LostWoods Blog

A very quick post as I need to get out the door to work. Tenobia (Ginger in her previous home) has come back to LostWoods until I can find the purrfect home for her. She looks beautiful and it’s easy to see that her family took great care of her while she lived with them. But she needs a home where she can be the center of attention. She’s nervous around small children and had some issues with an older cat — the two of them were constantly trying to be the dominant cat in the household. So Tenobia would do best in a home with no children and probably no other pets — although a laid back neutered male who would let her be the boss might work out.

Right now she’s pretty stressed and unhappy about her new home — especially since to her sensitive cat nose it smells like all those other cats. She’s staying in the guest room for now and as she gets more comfortable, I may introduce her to Dilan or Peanut. Both of them are sweet boys (even though Peanut isn’t neutered yet) and used to having the girls around here run the show. That will tell me more about her ability to adapt to a home with another cat. I’ll also post some pictures of her once she’s feeling more relaxed. In the meantime, you can check out her kitten pictures on the website — she from the WOT Rulers litter. And if you are interested (or know someone who is) send me a kitten inquiry form and mention her specifically.

The Belgariad Babies are seven weeks old and they were willing to pose all together for a litter shot. In fact, they behaved better as a group than several of them did individually. Their individual shots are on the website. Here’s a shot of the little beasties all lined up in a row. Sorta.

You can see that a certain little girl didn’t want to stay put. No surprise. She’s a monster disguised as a kitten. I really blew it when I named her and Ce’Nedra. In the books, Taiba is a sweet, quiet woman. Ce’Nedra is a willful, spoiled, and determined princess. It’s just the opposite with the two kittens. Taiba was first over the baby gate and first down the stairs. She’s the one that insists on doing things she’s not supposed to, even when I pick her up and move her elsewhere and try to distract her with toys. Is she distracted? No. If she were a little girl she’d stomp her foot, stick out her tongue, and run off to do whatever she wanted.

Never fear, the BBs will be introducing themselves to you all soon. They just in the past day discovered the joys of coming downstairs. They have to do that so they can get to the computer to write their story. I suspect the MBs will soon write their story, too, as they have to do everything the BBs do.

 I forgot to bring the seven week weights down with me, so if I remember, I’ll post them tomorrow. Nobody had a very good week with our food issues. Garion ended up with a net loss for the week, but everyone else gained at least a little. But everyone is doing well and I hope all the worry is behind us now.

Thanks for the comments and stories about your cat, Michelle. Don’t worry about going on and on — I love to hear about all your cats and love to see pictures of them, too. (That’s true of everyone’s cats! Not just Michelle’s.)

Tomorrow I’ll be picking up the adult female I’m getting back at the airport. If she’s relaxed enough, I’ll take pictures tomorrow night. If not then, soon. I’ll let you all know when I post her pictures to the Available Adults page.

It’s been  a busy weekend, but I made time to take the MBs pictures this evening. They are growing like weeds and can do everything the BBs can — or at least they think they can. That includes eating solid food, using the litter box, climbing on the bed, attacking Keiran and Fin, exploring the upstairs hall… They are adorable, if I do say so myself. Anyway, their new pictures, including a picture of the two of them together is on the website.

Everyone at LostWoods is happy and healthy this morning. Well, some are less happy than other because I gave several kittens butt baths to remove the evidence of their tummy upsets earlier in the week. They seem to forgive me that indignity fairly quickly though, so they are probably already happy again.

Taiba was bound and determined to go exploring last night. She’d climb the baby gate, dive over the top and off she’d go. I’d go bring her back and minutes later she was gone again. Belgarath and Garion watched her technique and soon joined her. Ce’Nedra did as well — after balancing on the top of the gate for five minutes thinking about it. So this morning I took the gate down and several of the kittens were madly running from room to room upstairs. The next frontier will be the stairs so they can come down and join the fun on the main floor. It won’t be long.

My suspicions about the origins of the objects on the bedroom floor were confirmed last night when Kali brought a spoon up for her kids. I think this is a sign she’s TOO domesticated. Shira kills toy mice and such to teach her kids about hunting. Kali shows them the tools (spoons, forks, nipples, syringes) that I use for feeding kittens and dishing up the canned food. “Look, when you see lisa-mom with these, mob her and beg for food! That’s when she has the good stuff.” “And see this little spoon? It’s the one she uses to give us treats at shows. It’s my favorite!” 

Today will be filled with laundry, weekly cat chores (washing out litter boxes, mopping the floor in the cat room), and generally getting caught up around the house. Oh, and frequent visits to the kittens because I don’t get nearly enough of them during the week. I’ll also do some work work — I’m on call and I’m babysitting a couple jobs that failed over night. Gotta love that overtime, though.

First of all — Happy Friday! (although if you have a non-traditional weekend, you’re probably making faces or something at my Friday enthusiasm…)

Second, Ce’Nedra had a good night and gained half an ounce. She’s perky and playful this morning. Such a relief after the past couple mornings. For the first time all week she’s over her 6 week weight. The deposits in the kittens’ litter boxes look better, too. Yeah, I know. We breeders talk a lot about our cats and kittens bodily functions. But that’s just part of carefully observing our cats to be sure everyone is in good health. If you have children, think back on their baby days. Didn’t you have some “interesting” conversations about your baby’s diaper contents? LOL!

A funny story… I woke up this morning to discover the parts to three plastic syringes, a fork, a spoon, and the nipple from a kitten nursing bottle on the floor of our bedroom. I’m not sure who brought them up from the kitchen, but my money’s on Kalispell. Shira used to “kill” toys and bring them to her kids, while calling them to see what she’d brought. All night long I heard Kali talking. Now, Kali talks a lot and it’s not unusual for her to call her kids to come eat. But now I’m wondering if all that chatter was about the prey she was bringing them from the kitchen. Crazy cats!

The title is just a tease. You’ll have to go to the website to see the new pictures, but I have updated their page. Also, stop by the Cats page and see Fin’s newest picture.

Ce’Nedra had another bad night, losing weight again. This added fuel to my thoughts that the food was bothering her. Add to that, some of the other kittens had very soft stools, too, and I was even more suspicious. Then I remembered something that happened when the Leprechauns were about 4 weeks old. Keiran had exactly the same symptoms as Ce’Nedra, just not as bad. The girls also, but very mild. This was about the time I started feeding them Baby Cat, too. But at the time I thought it was because they’d eaten some of the clay litter I had in the bathroom. Now I’m not so sure. In the past I’d mix Baby Cat in with the other food — about 1/4 BC and 3/4 everything else. With the past two litters I’ve been mixing it about half and half, so they are eating a lot more of it. Anyway, I took the BC away and gave them plain Eukanuba Kitten dry food. I also fed Ce’Nedra A/D mixed with kitten glop this morning and at lunch. (and I’ll give her some more before I go to bed.) She was better at lunch time and had gained some weight and when I got home from work she was even better. So… The big cats love BC and don’t seem to have a problem with it, so I’ll mix it with their food and let them eat it to their heart’s content — or until it’s gone. Zeke especially will be in heaven.

Not much else going on tonight. The adult female that I mentioned last week will be coming back to live at LostWoods for now. I’ll keep looking for the purrfect home for her, though, because she won’t be happy living here with all the other cats.

Oh, an answer to Rangashrii’s question… I have found with the kittens and adults in my house that the kittens are selfish little brats who never back down from something they want, like a toy. The adults indulge them. For awhile. But as the kittens grow into adults, the older cats stop deferring to their every whim and will join in the play, even if it means running over the younger ones. So for now your kitten will probably get his way and your older guy will sit and watch. But it will change one of these days. And if you’re feeling really guilty about that, play with the older in another room while the younger one naps. Or shut the door so they are separate for a little bit so each gets some play time. I hope they are both adjusting to life together. I’m sure they will soon be best friends.

That’s what Ce’Nedra says. When we got home this evening I took her in her carrier up to my bedroom. As soon as I unzipped the door, she came out, looked around the room, and started purring. She rubbed against a couple of the other kittens, batted a few of the toys, then ran to her Kali-mom and started nursing — purring all the while. I weighed her a little bit ago and she gained .6 oz today(since 6 this morning) and is acting happy, healthy, and herself. So apparently whatever upset her tummy and made her feel not so good yesterday and this morning was short lived. Thank goodness! I will still watch her carefully and weigh her again tomorrow morning and evening to make sure the problem is truly gone. Right now the little girl is wrestling in the blue fluffy bed with her brother Kheldar.

All the techs at the vet’s office were in love with her and thought I should just leave her with them. She apparently was playful and charming all day long. They said they had never seen a kitten as cute as Ms Ce’Nedra. Wait til they see the whole litter in about two weeks.

The Leprechauns checked out “perfect” today and got their second set of kitten shots. Their 14 week weights at the vet’s office:  

Catriona - 3.1 lbs

Keegan - 3.1 lbs

Keiran - 3.7 lbs

I will weigh them on my scale here at home (in ounces) before I go to bed. It’s hard for me to believe they are already 14 weeks old! Kittens grow up so fast. No new pictures tonight with the vet appointment, a trip to Costco (great deal on cat litter!) and supper. Tomorrow night for sure.

For a variety of reasons — in part because of Brenda’s and my indecision for so long — both Cati and Keegan are currently without new homes to go to. If you’ve sent me an inquiry and haven’t heard from me, send me a note. Your inquiry may have ended up in my spam folder and been deleted.

Thanks to all of you who were thinking of and praying for Ce’Nedra today. From the looks of my blog stats, many of you came back often to check for updates. Over 100 visits today! Wow! And here I thought I might get 10 or 20 visits a day when I started this — and that from my friends and family. Hope you are all enjoying keeping up with the LostWoods crew. I promise to try to add more meaningful content one of these days when there’s less kitten excitement. I still owe Sally some color examples and a brief genetics lesson. I need to add more about animal welfare vs animal rights. I need to add a page about bringing a new kitten or cat home. I haven’t forgotten. Really!

So off to play with the ktitens for a little more before bed time. Talk to you tomorrow!

Just got off the phone with Dr Jennifer. She thinks Ce’Nedra is fine. Temp normal. She did eat some A/D and drink some water, plus use the litter box for them. She’s been active, playing in her kennel. (Isn’t this like hearing a funny noise in your car, but when you take it to the mechanic they don’t hear a thing???) Dr Jennifer did notice that Ce’Nedra had loose yellow stools when she took her temp, but didn’t see that as a big problem. I’m going to pick her up when I take the Leprechauns in for their vaccinations this afternoon. I’ll just watch her very closely, weighing her every 12 hours and making sure she’s eating okay. If she’s not gaining weight or if she continues to be lethargic, I’ll take her back in on Friday. (Or sooner if she goes noticeably downhill.) It’s possible Ce’Nedra just had an upset tummy. The kittens have been eating more Baby Cat than usual as I just refilled their food container and I mixed in more BC than was in there before.

Ce’Nedra gained a tiny bit of weight yesterday, but wasn’t acting like her usual naughty self. This morning she has continued to be much quieter than usual, not really joining in with the crazy cat games that happen this time of day.  I weighed her again this morning and she’s lost the weight she gained plus another couple tenths of an ounce. She’s also not interested in eating. So I will be taking her to the vet this morning and leaving her to be checked out. (They’ll have to fit her in between appointments.) I haven’t seen any other signs of illness, but the weight loss, lethargy, and reluctance to eat seem to point at the possibility that she ate something she shouldn’t have and might be blocked. Your thoughts and prayers for my pretty little girl, please. I’ll post an update later after I know more.

Time sure flies when there are kittens in the house! The Belgariad Babies are six weeks old today. Amazing! They have become braver and more adventurous every day. Tonight I had the baby gate down while I was taking pictures in the next room. Garion kept following me off to the other room. When I was done with whichever kitten I was photographing, I’d pick both up and carry them back to my room. Almost before I could find another kitten and go back across the hall Garion would be over there. He looks like a little fuzz ball or a teddy bear. He’s no longer the biggest in the litter (Belgarath had a really good week) but he still looks the biggest. And he’s a sweetie, purring the second I touch him.

Six week weights:

Taiba - 18.5 oz

Lelldorin - 21.5 oz

Belgarath - 23.7 oz

Garion - 23.0 oz

Kheldar - 22.9 oz

Ce’Nedra - 16.5 oz

Polgara - 18.8 oz

Ce’Nedra didn’t gain much weight this week. It happens, but I don’t like it. So she’ll get extra attention and a couple extra weigh-ins during the week to make sure nothing bad is going on. In kittens often the only warning you have that something isn’t right is they lose weight or aren’t quite themselves. That’s the reason for my weekly weigh-ins.

Speaking of weight, Talia is getting very thin. She always does when she’s nursing kittens, but she’s had an extra load this time because she spends so much time with all nine kittens. Kali is thin, but nothing like Talia. So Talia will be getting some extra attention in the form of more wet food and kitten glop to put some weight back on her.

One last thing… I speculated about whether Cyra was still in the fluffy bed after I came downstairs this morning. When I got home from work, there she was — all by herself in the fluffy bed. She looked so little and cute, I just had to take her picture. See below. (remember if you click on the picture it brings up a larger version.)