Showing posts with label safe place. Show all posts
Showing posts with label safe place. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 June 2011

Sleepy Sunday

Friends, as my pregnancy progresses, I find myself wanting to sleep more and more. The only problem is that I can't! Why? Cuz my babies have been injected with wiggly worms that make them keep moving all the time. One baby has gotten itself into a real comfy position next to my ribs, and when it kicks, it plays football with the bottom one. This is guaranteed to make me get up from a comfy position and roll around or walk a little to try and ease the discomfort and settle the baby so that I can go back to sleeping. I'm spending a lot of time on my back now. I find that this alters the position of the wrigglers inside me and gives me a few moments of kick free peace. It doesn't last long though. All those babies weigh a lot, and that weight presses on my organs when I'm that way up. That isn't too comfy either, so I have to keep rolling.






I'd gone off my food a little in the last few days too. This isn't uncommon for a mummycat with a yummy tummy stuffed full of babies. There simply isn't room in there for a big meal. however, the human knows that everything I eat is going to my babies. Even though I have a belly the size of a small whale, she can still easily feel my backbone and pelvis, so she knows it's very important for me to keep eating. She got out the really special treats, the ones I'd do anything for, and she's been crumbling them on the top of my stinky goodness. They're freeze-dried chicken and they crumble to powder which makes the food smell and taste so good that I can't ignore it. Those babies just have to move over and make room, cuz it's not staying in the bowl! So much for not eating...





My safe place has now been augmented by an upside down cardboard box with a hole cut in the front for me to go in and out. It's great in there, very dark and private and cosy. She's set one up in the bedroom for me too after she caught me trying to nest under the bed, but I haven't bothered with that one yet. I prefer to spend most of my time hanging out on the towel she's put on top of the kittening pen. It's comfy up there, and I can watch the world go by whilst guarding my safe place. She says she'd rather I nested, but she's not worried. On the pen or in it. Either's good enough for her until babies come along.





My belly gets bigger by the day, and even the human can easily feel baby movement now. The little footballer even managed to kick her in the stomach the other day when we were cuddling. She found this highly amusing. My ribs did not.





There's almost only seven days to go now, and I fear I may have passed my last peaceful weekend for a long, long time to come. The human's having silly nightmares about the litter, that something will go wrong when I'm delivering. I'm not worried though. What will be will be. Dogman came this week and took some pictures of the yummy tummy, so as soon as he emails them to the human, I'll get her to put them up here.





For the rest of this week, I've asked her to put up some educational posts. We're going to look at genetics, how to prepare for the arrival of kittens, how to help your cat during birthing, and how to care for mum and babies once they have been born. The genetics alone is massive, so will probably take up two posts, but we hope it will be helpful for some peoples who find themselves with a pregnant cat. I'll pop in from time to time to give you updates if anything happens, but this last week is likely to be long and tedious and very uncomfortable. Thank cod it's not stupidly hot here too, that's all I can say!





I have to go to see our nice vet people tomorrow. She's going to cut my nails and probably have a feel of the yummy tummy, as she's excited too about babycats. She'll then show my human how to take my temperature, and that I'm not looking forward to. It's important to take in the last week though. When birth is close, it will drop within 12 hours. The human's breeder friend is coming down to help us if we need it, so that gives the human an indication of when to call her to come. It's a loss of dignity for me though, and i intend to put up a tremendous fight whenever I see that thermometer thingy coming! She may be able to placate me with lotsa treats though... Who says I'm not shallow!





Anyway, friends, I hope you enjoy the week of education. Think of me as I grow fatter, eh? Soon, very soon, there'll be lots of little me's running around. I can't wait!

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Kittens and weddings and plane birds, oh my!

At last, friends, it's time to update you all propperly! My human says this post is gonna be hard to write, cuz my safe place is in the way and it's disrupting the signal of her wireless keyboard to the computer box. I'll tell you all about it, shall I?





My safe place is a kittening pen. It's mesh on all sides so that I can see out when I want to. It's nice and big and made of wood framing. The bottom is a solid floor lined in a soft plastic lino. It's cushioned, so I could lie on it without any bedding if I needed to. Of course I'd never need to cuz my human has made it all soft in there, but babies crawl, and they sleep where they fall when they're tired, so it keeps it nice and comfy for them. She's put some huge fluffy towels in there for me cuz next to her fleecey sweatshirt and dressing gown, she knows these are my favourite things to lie on. She's gone one better though.





She got a massive quilt cover which she draped over the top and sides of the pen. Then she got another of those big towels and put it over the top of the cover. Now, not only is it comfortable to lie on top of the pen as well as inside, but inside is all dark and cave-like for me so that I feel safe. I think it'd be a good place to hide my babies away. She's left the front and a little of the sides uncovered so I can still see out. The door at the front is open so I can come and go easily, and the top is also open. Most of this is covered, but there's a small square where I can jump in and out. She's put my scratchy post with the platform near this so I can jump on there and then into the pen. She says this is what I'll have to do when I have babycats, as if she leaves the door open, they're likely to crawl out and get lost. What do you think? Do you think babycats would be safe here, or should I carry on trying to nest behind the TV where I know she doesn't want me? It would almost be worth doing it just for this!





So, my human's trip to Alaska. Where to start? She said she would update you herself, but in typical human style, she didn't. She says it was hard and slow to access the blog with her little tiny man in a box, the one she calls Laptop. I say that's still no reason not to post.





The plane bird ate her just as I said it would, and just like I told you, it spat her out in Seattle, forcing her to beg another one to take her the last bit to Alaska. I told you she had lots in her suitcase that would make him not want to take her the whole way, and I wasn't joking! She did get there eventually though. my human doesn't like being eaten for a long time by plane birds, so she was mighty glad to get there. She was also super glad to see Bug and his family.





She didn't do tons while she was there, but she didn't mind either. She says that the time to relax sat well with her. Bug's mummypeople cooked her super good dinners though, and she got to try lots of strange foods that peoples in this country don't have like Corn dogs and quessadillas (think that's how you write it) and lots of different sweeties (they call it candy). She got to eat cheese curds again too which she loves so much that she had to go back again and again for more of them.





She says they also went back to the gold mine that she had visited last time she was there. She found a lot of gold in the dirt, and Bug, Bug's step-sister and her little girlkitten gave my human all the gold they found too! She told them she's saving a little every time she goes there, and eventually she'll have it made into a small piece of jewelery. Speaking of jewelery, she bought a bit while she was there. It's a beautiful gold nugget that has been put on a chain, and she loves it very, very much.





They did something even more exciting than that though. They went to a real, real big pet shop! And you know what she bought for me? She bought kitten milk just in case my babies needed feeding up a little, in case I don't have enough milk for them, but that's not the cool part. She also bought Da Bird. the real Da Bird! I like it a lot. This one I can really wrassle with when I catch it and it still doesn't break. I nearly exhausted myself totally when I tried to catch it when she brought it out for me after she got home. I love, love, love that thing!





The human also spent time with Bug's family. His mummypeople is such a good cook, and his step-dad is lotsa fun too. His step-sister came over a lot and brought her two kittens, a boy and a girl. The girl is older, but the boy is way cuter. He sang her lots and lots of songs and even taught her the tickle song which him and his mummypeople made up. That meant that he got to tickle the human while singing it, but she did it right back to him too! She recorded him singing so that she could remember it even when he grows up. She's been singing it to me, but I keep telling her that the yummy tummy is not for tickling, cuz the babies go crazy when she does. I also tell her that the right to give kissies is not, in fact, a right, but an earned privilage. I think all the kissies the little boykitten gave her when he was tickling her turned her soft. This she of course ignores as she plants kissies on the babies.





My human can now feel the babies kicking a lot. There's one that we both think is a tortie like me, cuz that one kicks the most and the hardest. The human is sure she felt all four feet going at one point this morning. I'm more than sure, cuz it was kicking at my poor ribs!





I'm quite uncomfortable today. The babies are kicking hard and I can't rest for long. I think it's about time they came out of me, but the human says I have to keep them for another 11 days to let them grow a little more. Well, aren't they big enough already? The human now thinks I might possibly have more than three, cuz I'm so big. Even though I am not even eight weeks pregnant yet, I am already bigger than Phoebe, and she had five! She's not sure though, as she can only feel three distinct movement patterns in my yummy tummy, and I'm not telling how many I'm growing inside me. I did tell you I'd work hard on growing a big yummy tummy for the human while she was away though, and I've certainly done that!





It took her a massive 38 hours to travel from Alaska to Ireland, and this time it took four plane birds to get her all the way home. She says she never wants to travel that long again. She was so tired when she finally got there that she was doing stupid things like bursting into tears for no reason. She was even like that at the wedding the next day.





The wedding went so well. The bride was gorgeous, and the groom, her cousin, was the most handsome groom ever! My human does admit to being somewhat biased though. He's her cousin after all. He is deaf, and had brought a lot of his deaf friends along. He and his new wife hired an interpretor to stand at the front and sign so that they all could hear the talk noise that the peoples were making. My human thought that was a very nice touch. Glen also spoke all of his own speeches rather than signing them, something which is very hard for him to do. He doesn't speak very well and he knows it. Talking is a great effort for him and also an embarrassment cuz he worries what peoples will think of his funny noises. But he stood in front of everyone and told his wife how much he loved her. It would be fair to say my human had such a bad case of leaky eyes that she used up all the tissues in the place. That cousin is the closest to her in so many ways. They were born only two months apart, and they are the only two cousins who both share a disability. Sure there are many more in their family, but they were the only two in that generation. They looked out for each other growing up, she speaking for him when he couldn't, he taking her places that she couldn't go on accounta her broken eyes. She's so glad that he's happy now with his new wife. They go off to Sri Lanca for their honeymoon tomorrow.





So that's it for my human's trip. She really enjoyed it, but she loved getting home to me too. As much as I'll most likely live to regret this statement, I'm enjoying having her back, and I'm glad she won't be going away for a long time!





oh speaking of babies, even though we weren't, phoebe and her new family are doing well, although the mummypeople thinks she may have a temperature today. The human has advised taking her to the vet, but I don't know whether they will or not. Mom Trish, don't worry. We definitely won't we seeing the same vet! For one thing, we choose better, and for another, she livs in Ireland and I am in England. Thank goodness! I'm so glad that a lot of you found the post educational. I'll remember everything about when my babycats are born so that I can tell you all that too! I'll also do a few genetics posts this week and one on the things in my human's kittening bag if you like. Would you all like to see that?





My human says thank you to everyone who hoped she'd feel better today. She is, in fact, feeling a little more like herself. She says the pain killers are now working, but I say it's all thanks to the attentive nursing I've been doing. Cat spit works wonders!

Thursday, 10 March 2011

What Day Is It?

Friends, it's hard to remember the days of the week lately. Before, I knew when it was due to my human going off to the work hunt to pay for my foods and toys, but now that she doesn't go any more, one day is very like the next, and they all blend together. What's a ladycat to do when she can't coordinate her diary? I blame that for the fact that I'm still not thinking about mancats very much. I mean, if I'm to make a date, how will I make sure i don't miss it! The human says she'll help me remember, but can I really put my trust in a creature that doesn't even remember how to use a litterbox propperly, despite my numerous demonstrations? Unwise, if you ask me.




Well, first thin'gs first, an update on the kittens. The two bouncing boys weren't the last to be born. Mummycat had nine babies in total, but unfortunately, three of them had already left for the rainbow bridge, and one little girl is really struggling not to follow them. Keep those paws crossed that she decides she wants to play this side of it for a little longer! Mummycat's milk hasn't come in, so the people that she owns has been delegated the task of hand feeding the babies who aren't getting the little milk that mummycat is able to produce. The people who she owns is a super lady though, so she doesn't mind doing it at all.





In other news, I just think I need to say that I agree with you, Hannah and Lucy, and I told my human so. When her friend came today, I decided to put it to the test, so strolled over to her and gave her a little head bumpy. She gave me scritches, but the human didn't reward me with treats! how dare she not!





Speaking of food, she bought me a new type of stinky goodness. Well, two new types actually. They arrived yesterday. She bought new ones cuz the old ones had too much sugar and were making my teeth bad. But I don't like the new kind. I ate a little of one type yesterday, but when she put more down today, I only licked it once and walked off! Then when she put the second type down, I ate a little of it, but didn't want any more after that. I don't do healthy, please and thank you! Junk food any time for me! She says I'd better learn to like it cuz she bought a lot, but I say I'll like it if I choose to, and if she doesn't like it, well, she better learn to like it! hah, human, bet you don't like it now that the shoe is on the other foot, do you!





I've been having fun in my new place, and training the human at the same time. you remember I told you I was hanging out by the litterbox a lot? Well, my human thinks that if she gives me treats, it'll draw me out of there, so every time I go towards it and don't use the box, she calls me back into the room where she is. If I jump up on the sofa beside her, I get a treat. All I have to do is jump back down again an dpretend to head for my safe spot, and you know what happens? She gives me another treat when she calls me back and I come! Man, this human training is soooo easy!





I also had fun playing with my toys today. I've told you about my play cube before. It's so neat and it has three round entrances that you can dive through. Each one has a dangling toy hanging down from above that you can swat and bite, and it's soooo much fun! It's even good as a little house to take naps in. I climbed in there this morning and was just about to doze off when I noticed that right in front of me, within fairly easy whapping distance, was my ball in a track! This is a cool toy, cuz no matter how many times you whap the ball, you can never lose it cuz it stays in its track. I love it. I leaned forward to give it a whap, and I got it good! But as I did, the cube moved, and something whapped me on the head! I swizzled round in surprise, and what do you know? it was a ball! But how did that get there? it was sposed to be in the track! only after I attacked it did I look back at the track, and, low and behold, there was a ball in it! What on earth was going on here? how dare that ball think it could whap me! and on my head too! I was the only one sposed to be doing any whapping around here!





Again I leaned forward and whapped the ball in the track. Again the cube moved, and yet again, a ball whapped me on the top of the head! Really, this was too much, and I turned round to beat it up, but then I saw the ball in the track again! I couldn't stand it any longer. I put both of my paws out of my cube, and I whapped that ball until there was hardly any whap left in me! As I did though, the cube rolled right over and dumped me out onto the floor! I wasn't going to stand for this. Quick as a wink, I turned around, and with claws and teeth working on full power, I attacked. The cube had other ideas though. It rolled away from me. I chased, pounced, dived inside, but the cheeky cube rolled me over as it carried on on its merry way! Perhaps my wriggling inside it had something to do with the fact that it rolled, but I'm not so sure, you know. While I was attacking, I saw that ball again! I realised that it was stuck to the cube with a bit of elastic over one of the entrances. It was one of the cube's hanging toys! But right as I saw this, the ball in the track came back into view, and I just had to whap it. Then the other ball hit me and, and, oh friends, it was just too much, and the carpet was there and. Well, it asked for me to attack it. I promise! It really did ask for it, so I did! Thankfully, my human was too caught up in her computer to notice me doing any of this. Wouldn't it have been embarrassing if she was just pretending not to notice so that I wouldn't stop when I was having such a good time, and she saw the whole thing? I'm so glad my human is stupid sometimes...