LostWoods Blog

I’ve been so caught up in talking about and caring for the kittens that I keep forgetting to share some GRAND news — McCoy is a GRAND Champion in CFA!!! He granded at the CFA show in Denver this past weekend while being shown off lovingly and to perfection by his Brenda-mom.  Brenda and I are proud as can be about our boy. The show was a challenge for him — the show hall was noisy and they were benched by the exit door that led to the food vendor. McCoy spent a lot of the time freaked out by the overhead heaters loudly coming to life, so many people walking by, and the door banging open and shut all day. Showing a whole male is often a challenge, period. They don’t like being around other males and the girls are all temptresses who distract them. Brenda deserves a round (or several rounds) of applause for keeping him in the show ring and granding our handsome boy. She deserves several more rounds for keeping him in great condition and being the queen of cat grooming. Brenda — you deserve all the credit for McCoy’s GC. Well, I guess McCoy deserves some credit, too! he is a fabulous cat.

Now for my daily kitten babbling… It was a good day here yesterday. Okay, so Piggy Boy #2 only gained 6 grams, but after his 16 gram day on Monday, how can I complain too much? I will, of course, watch to see that this isn’t a trend, though.  (Piggy Boy #2 is better known as Fayne.) Maybe he’ll get a nip from the bottle from time to time over the next few days, too.

Piggy Boy #1 (Seely), the spoiled little mama’s boy who can always talk me into giving him a little glop if he asks nicely and climbs up my leg (yes, already!), gained… are you ready for this?… 28 grams! Yes, sports fans, 1 full ounce! He really wants to make up for that time he lost last week when Buzzy didn’t have enough milk. He is going to be a big cat when he grows up, I think.

Allegra is trying to catch up with the big boys, gaining 12 grams yesterday. She is still getting supplemented about every 6-8 hours. She LOVES the bottle and the glop. Yesterday she was sucking so hard on it that she made the sides of the bottle sink in!

And now the news you’ve all been waiting for… Corliss gained 14 grams yesterday!!! Whoo-hoo! Okay, so most of it wasn’t due to nursing off his Basia-mom, but he’ll get the hang of that soon. I just know it. I only fed him about every 4 hours the past two nights and through the day yesterday. He has decided he loves drinking out of the bottle — almost as much as Allegra and Seely do.

I came home on my lunch break to feed him, update the kitten cam page with new developmental info, and post this so you’d all know how things are going. Corliss had gained a small amount of weight over night — the first time that has happened in awhile. He was sooooo hungry and we’re making progress on getting him to nurse. As I said earlier, he’ll figure it out soon, but until then getting him to latch on and Buzzy to hold still when the other kittens aren’t also wanting to eat — oh, and keeping Buzzy from licking the formula that I’m using to entice Corliss — is a challenge.

Today is a better day at LostWoods than the last couple have been. By Sunday morning I was really worried about Corliss. He wasn’t acting like the rest of the kittens, he was making no effort at all to nurse off Basia, and he was only gaining minimal amounts even with my help. Time for full scale full time feeding efforts (every 2-3 hours), asking for help (even more help as we’d been discussing Basia’s milk issues for days) from friends, and praying a lot. Monday brought more of the same, so I called Dr Jennifer and asked if maybe a course of antibiotics would be advisable — a jump start in case there was some low level infection brewing. She agreed to let me try it. (Thanks!) So I ran down to the office and picked up the medicine mid day. Late in the afternoon yesterday I saw signs that he was maybe a little better — more active, eating better when I fed him, and gaining some weight. Nothing to party about yet, but positive signs.

He got his second dose right before I went to bed and I spaced his feeding a little further apart in the night in hopes he’d get a little more hungry and try to nurse. Well, that worked in some ways… Corliss was interested in Basia, but doing a lousy job of figuring out how to find the nipple and nurse. With the competition from his more competent siblings, he wasn’t getting anywhere. I fed him about midnight and he didn’t eat a lot At four he was HUNGRY! and ate great for me, plus continuing to show interest in nursing. A couple hours later when I weighed him, he’d maintained his weight over night despite not eating all that much.

Third dose of antibiotics first thing this morning. Corliss wasn’t terribly hungry at 8, so I let him eat what he wanted, forced him to eat 2 ccs more and then let him cuddle with his brothers and sisters. At 11:30 when I went in to feed him, Basia was lying in the basket outside the kennel. Perfect! I rubbed some kitten glop from the bottle on her nipples and got Corliss. He again was hungry and he knows the smell of the glop, so he was frantically rooting around for it. With a little help, he finally latched onto a nipple and started nursing. Hurray!!!

The bad part was Basia also thought glop on her tummy smelled yummy so she licked at it and Corliss, making him fall off the nipple.

Okay, Corliss nursed once, so he can do it again. I convinced Basia to hold still, put some more glop on the nipple, aimed Corliss at it. After a minute or two, success again! He managed to nurse for several minutes while I petted Basia and tried to distract her. Then she thought it was a game and got silly, biting at my fingers and rolling over. Sigh… But Corliss had nursed and I had hopes he’d eventually get the idea without my help. I fed him glop from the bottle and he gobbled.

A little bit ago it was feeding time again and again Basia was happy to hang out in the basket for a little one on one time with the little guy. He figured out the nursing a little faster this time, albeit still with some help from glop on the nipples. He nursed for awhile, then I fed him from the bottle. I imagine this will be the routine for awhile because his bigger sibs will push him away from the nipples until he gets better at finding one, latching on, and fighting to stay attached. But at least the stress headache I’ve had for days due to worrying about him even living is finally starting to subside. I’ve been miserable from pain and lack of sleep, but I’ll happily pay that cost to save a kitten. As always, your continued prayers for this little guy are appreciated. We’ll have the party when he no longer needs me to supplement him.

The other three are doing well. Seely and Fayne are now known as the Piggy Boys because once Basia got milk, they have been eating like they can’t get enough. Both of them are now over 8 oz, well on their way to being a pound at 4 weeks. Great progress after the slow start last week. Seely is already turning into a very spoiled little boy. He knows the sound of my voice and associates it with the yummy stuff in the bottle, so he comes crawling to me when he hears me. He purrs and climbs on my legs, hoping I’ll give him some food. Once in awhile I do. Did I mention he’s a bit spoiled already?  

Allegra is still playing catch up and she still gets to eat from the bottle a few times a day. She did win the piggy of the day award yesterday, though, gaining a whopping 20 grams! (10 grams is about average.) She is nursing well, though, and she only gets supplements to help her catch up from the slow start. I think she’d be doing just fine without them. Maybe not winnng the piggy award, but gaining respectably.

Basia is still moving the babies to the cubby hole from time to time. Sunday she had a great time of it, even doing it when I was in the room with her. Sigh… But here’s a cute story about her carrying babies that has nothing to do with the cubby.

Sunday morning I was sitting on the bed in the hippo room feeding Allegra. Buzzy had jumped up on the bed to cuddle beside me. (She really misses our morning cuddle time!) Fayne started crying in the kennel, so she jumped of the bed and went to check on him. Seconds later she comes out of the kennel, Fayne in her mouth. She glances at the cubby, then brings him over and puts him by my feet. I picked him up and put him on the bed. She hopped up on the bed and snuggled back up to me. Fayne went to nursing.

When I finished feeding Allegra, I put her with Basia and got Corliss from the kennel. While I was feeding him, Seely decided to complain about being left all alone. Again, Basia went over the kennel, got Seely and brought him to me. I put him on the bed. She jumped up and happily cared for the three kittens while I fed Corliss. Her babies and her lisa-mom all in one comfy spot. What more could she ask for?

Good evening, everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the one week pictures of the Joyful litter are on the website. Tomorrow I’ll update the kitten cam page with new info about kitten development, focusing on their second week of life. Hope you all find it interesting and informative.

Seely and Fayne gained nice amounts of weight today even without me feeding them. Well, I gave them some formula first thing this morning, but not the rest of the day. Corliss and Allegra are still lagging behind. But I’m hopeful that the two others gaining well means Buzzy’s milk is finally coming in like it should. I’m continuing to use the fenugreek, mixing an infusion of it into Basia’s cottage cheese and wet food — and the occasional kitten glop treat I bring her. She doesn’t seem to mind it and has had no yucky side effeects from it.

I had the kennel open all afternoon, so Basia carried the kittens off to the cubby hole. If you are watching the kitten cam and wonder where they are, that’s probably it. I should take a picture of her and them in there just so you know what I’m talking about.

That’s about it for tonight. Going to feed Corliss and Allegra, then head to bed myself. And in case I don’t get a chance to post here tomorrow –

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

… that this time last week I was at the vet’s office with Basia, worried half out of my mind. This week has gone by so fast!

I’m late with the update today. Had a crazy, busy day at work and even had to sign on from home while I was here at lunch time to do some more work. And now I’m sitting here babysitting a database restore tonight. Can’t complain… first overtime I’ve had in awhile and with Buzzy’s vet bill last week, it’s  more than welcome!

The babies all gained weight today, but I’m really not certain if it’s because Basia’s milk is coming in better or because I’m supplementing them several times a day. They did not double their weight like I hope for at one week. Seely and Fayne came the closest, but they aren’t there yet. It’s not unexpected with our fight to keep them gaining weight. I’m hoping this weekend I’ll be able to help them put some more weight on by a little more frequent feedings and/or Basia’s milk finally coming in. Trying an herbal supplement recommended by Susanne (Cren’s mom) which should show some results in the next couple days. The stuff I read about it says it starts working within 24-72 hours. Cross your fingers, say some prayers, please!

Corliss and Seely are eager to see the world.  Their eyes are almost all the way open now. They are ahead of the game there. Allegra’s are just starting to open. Fayne is perfectly happy not seeing the big world yet. And let me tell you – all the LostWoods kittens are terribly spoiled, but this litter… well, they are already becoming spoiled little furries. They purr when I feed them. They purr when I cuddle them in my hands after feeding them. They are so cute and so sweet! I better hurry up and write to prospective new owners and find them homes before they all latch onto my heart and refuse to let go!

Pictures tomorrow sometime. Barring unexpected happenings anyway. I think  I will plan on doing pictures every Saturday. They were born so late Friday night, it’s like their birthday is really Saturday anyway.

The only bad news — might as well share it first, because I suspect those of you who read the blog faithfully are worried about the babies and Basia — is that in the 24 hour period Tuesday night to Wednesday night Allegra lost 4 grams instead of gaining weight.

Now onto the good news… Allegra gained back the 4 grams over night. The boys all gained weight. Corliss and Seely are taking turns being little piggies. Seely gained 22 grams in the 24 hour Tues-Wed period. Corliss gained 22 grams over night! Fayne is a little slower, but gaining acceptably, too. I’ve usually talked in ounces here, so some quick comparisons to “normal” in both grams and ounces. I hope for a gain of about 10 grams or .3 – .4 ounces each day. More is good. Less bears watching. Weight loss requires close watching and usually action.

The kittens weren’t as eager to eat when I fed them this morning and they all had fairly round tummies. (At this age, kittens’ tummies should feel plump and round rather than flat if they are getting enough to eat.) Basia wasn’t terribly excited about being held this morning, so I didn’t thoroughly examine her for milk. But I’m hopeful that the Reglan is doing it’s job and there’s more milk for the babies. I will keep supplementing the kittens for now, though. It’s a fine line… You don’t want to give the kittens so much food that they don’t want to nurse, because nursing helps bring in mama’s milk. But you also don’t want the babies to lose weight or get weak. So you try to find a balance between giving them enough food to keep them gaining weight and still leaving them hungry so they nurse.

Yesterday Karla said in her comment, “There is much joy, but when things get a little touch and go, it can be pretty difficult. ” If you are new to the LostWoods blog and start reading regularly, you’ll notice I talk about the ups and downs both here. I love breeding Norwegian Forest Cats. But there have been more than a few days when I’ve wondered if I can keep doing it. Losing a baby. Long nights of getting up every few hours to feed a kitten or give someone medications. The endless cleaning up on messes, scooping litter boxes. The expenses — food, litter, vet bills… It all combines into a stressful and expensive undertaking. But the rewards… oh yes! There are rewards and those keep us going on the bad days.

I talk about all these things for a variety of reasons. First, what else would I talk about in here? This blog is about life and the cats at LostWoods, not just the good parts. I wouldn’t want someone to read all the good stuff and think being a breeder is easy and fun all the time, then get into the nitty gritty of doing it and be shocked at how sad and difficult it can sometimes be. I also hope the blog will help educate people about kitten development, cat behavior, caring for cats, etc. If I don’t tell you about the tough stuff, you’re only getting half the information you might need. Okay, enough lecturing…

Speaking of those rewards… Last night I was just finishing up with feeding Corliss when I received a phone call from Cren’s mom. I was sitting on the floor holding him and rubbing his tummy and sides while I talked. Corliss started purring like a little motor and was wiggling around like he was the happiest little kitten ever. It was so adorable! Susanne was jealous, so she convinced Cren to come over and cuddle with her — held him up to the phone so I could hear him purring, too.

Oh, I was also going to mention the Great Escape here… I don’t know if any of you saw it yesterday but Basia decided to move the babies to the cubby hole under the desk next to the wall. I wasn’t watching — I was in a meeting at work when I received an email from Jim asking if I knew Basia had taken a baby. I then sent a message to Brenda asking her to call Jeremy at home (he is on Spring Break) to go put the baby (or babies) back. He was in the shower and by the time Brenda got him on the phone, Basia had moved three kittens to the cubby and was carrying the fourth when Jeremy walked in the room. She wasn’t too happy with him moving the kittens back and preventing her from putting the fourth under the desk. So he ended up zipping the kennel closed so she couldn’t take them out again.

Today she is zipped in while I’m at work. My biggest concern is that we have electric heat registers that get pretty hot. One of them goes part of the way under the desk in the cubby hole, so I worry that a kitten would scoot up next to it because it’s warm and then get burnt if he or she didn’t move away from it soon enough. So no kittens in the cubby hole!

Last, I want to say I’m sorry for the kitten cams being down yesterday morning. We’ve been having some intermittent internet issues at the house and when the internet is down the cameras can’t upload the video or images to the website. I know you’re all getting addicted and I will try to fix the problem as soon as I can when it happens — IF I can. Others in area have had the same issues with their internet service, so I think it’s something going on with the ISP. Hopefully they will fix whatever it is and service will remain stable.

While I continue to be annoyed about internet connection glitches — which I heard others in the area have been experiencing, too — I have more urgent things on my mind today. I mentioned yesterday that Corliss had not gained weight like I wanted/expected. Well, the rest of the family joined him in that lack of putting on weight. So, last night when I was doing my nightly inspection of Basia’s incision, I also checked to see if she’s producing milk.

The answer… not much. So I asked some breeder friends for opinions and suggestions and did some other research online myself. Most of the things that have been suggested I was already doing or checking. Basia is eating and drinking well. I’ve been giving her kitten glop in addition to her wet food and dry food for the extra calories, liquid, and calcium. She’s active and showing no signs whatsoever of an infection or otherwise getting ill. She’s spending most of her time nursing the babies and they are successfully latching on to the nipples to nurse.

I fed the babies twice yesterday – Corliss three times. This morning, Corliss and Seely had gained a little more weight, but Allegra and Fayne — who hadn’t gotten as much attention from me yesterday because they were still gaining then — hadn’t.

Changes I have made… or maybe more accurately, additions I’ve made… I bought Basia some cottage cheese (calcium) to add to her wet food. I bought some Just Born kitten formula for the babies and am alternating between that and kitten glop for supplemental feedings. Everyone, not just Corliss, is getting fed in the morning, at noon, and at least a couple times in the late afternoon/evening/over night.

I also talked with Dr Jennifer about using Reglan to stimulate prolactin production and she provided me with four doses. Basia got her first one at lunchtime. Hopefully, that will help.

Both kitten cams are running today (kitten_cam and kittencam2) for your viewing pleasure. I may have to zoom out the live cam a bit if a certain little silver girl continues to be adventurous. I caught her today almost to the door of the kennel before she turned around and went back over to her Buzzy-mom and brothers. She’s going to be trouble. I can tell already.

Another funny little sight of the morning… Basia was lying on her back and Allegra was crawling on top of her to find a nipple. A few minutes later, Basia rolled back onto her side, and Allegra, still nursing, rolled right along with her.

Corliss didn’t gain any weight yesterday, which is a concern to me. I supplemented him last night and this morning with some kitten glop and I’ve noticed him nursing quite a bit this morning. Hopefully he just needs a little help and will go back to gaining promptly. Yes, I’m a worrier, but being an attentive, worrywart can pay off. I doubt I’ll ever change. I’ll run home at lunch time to check him again and probably give him a little more kitten glop.

Other than that, the babies are doing well. Mama-Buzzy is doing well. And I think I’m finally somewhat caught up on missed sleep and chores from the weekend. Now to catch up on emails and kitten inquiries… tonight’s task!    

Good morning! We had issues with our internet connection at home this morning, so I ended up rebooting the modem and the router. Now there’s something hosed up with my Camstreams connection, so the the live feed isn’t working still. I will have to have the network geek (that would be Ken) help me figure it out when I get home after work. In the meantime, I did set up one of the still image uploads to work: www.lostwoodswegies.com/kittencam2 so you don’t have to be totally without your kitten fix today.

Everything is going well. The kittens gained weight like champs yesterday, on track for what they should be gaining. The first 24 hours were under what I’d have liked (did I say that yesterday?) but I can’t complain. I was just happy they gained at all instead of losing considering all the drama. Basia is much, much more herself today. When she’s not taking care of the kittens she begs me for loves and cuddles, but the second she hears a squeak from the babies, she’s right there with them. She doesn’t even let wet food distract her. Now for Buzzy, that’s a sacrifice!

Things are going very well with Basia and the kittens. I just finished weighing them. Nobody lost weight – everybody gained at least a couple grams in their first 12 hours of life. Basia still considering hiding the kittens in the cubbyhole under the desk so when I’m not here in the room with them, I keep the kennel zipped up so she can’t leave. It makes it a little more cave-like in there — Basia probably likes that but it is a little darker on the kitten cam.

The only camera running is the live cam (www.lostwoodswegies.com/kitten_cam) but I know some of you are checking in from time to time. I appreciate the notes and the good wishes. I hope you’re enjoying seeing what the first day of a kitten’s life is like and that you’ll continue to enjoy watching them grow.

I will take pictures over the course of the afternoon. It gets Basia very upset when I take a baby and he cries so I have to take some pics, put the kitten back, let Basia calm down, then try it all over again. I will get pictures today. It just might take me all day to do it!

Names… Well, I wanted Basia to have three babies so I could use the three main characters from the show “Burn Notice” (USA Network.) They would be Michael Westen, Fiona Glenanne, and Sam Axe. I’m still leaning toward that idea and naming the fourth (actually the first, little troublemaker) Nate Westen. We’ll see… I’m also thinking about something else.. just need some names to go with my thoughts.

Now off to take a few more pictures, do a few more chores around the house, and maybe take a little nap. I got about two hours sleep last night with all the excitement and then trying to keep Basia calm and safe with the babies. She finally settled down about 2:30 and I went to bed at 4:00. Got back up at 6 to check on them, tried to go back to sleep but too much commotion and noise and other cats wanting attention this morning to be successful at that. A nap sounds really good about now! Later!