Kitten Feature: Big Orange/"Cap"

I'm feeling a lot better. I still hate the nasty nasty medicine, but the bottle looks almost empty so maybe I don't have to take it much longer. In any case, I'm ready to show you pictures again.

The kittens are almost two weeks old now! I can hardly believe it - on one paw, it feels like I've had them forever. On the other, two weeks is a quarter of the time they get to spend with me! Three more two-week periods and they'll be gone.

Here's Big Orange, and me! The Mommies have started calling him "Cap" even though they know they're not supposed to name the babies.

They all have their eyes open now! Mommy-Jess says that all of the kittens will have blue eyes until they're older, so it'll still be another couple of weeks until we know their true eye colors.

And here's a video of "Cap" trying to walk!


Anyway. That's enough for today. As the other four kittens start moving around more, they'll get their own featured posts like this one!

No pictures today, sorry.

There will be no pictures today because I am on STRIKE. On Friday, Mommy-Jess put all of the kittens and me into one big box and brought us out to the Smelly Moving Machine. It made lots of rumblies and scared the kittens, and them being scared scared me even more! I got out of the box by making myself really really tiny and pushing hard, but Mommy-Jess stopped the Smelly Moving Machine and fixed the box and made me go back in.

When the Smelly Moving Machine stopped, Mommy-Jess brought us into the building that smells like other animals and clean things that sting my nose. We sat for awhile, and people cooed at us, and Mommy-Jess talked to them. Then we went into a room and they pulled me out onto a cold table. I tried to jump down, but Mommy-Jess wouldn't let me. Then a little woman and a big man came in and held me down and jabbed me with sharp things and wouldn't stop even when I clawed them! Mommy-Jess kept talking to me, but I could barely hear her over the blood pounding in my ears!

Well, the big man put something up my bum and it made a beeping noise and he made some concerned noises and said something to Mommy-Jess that sounded like "fever." This "fever" must me a bad thing, because they jabbed me with another needle that had stuff in it and now Mommy-Jess shoves a tube down my throat twice a day. The milky liquid tastes awful, but Mommy-Jess gives me treats or food after so I guess I don't hate her too much. Yet.

And the big man looked at all of my babies. He didn't jab them and Mommy-Jess doesn't have to give them any gross-tasting nastiness, so they must be okay.

On the bright side, the kittens are starting to open their eyes! I love that they can see me now, see who their mommy is. Only the Big Orange kitten and the Calico kitten have fully opened their eyes so far, but the rest are starting to as well! They're all growing up so fast.

And you'll get more pictures when Mommy-Jess stops making me swallow that foul-tasting substance. This is an act of protest!

(Edit from Mommy-Jess: To clarify, Emma has a fever and is on antibiotics for the next week. We haven't gotten her blood work back yet, but there could be an infection in her uterus. Most likely, antibiotics will solve the problem and everyone will be fine.)

Motherhood

I've decided that I like being a mother. It's very rewarding, knowing that there are five little lives completely dependent on my giving them milk! I've been spending a lot more time in the kitten box, sometimes hours on end, just because nothing seems more important right now than being with MY kittens.
All they do is eat and sleep. But once they're bigger, I'll play with them, and teach them to stalk and hunt. Maybe we can all play some pranks on poor neutered Charlie!


Mommy-Jess says that they'll open their eyes once they're ten or eleven days old, but that they'll still be deaf for about two weeks. They're all going to have blue eyes at first; we won't know their true eye colors or full coat colors for a couple of weeks yet. But I'm willing to bet that they'll have big, beautiful eyes just like Charlie and me!

KITTENS!

I am the happiest mama in the entire world! I gave birth to five kittens early Saturday morning (May 10th, 2008)! They are so cute and fuzzy and I feel lots better now that they're out of my belly and I can chase the laser and jump around again! Mommy-Jess sat up with me for three hours and then kept getting up to check on me and the babies until everyone was born and happy and nursing. And I'm not fat anymore, thank goodness!


This is a picture of the kittens and I at around 5:30 in the morning after the births. They're very clingy and their little mouths hurt me sometimes, so I have to get up and wander around to take a break, but I never go far and they cry if they need me. I'm very very very tired, but proud!


And in THIS picture, you can see all five of my little darlings! From left to right, we call them Gray, Big Orange, Calico, Little Orange, and Black. Mommy-Jess thinks that Gray and the two Oranges are boys and that Black and Calico are girls, but we can't be entirely sure yet. The initial sexing isn't always accurate because it's hard to see their little tiny parts!

Well, that's all for now. Everyone seems to be happy and healthy over 24 hours in, so I'm hoping that all of my worrying was all for nothing! I'll keep you informed!

What good timing. Happy Mother's Day to meeeee!

Ugh.

Everything hurts! The babies keep moving around and kicking me and it HURTS. I look to Mommy-Jess for help, but all she does it pet me and talk to me gently and try to put me in the nesting box. I don't like it in there, not yet. Maybe later. Maybe.

I just cannot seem to get comfortable. I lay on the hard floors because lugging this weight around hurts my back and my legs and the support feels really good... until they shift again and I have to turn over and try to get comfortable and ugh! I just want them out. I want to cuddle them and lick them and feed them and raise them. As long as they're out of my belly!

Okay. Next time, it'll probably be a birth announcement, for real this time. I just had to tell someone how frustrating and painful this is!

I'm back!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry it's been ages since my last post. My brother, Charlie, was neutered a couple of weeks ago (you know, to prevent this from happening again), so things have been busy over here. The Mommies were really stressed out, but now that Charlie is healing, they seem to be happier again and I can take time away from comforting everyone to write.

Mommy-Jess filled a cardboard box with newspaper and fleece. She keeps saying something about "nesting." As I'm no bird, I'm not sure exactly what she means, but Charlie keeps going into the box! If it's for what I think it's for, I don't want to raise kittens in a box that smells like my brother, so I may have to find somewhere else to accomplish this "nesting" thing. Maybe a closet. Or Jess's laundry. Tee hee.

I've gotten so huge! I'm likely to pop at any minute, I swear. I think Jess is taking next week off from work, which is nice, because it means we'll get morning cuddle time where I can plant my big pregnant self right on her chest. She makes such satisfying whiny noises sometimes! But, seriously. Look at that belly.

The babies are due within the next week or so. I'm glad that someone will be home with me. I'm still so young myself... I hope I know what to do when the time comes. I'm actually kind of nervous. I know I'll only have them for six weeks or so, but those are going to be long, long weeks!

My next post will probably be a birth announcement, so be on the look out.

Ugh. My tummy hurts.

Hello!

Hi everybody! My name is Emma. I'm a domestic short hair, and I have a funny mix of calico and tabby colorations in my coat. I just turned a year old, but my previous owner did not have me spayed between six and eight months of age. I live with my brother, Charlie, and he impregnated me when I began going into heat. My previous owner had to move to an apartment that doesn't allow cats, so he gave us to Jess and Jae. I was already pregnant when Jess adopted me, but she didn't know that. She found out when she took me to the vet to get my shots. But she's taking great care of me!

I love playing with the laser pointer and lying on Jae's windowsill. I'm also a huge fan of plastic bags, as you can see in the picture above.

I'm going to use this blog to keep my friends and Jess's friends up-to-date about my pregnancy, and to eventually post pictures of my babies! As of right now, I'm due in about two or three weeks. I'm probably going to start nesting soon, so Jess had better prepare some boxes for me!

I'm excited, but a little scared. Charlie is a great brother, as you can see in this picture, but I wish we'd been able to keep our hormones in check! Although the risk of birth defects to my kittens is relatively low because it's unlikely that our parents and their parents were also inbred, it still makes me nervous. Also, I'm just a baby myself, and this is my first litter! I don't know if I'm ready to be a mommy, but I guess I'm willing to try. I just want a healthy litter.

Anyway. I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures! I'm really moody right now, but I hope that will get better soon. I'll post again when I'm feeling a bit better.

-Emma