New kitty-mama in the house

Got a call yesterday from Juli at the Humane Society. She had a new pregnant kitty needing fostering. So off I went to pick her up. She is a beautiful brown tabby with a 3/4 tail with a nearly 360 degree curl in the end. But one look into her gorgeous green eyes, and I knew her name - Peridot.

I got her home, and put her into the office/kitten room. She immediately scooted under my cabinet. I went in and out a couple of times, and talked to her each time. This morning, she greeted me with a "Mrrow" and attempted to venture out. Her belly made it hard for her to get out from under the cabinet, so I assisted. Since then, she seems to be happy to come out and cuddle whenever I'm in there. She likes my desk chair.

The vet says she's about 3 years old, and that this is likely not her first litter. She is likely going to deliver within the week, and the vet estimates 3-5 kittens.

She has fabulous markings - very distinct. You can see the kinked tail in the second pic. The third picture gives you a sense of her belly bulge.

Wow, I can't believe I never updated on Freja and her babies. They all warmed up and were very sweet and playful. Freja warmed up and was quite happy being given pets and skritches. The kittens became extremely rambucious. Our friend Zach fell in love with Calypso and Sif (named them, too) and decided to adopt them. The other three were adopted right away and Freja went home to her new family a few days later.

Freja

Calypso

Freja and Herakles

 The family chowing down

 Herakles

 Luna and Friend

Sif

Update on Cedar and a new litter

So we took Cedar back to the shelter to get a scan done and then be spade. I got a call from Juli, the new cat foster coordinator. It turns out that Cedar was never pregnant AND she had been spade when she was younger. However, she had some kind of internal herniation which had lead to tissue growth with fooled the vet into thinking she was pregnant. So...they fixed up her insides and I can (sort of) forgive whoever owned her because they didn't declaw but NOT fix our sweet girl. Cedar has become one of the favorites at the shelter because she is so loving and sweet. Her facial infection continues to improve. Hopefully she will get a her new forever home really soon.

The other news Juli called with was that there was a mama cat with 5 six-week old kittens who had just been brought in! So off I went to the shelter to pick them up. Mama is a beautiful lynx point with ice blue eyes. There are 4 girls and one boy kitten. There is a grey tabby, two dilute torties (grey base instead of black), one dilute tuxedo and a pale orange kitten. I got them into the car and took them home in complete silence (!)

Once we got them home, they were very apprehensive. Mama started panting and none of them would come out of their carrier. We could touch them without any hissing, but there did not seem to be any interest in the experience :-(. Looks like we're in for some careful socializing.

When I went in this morning, the kittens were starting to explore, but Mama had planted herself under the couch in our family room. I was able to hold the orange boy and the tuxedo girl for a couple of moments.

Mama is now known as Freja (prounouced Frey-a).

Pictures tonight!

Sad news today

After several calls to the Cat Foster Coordinator over the past few days, I was finally asked to bring Cedar back to the Humane Society to get rechecked. The vet checked her over and told us that is seems that the stress of the infection, etc has meant that Cedar's pregnancy has ended and she seems to have reabsorbed any kittens that might have been growing. Although she is healing nicely, her added food intake has lead to her being overweight. We are keeping her for another week to help get her infection cleared up. So no kittens.

It seems that this is not that unusual in cats. It does make sense from a survival perspective - if the cat does not have the necessary energy and resources to heal and maintain a pregnancy, then the pregnancy essentially stops.

On the other hand, I was excited to have little ones in the house. And I had possible forever homes for 3 or 4 of the expected kittens. I think it will take the weekend to feel sadness over the loss of my expectations.

I do hope that we can find Cedar a forever home. She has such a sweet personality, and the right person will love her dearly.

Will she never pop?

Cedar continues to eat 2 cans of food a day. Clearly the kittens are growing, but still no sign of them arriving. I keep expecting to open the door to the office only to see tiny newborns...but no luck.

The clavamox seems to be helping with the face infection. Mostly she seems to be shedding tiny scabs, with no new injuries evident. I really hope that she will regrow all her facial fur once the infection is completely gone.

I'll post more pictures this evening.

Still no kittens

Cedar has settled in nicely. She spends a great deal of her time in her cat carrier, but she has started to venture out more and more. We have opened the door to find her curled up in the cat pillow several times.

Her appetite is still voracious. She seems to be eating 2 cans of wet cat food a day. Between the improved nutrition, and the twice daily antibiotics, her head infection seems to be clearing up. However, still NO KITTENS. I'm disappointed, because I have to head back to work this morning, and the chance of her giving birth without me here is higher. I had really hoped it would happen over the weekend. On the other hand, I don't think this is her first litter of kittens, so hopefully she will be fine without me acting as her doula.

The photos I promised

Here are the pics of Cedar I took this morning. You can see that her face is pretty roughed up from the infection, and that her belly is HUGE.

But I have to say, she is the sweetest thing! She has a full-body purr that starts the second I touch her. And this morning, I tried to pick her up and put her in my lap. She hesitated for a moment, then sank down and put her face in the crook of my arm and just purred and purred. I got the feeling that it took a moment, then she remembered what it felt like to cuddle in a lap. It was heart-melting.

Cedar is the first cat I have been around who is declawed. It feels so strange when she tries to make biscuits! I am so completely against declawing. To know she has survived for nearly the past year without any real way to defend herself makes me even more impressed with her.

Can't wait for the kitten debut!

Long time in between fostering

Wow, I can't believe it has been a year and a half since my jazz babies! A new home, a new kitteh of our own, and the loss of Merlynn in that year and a half. And now a new mama in our new kitten room!

I got an email from the shelter this afternoon about Cedar, and I was able to head down there to pick her up. She is a grey tabby, about 3 years old. She has been declawed on her front paws, so at some time she was someone's pet. However, according to the shelter, she has been homeless and living under a tree for the past 9 months or so. She has an infection on her face and ears, which means she is not very pretty. But what a sweet personality! She purrs the second anyone touches her. And she is ready to POP. I would not be surprised if we see kittens within 48 hours.

Pics to come later this evening.