Phoebe's Family

Friends, I'm afraid our update today will be short and sweet. My human has been very, very sick with a sore tummy, has taken way more pain killers than she normally does, and is too tired from throwing up with the pain and blissed with the meds to write much for me. I'm sorry about that, and I promise I'll get to more interesting things tomorrow or late rin the week!






The only reason I could get her to write at all was cuz I shouted and shouted till she thought I might be going into early labour (Isn't she paranoid? I think I'll start calling her Marvin. Eternal smoochies to any of you who get the reference!). I wasn't, but I wanted to make her think it, cuz then she thought about Phoebe from yesterday and her babycats. That, as I had hoped, made her remember that she'd promised you an update.





In total, Phoebe now has five babycats, one white with cream paws, face and tail, two black with a white paw, one that looks like a tiger, and another that's a little tortie, or so says the mummypeople. They had to take her in to see the vet peoples who are shockingly ignorant when it comes to birthing. Phoebe wasn't passing enough chord to let the mummypeople cut it easily, and instead of giving her oxytosin straight away, the vet lady people advised the mummypeople to pull gently on the chord to ease out the placenta. Well, you don't do that ever, as she found out, as when you do, it tears the mummycat. Hardly surprising when you figure that the placenta is still attached to the wall of the uterus and will let go only when the mum makes an effort and goes with her contractions. Phoebe wasn't. Thankfully, the mummypeople was pulling real gently and as soon as she saw the first drops of blood she stopped, but that could have been real, real bad. The fourth baby was still attached when Phoebe pushed out a fifth, and it was then that she got took to the vet.





They cut the chord on the fifth one, but she didn't pass the placenta. Again, they showed their ignorance by telling the mummypeople that Oxytosin, although it would make her pass the placenta, would be painful for her, and the increased contractions would kill any remaining kittens. Well duh, stupid vet people, how do you think kittens get born in the first place? It ain't by relaxing! Instead, they opted for a course of preventative antibiotics to make sure that she couldn't get sick if she didn''t pass the placenta. If it was me they'd done that to, the human would be filled with dread. She tried to explain this to the mummypeople, but by that point it was too late and the antibiotics had been given.





So Phoebe is at home with her babies. Me and the human will wait to see how things develop. Three babies remained attached to mum with no slack in the chord, and the first born actually got tangled in its chord and mum did nothing to help. The second born was the only one in this litter who won't be at signifficant risk of abdominal hernea due to pulling on the chord.





Why do I tell you all these things, negative as they are? For a lot of reasons actuallly. Phoebe, at nine months old, was too young to be a mum, and made no effort to clean, de-bag or chew the chords on kittens. She didn't have the reserves necessary to complete a delivery due to being too skinny in my opinion (they didn't know they had to feed her higher quality food, and more of it, while she was pregnant). Four out of five kittens may have life threatening health issues in the near future. The mum may also face the same risk through infection. Lack of preparedness and being informed led to the lives of five cats being put unnecessarily at risk, and to the addition of five mostly unwanted kittens into the already over-crowded kitten world. The family now find themselves having to look after a large litter, a sick mum and pay all the expenses, and they're not rich. I tell you these things to illustrate how important it is to have your cat spayed or neutered if you're not breeding to a specific end or for a certain purpose. It's so, so important. I'm also telling you this cuz I know the human needs to rant, specially cuz it's her family who are being so unforgiveably stupid. She loves them, but she thinks they're idiots today!





That's all we have for now. I'll update you as soon as the human makes the talk noise on the phone thing with her auntie, the mummypeople, and I know more about how the new little family are doing today. Thanks for listening to our rant, and sorry there wasn't more interesting stuff to read!

The Prodigal Kittens

Friends, I have found my babies! I really have! I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever. The human kept telling me I should, but I was too busy searching. I looked everywhere. I even was brave enough to go look in the bath tub, but they weren't there. Things were getting desperate, so I wrote a letter to my friend Sweet Praline
who came through for me! If you have a look at her blog, you can see how hard she searched, just in case my babies had somehow gotten into her house by mistake. Although she didn't find them, she did begin to put feelers out, and thanks to her wonderful connections, I have located my children! Allow me to explain.

Over the last two weeks, my human kept muttering "phantom pregnancy". I hadn't mentioned this to Praline until a little while ago, but as soon as I did, she got thinking. "Tia," said she, "You have to slow down a little. You young cats are so eager for life that you don't take the time to consider things propperly. Really think about the words. Break them down a bit." Given that she is an older and wiser cat, and a tortie Persian to boot, I thought I'd better listen. "Phantom Pregnancy," I thought, "phantom pregnancy. Fan Tom, Preg Nancy."

It was like being hit by a sun puddle. I understood! Fan, Tom, Nancy! I now had a lead. Quick as a wink, I ran to the computer and had my human send off an email. She knows a lady called Nancy, you see. Could it be true? I waited with paws crossed, and this morning, a return email came our way. It was true! I was right! Allow me to share with you.

First the fan. This was how the babies escaped from my tummy. On Thursday night while I was asleep, Tom and Nancy sneaked into my house and blew a big fan really hard against my tummy. I didn't wake up because it was only air on my skin, and I'm used to that. Tom and Nancy are two peoples who take care of little ghost kittens. They explained to me in the email that ghost kittens have a hard time getting food from their mummycat, but that they have the means to care for them. They'd heard I was having kittens, and had come to check. They do this with all mummycats just in case they are having ghost kittens instead of babycat kittens. They don't want any kittens to die, so if there are ghost ones, they take them away so that they can feed for them and love them and make sure they grow big and strong. Every night, they sneak into the houses of mummycats really quietly so as not to wake anyone and worry them. Then they check on the babycats. If they are ghosts, they blow the fan. If they are not, they leave as silently as they have come. My human says they're rather like santa clause in that respect, but I don't know who he is. I think they are guardians of cats everywhere.

Ghost kittens are light, say Tom and Nancy, so the fan blows them straight out of your tummy. "We put them in a basket with lots of snuggly warm blankets, and we bring them home with us." I asked why they couldn't have stayed with me. "Ghost kittens are all air and shadow," they reply."If you kept them, you'd not be able to see them, and how can you feed a babycat you can't see?" I couldn't argue with them here. If I couldn't see them, I couldn't go to where they are to snuggle and feed them. They'd be cold and hungry and lonely, and I wouldn't even know! The thought of that makes me quite upset, but now I know they are happy and healthy, it is tempered.

Tom and Nancy say my babies are happy. They promise to give updates on their progress over the coming months, and say they will love them very much.

So there you have it. I'm not quite sure about the Preg part of Fan Tom Preg Nancy, but my human does know a people called Gregg, and he is related to Nancy. Maybe they just made a mistake with Preg Nancy. I think it's Gregg, and that he will help take care of the ghost kittens too.

Tom and Nancy offer their services to all cats in need. If you think you might be having kittens, just get in contact with them. It's worth it in case they are ghosts.

To Tom, Gregg and Nancy, thank you for caring for my babies. I will always miss them, but my grief is made a little easier by knowing that they are in loving arms. To Praline, thank you so much for your wisdom and care. I will never forget the comfort you gave me. To all of you others, your purrs worked, and I thank you for helping my babies on their way to a loving home. I will sleep well tonight knowing that they all have milk and warmth.

Sad, Searching Sunday

I am back, friends. I have decided that I need to reclaim my blog from the clutches of the human who was growing to enjoy posting a little too much for my liking. She did a good job with most of it, although I'm sorry that it was all written from the peoples perspective. I keep telling her about that, but she just can't change her perspective enough to write from the point of view of us cats. Ah well, never mind.

To summarise for those of you who went glossy-eyed at the people description of what has happened over the last few days, I had kittens in my tummy, and then somebody stole them! I don't know how it happened or when they took them, but I know they did. Was it the vet? I don't know. I have been down there twice in two days, and each time they were very, very interested in my yummy tummy. I know, I know. It's understandable, but they were interested beyond the usual interest level peoples show. Last night they even stole some of my fur, right under my nose too! So I wouldn't be surprised if they slipped the kittens out when I was preoccupied with seeing where they put my fur. They put cold gel stuff on my tummy and then pushed a hard thing against it. The human says this is to get pictures to see if I have any kittens, but I was a bit confused, as I didn't see a bright light flash, and it wasn't a flashbox. They didn't find any kittens, but no wonder! They had already stolen them!

If it wasn't the vet peoples, maybe another mummycat crept in here at night when me and the human were asleep and stole the babycats out of my tummy without waking me. I know it's possible. We cats sneak really good, so maybe she could have succeeded at this.

Either way though, I have searched and searched for my babies all day long. Even though I didn't have a chance to see them outside of my tummy, I know that I should be caring for them. I get so upset when I can't find them. I'm so worried. What if they're hungry? What if they don't have a mummycat to keep them warm? And even if they do, it's not me! Nobody could take care of my babies as well as me.

My human says I'm "entering the grieving stage of the phantom". I don't know what a phantom is, but I know I'm not in it. I am grieving though, and terribly. I hadn't been eating much anyway, what with getting ready to have my babies, but now I just don't have any apetite. I'm too busy searching to think about food. The human even had to coax me to eat chicken. She's given me a lot of it so that at least I'm eating something, but all I can think about are my missing babies.

I have adopted the human too. I've already lost my family. I don't want to lose her too. I've stayed very close to her all day and have made her come into whatever room I'm searching in so that I can keep an eye on her. I can't let her out of my sight. I get so worried when she goes somewhere that I can't see that I cry and cry until she comes back. She knows I'm feeling miserable, so has been holding me a lot. She also gives me her hand to cuddle. It's warm like a kitten, and she moves it occasionally too, just like a babycat would. I feel a little more contented when I pull it close and snuggle it against my tummy, but when I try to feed it and it won't suckle, it all comes crashing down on me again, and I go back to looking.

Please, friends, help me find them. Please search with me and keep a look-out. Somebody stole them, and whoever it is needs to be found. I can't find them on my own. I need help.

Human note: If any of you have experience with a cat grieving for a phantom pregnancy and what to do about it, please, please get in touch. I don't like seeing her this upset, and although it'll pass, I'd like to help it go sooner if there's a way.

Quick Update

Human: I'm tired again, so this isn't going to be a long one. Off and on all day, Tia's been going to her box and calling and calling until I come in there with her. She's either crouched or stretched right on her side and fidgets a lot as though she can't get comfortable. I really, really wasn't happy, so I took her back to the vets and asked them to do an ultrasound on her. unfortunately, it wasn't my usual vet, and this surgery offers a less than great service, but my normal one wouldn't do the test till Monday, and I didn't want to wait that long.

I won't tell you about our interminable wait there. Maybe Tia will when she's feeling up to blogging again. In the end though, we were seen and she was scanned. The vet said she was 99% sure that there were no kittens in there. So it's a phantom after all. I feel as drained as though it were real, and my pregnancy instead of hers!

I'm not long back from there, but the first thing I did was take up her nesting box. That won't go back down unless she gets really, really desperate again. Her milk is still in, but it hasn't increased any since yesterday. She's still crouching, but it's for short periods at a time. I guess I just need to keep watching. They gave her an exam and said they could find nothing else wrong, so apparently she's having phantom labour as well as pregnancy. I can't wait to see the ghost kitten. Please let it come soon!

Tia Update

Hi there, folks. It's the human here. I'm posting today, as Tia is still a bit, ah, preoccupied.

I was half expecting to find a kitten or two when I got home after a very long shift at work yesterday. I'd had Hoover lady check in on Tia in the middle of the day just in case she had started labour and was having difficulties, but she was fine. When I got home, it was to find that Hoover lady was still there. She's great. She stayed with her on the off-chance that Tia would start and there'd be nobody there for her. I tried to have a listen with my stethoscope yesterday (I'm a physio, and have a paediatric very sensitive one) but it wasn't sensitive enough to hear through the fur of her tummy, so I was none the wiser. I decided to watch for another night to see what happened.

She didn't nest nearly as insistently last night, but then I don't know whether this is indicative or not because I'd put a box down for her in the living room. She'd been in there all day and knew that it was safe, warm and private, so maybe her urgency slacked off a little because she knew it was there. Whatever the reason, she slept for a little, and so did I. I was up with her frequently though. She was very restless and terribly vocal about it.

This morning she didn't seem to want me to go to work, but again, that's not abnormal. I got her settled in her box and she seemed fine, so off I went. Still no kittens when I came home, but Tia now started calling me to the box. She wasn't happy unless she was there and I was in there with her. I had to take Molly to the vet for her first session of hydrotherapy, so I decided, against my better judgement really, to take Tia along and have one of them look at her. I'd spoken to them on the phone beforehand and they thought she might very well have a real pregnancy. That worried me enough that I wanted her checked.

I took her in a closed carrier to give her a bit more privacy, and she really seemed to like it. It's quite big, so she could get comfy and fidget when she needed to, and she talked all the way there to me.

I saw the vet that had spoken to me on the phone, and she concluded that she thought she could feel something in her tummy. She also said though that she could be convincing herself because of what I'd told her about Tia already, and took her off to let a colleague have a look. He said that he might be able to feel something but didn't think it was likely. So I'm still in the I don't know camp. Her milk is coming down though. All of her nipples are hard and there's one at the back that's filling nicely with milk.

When I brought her home, she headed straight for the box and was very, very insistent that I come with her. When I got there, it was to find her half lying, half crouched and panting quite a bit. "This is it," I thought, and stayed with her. Half an hour later though, she came back out, jumped on my lap on the sofa and went to sleep. She's currently on the back of the sofa behind my head and is still sleeping.

So I still don't know what to think. Because her milk is coming in, we should see something happen pretty soon. It usually happens within two days, four at the most, so the waiting game will be over reasonably quickly, I'm guessing. It's interminable though, and I don't like it. I'm going to take her into bed with me again tonight, and hope that I sleep lightly so that she will have no trouble waking me if she needs me. I'm a light sleeper anyway, but since Tia's been with me, I've learned to snore on through her constant chattering, so I'm worried that if she cries, I'll not notice it.

As soon as there's any change, I'll post it here. I'd really appreciate advice from any of you who have either had a pregnant mum give birth with you or who know about phantom pregnancy though. I feel a bit out on my own here, and don't know if it's normal for labour to stop and start, for example. I thought once it started, it just kept on going, but judging by her current position, she didn't start earlier on after all. Help! If you know of anyone else who knows, I'd love the input. For now, I'm going to grab sleep when I can. Fingers crossed for a safe delivery, whether it be ghost or kitten!