our Siamese girl who has 4 older kittens. I need to remove the older kittens in the day for the tiny ones to get some mother's milk. Night time they sleep with mom but then the babies will not get a chance at the milkbar. So I get up to feed them. It is never dull but all kittens are doing fine and mom does not mind all the attention.
ReplyDeleteI had Ronish Rex for some years. I can relate to the joy you have with them.
Tiny little creatures. So fine. It's so good to hear that the littlest ones are getting on with that rough start in life.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I've been reading all the way back and LOVE LOVE LOVE the movies!!! This is wonderful. I am a huge cat lover but sadly, too allergic to have any pets. It's joyous to know the babies are all safe and sound, but the movies really take it to another level.
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