Long Night, Sunny Morning

I'm starting to understand what being a mama is like ;)

So, I've been up every second hour with the wee one ~ Feedings, poopings, etc. S/he's such a good little eater, and looks terrific this morning. Me, on the other hand, well I'm just gonna grab me some extra strong coffee...that's all I'll say ;)

Just as I was starting to fall back asleep after my 7:00am wake-up... at 8:00am, Doug poked me in the ribs. I thought he was just getting up, but when I opened my eyes, he was just sitting there looking at me... waiting for me to listen.

It was the littlun crying, really loud... I thought it was just lost in a cold spot in the box and couldn't find stuffed mommy-cat in there again. But, as I stood up out of bed, I realized.... that's not the first littlun! That's coming from Rosie's room!

So, I slowly crept into the room, and there was another baby with Rosie! All wet and covered in litter (my guess was that she had it in the litter box)... Rosie didn't seem to be paying attention to this one either, but I'm going to leave her be with it for now and hope instinct kicks in the second time around. It's nice and sunny and warm in the room now, so I'm not concerned about the babe being on the hard floor (where Rosie likes to be, it seems) as much as I did with the first. I checked in again 15 minutes later, and it looked like the baby had latched on to her. I'm hoping that she'll take to this one more. I'll go back in to check on things closer to 9:00... and if things are going well, and baby is nursing, I may see if she'll accept Baby 1.

Here's a little vid I captured of my cutie waking up. The bubbling in the background is the coffeemaker....
Speaking of which.... I better go have some of that ;)
Enjoy! And more to come as I know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11:30am
Just a quick update... There are a final THREE babies!!!
Mama Rosie and her three (yep, even Number 1) gray babies are all happy and warm and nursing. Rosie looks so much more relaxed now. :) Keeping an eye on things every 45mins-1hr, and so far so good.

BABY!!!!

Omg, the babies are coming. One is out already! A little nervous because mama Rosie seems to be very frightened at the situation. All I can hear right now is the screeching of a baby kitten. Yayayayaya! I hope everything is going okay. I'm gonna run out now and pick up a few "just in case" supplies.

Back with updates as I know!

~~~~~~~~~~~7:00pm
Good news... and bad news...

Rosie isn't accepting her baby.
Sadly, she left the little squirt, cold and limp on the hard floor after about two hours. After multiple tries to put the littlun under her nose and by her belly...... and all being unsuccessful (and she even ran away in fear of it)... we had to get a warming pad and dry the baby off ourselves (I couldn't believe how cold it was) :(. I trimmed the cord and sac and got some kitten replacement & an eyedropper (slim pickins for a Sunday evening)... and baby is now moving and warm and comfortable (thank goodness....)
It's been a stressful couple hours here. Still nothing else from Rosie. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this kitten will be the only one.
I think it's going to be a long night of worry for this squirt. I'll keep everyone updated as I go along.

 

 

 

Rosie Introduced

And here she is...

This picture is from the first night she was here. I had moved the desk over a crack so I could see her (much to her dislike), and this is the only picture I took, because I didn't want to scare her.
Picture taking is still a bit of trouble now, but we reorganized the desk space last night, so now I can monitor how things are going with her a little better. And, I took a couple quick shots of her. She's not doing much moving around, she's just basically lying there looking lazy and maybe even a bit uncomfortable with that belly. So, this is more of what it looks like with her now...

She seems like she's getting to know me a little bit. She doesn't get up or look worried when I'm near her now. I've been bringing her some nummy wet kitten food, and even though she won't eat around me, she still seems like she's starting to understand that I'm no threat to her (she still gets a little concerned looking when someone else is in there with me though).

She's been lying on her side like that a lot. Between the two beds I have out for her, of course. I'm not sure how I'm going to convince her she should move to the box when she's ready to birth, because she seems to want to lie on the hard floor. Any suggestions? I still don't want to approach her or touch her if she doesn't want to be touched. Maybe just leave her for now, and hope that she figures it out for herself?

Anyway, I'll try to get some closer ones of her soon. She seems to look at me funny with the camera, so I only take a couple and pick the best one to post. But, at least you all know what she looks like now.

I'm open to any tips on what more I could be doing for her, and anything to make her more comfortable while she's waiting (since all she's doing is lying around). It's been a long while since I've had a pregnant cat around, too, so I'm also open to any advice on birthing, etc.

Yoko is doing great, too. She has no idea Rosie is here. And she's enjoying that we're sitting in the kitchen by the big sunny windows with her. We've got 'her' electric blanket out on one of the chairs, so she's one happy kitty. :)

 

Maybe Baby?

I'm all giddy right now.
I was in the computer room sitting with kitty, just watching her breathing (she's still hiding out under the desk this morning, but she's still eating, so I think she's doing okay)... and ohmigosh!! I think I saw something in her belly move around. It was like a little ball sweeping across from under her arm to the under side of her tummy. Soooo... I'm thinking that there's a pretty darn good chance that there's a baby in there (or maybe an alien? a bad set of worms? ~ewww ;))
Still can't confirm it a hundred percent, but I'm starting to think it's probably going to happen.

She's lying on her side right now, and is looking a little more relaxed than yesterday. But, due to her being so far back in the bottom of the desk, it's almost impossible to get a picture of her still. I still don't want to push her limits, because I want her to trust me somewhat if there are babies coming.

Also...
As of today, she's no longer going to be referenced as 'kitty'. The name we've decided on is 'Rosie'.

A few reasons for the name:
First, the gorgeous, sunny, spring weather we've been having lately, made me think of flowers. Roses have always been my favourite flower, so that was my first thought (I even had a nickname of "Rosie" when I was a teenager because of an online alias I had).
I also thought it suited her because she's got a little pink nose.
Then, the song by Lisa Loeb about being deserted, "Rose Coloured Times".
It all just seemed to fit her.

I'm off to shower, and then maybe see if I can move a bed under the desk (or maybe some towels), just in case something happens while we're gone today. Maybe, if I feel comfortable, I'll get a picture then.

So, until a little later! Here's the song by Lisa Loeb.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those were rose-colored times on rides with your eyes closed.
Those were rose-colored times on rides with your eyes open wide.

Shabby tried to comb her hair with the gift from her grandma, her blood.
Tangled, she got halfway.
Sticky and powdered with dirt from the ground where her mamma had left her.
Had left her.
Left her.

Those were rose-colored times on rides with your eyes closed.
Those were rose-colored times on rides with your eyes open wide.

Rusty the screen door, she opened it.
Raised from the ground.
Mamma left me her ring, mamma left me no family,
Just barstools, and boyfriends, and whiskey at nighttime, and bedtime,
Bedtime.

I'll go with the man who looks like my father,
the neighbors all tell me to go with him.
He better take caution, he better take care of me,
'cause if he don't, he better beware of me.

Those were rose-colored times on rides with your eyes closed.
Those were rose-colored times on rides with your eyes open wide, on rides with your eyes open wide. 

New Kitty is Here

I'm home from picking up 'kitty' now (name is still to be fully decided).
She's very, very timid at the moment, so I'm going to wait a while until she's a little more comfortable for me to take some pictures.
She's a gray kitty, and a very small frame, from what I can see of her. It's really hard to tell if she's pregnant or not, because she really is so thin (minus a bit of a buldgey belly).

I'll try to get some pictures of her in a while. Right now she's sitting in the litter box (it's fully enclosed, so she must feel safe in there). We're just going to leave her with the many beds, toys, food and so on, for now.. so she can roam and explore in comfort.

I feel so sad that she's so scared. How I wish I could just let her know that everything is going to be okay now.

As a side note, I have to mention the facility at Pet Save. Today was my first visit there, and all I can say is WOW. This place is a giant house, a full home, for.... a hundred, more?, cats. The one side I was in to pick up 'kitty' had at least 50 or more cats. About 10 all rushed me when I came in, insisting for petting. One even jumped up on my shoulders when I bent down to caress the sea of cats. I was in awe. What a wonderful place they're running there. If it wasn't 45+ minute drive to get there, I would probably ask to become a volunteer (also, have to see how all that will work around my new job schedule).

Anyway, going to be going out soon. Meeting up with our guests (the man's folks are staying with us for the weekend) for dinner, then we'll be back after that. If I don't get pictures today, I will definitely follow up tomorrow with how things are coming along. :)

So Much News!

I don't even know where to start!

Hmmm.. well, let's see. To start, I suppose, I'm officially off from my previous job for approximately 3 weeks from this coming Monday (to start in the new place on March 29th, I believe).

Today, I spent the day with the Petsmart kitties (pictures below), as I usually do on my day off. Tomorrow is just a relax and clean day at home.

The best news is this.
When I got home, I got a phone call from a woman from Pet Save telling me that they had a pregnant cat that they just sent to a foster home (this is different from the SPCA mommy from a couple weeks ago). She had been found with another cat at the time, both of them far under-nourished. She didn't realize that either of them was pregnant, because they are/were so thin. To her surprise, she realized that the one was definitely pregnant (this being the one that just went to the foster home). The other, she is still uncertain if she is also pregnant. But, she was hoping that I would take her anyway. Of course, my first instinct was "YES"... though, with my 3 weeks off, and a possibly plan to go away for a while before starting my new job, I had to hesitate.
I told her I would have to call her back.
So... the discussion commenced this evening over dinner. Both of us want to help out, and we've waited so long to be able to foster again... it was a tough decision, because we've also want to take a bit of a vacation. But, with the thought that this kitty cat being ill from being so malnourished, and Pet Save not being able to hold onto her in case she's pregnant... we decided we just couldn't say no.

Therefore, I called her back an hour later and told her we'd take her.
We're picking her up tomorrow :)

We have company this weekend, who will be taking over the foster room, but we've decided that we're going to let this kitty have run of our computer room for the weekend. I'm supposed to hear from them first thing in the morning, and I'll find out what time I'll be picking up the kitty. We're going to take all of Yoko's belongings out of here, as well as our computers (we have laptops, so that will be easy), and set up beds and toys and food and so on for the newbie.

I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, but I know that something out there has given me this opportunity because I will be home for the next few weeks to tend to this kitty. And, I'm happy to do so. A vacation could be on hold for us, but that's okay. :)

I'll be in touch tomorrow for updates!

For now... Pictures!

Maddy

What a lovely girl she is. Purrs on immediate contact. Snuggly and adorable.

I have no doubts she's going to get picked up in the very near future.

 

Fozzie

Has clipped ears. I'm not fully certain on the story behind why, but I felt pretty darn sorry for the big guy.

He took a little time to let me come around to him. Then after some sweet talking, he rolled over on his belly with big purrs, demanding for petting.

 

Temperance

I just can't resist the lion cut on kitties. GAH. Makes me fall over dead from the cute.

He looooved playing with a mousie with me. He's going to be great for a fun home.

Milo

I fell in love with another one.

Super mild mannered, loving, cuddly, gorgeous, and just... an all around super cat. He would've let me hold him for forever if I let him. He is going to make someone very happy. I would adopt him myself, if I could.

 

Celest

I'm disappointed with my pictures of Celest. I was in a bit of a hurry while snapping them today.

She is stunning to see. I adore Torties so very much, and she definitely rocks the spots well.  

At least you get to see those big yellow eyes! 

She was the youngest of the bunch today, at 9 months. I'm assuming she'll be adopted in no time.

Bailey (orange) & Chloe (tabby)

To be adopted together, because they are brother and sister. They really need a good home. I felt pretty sad for the both of them. They're 10 and 13, and both were a bit skittish. It's no place for older cats to be...(well, it's no place for any cat to be, but you know what I mean). I really hope they find a home. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

 

There's always one I don't remember the name of :(

I know her name has a "V" in it, unfortunately, I don't remember the rest.

She stayed in her cage the entire day, hiding out. This girl did NOT want to be here. But, you could tell from the sweetness in her eyes that she was a nice cat. I hope that someone finds that in her soon...

Rocky

My bratty little Rocky. Been with the shelter since September, because, well, he's a bit of a jerk! heehee

Though! With that being said, he always gets some lookers because he really is a pretty looking fella. And, I know, deep down, that once he gets taken away from the shelter, into a home without cats, he's going to be an AWESOME pet. His one-on-ones with me have come a long way. I have high hopes for him.

 

Niko

Just look at those linx ears. How can you not just fall over from the cuteness?

And in that top picture, I took a million of him rolling all around and bonking his head on things every time I talked to him. He was a bit shy to come out of his cage because of the other kitties (he hasn't been there that long), but you can tell that he has a lot of potential. 

And that's it for now!

I'll be back to post as soon as I get more information

Til then!

It's March!

Thank you for this lovely spring weather day, sweet Sunshine Gods.