Day 20 - June 9, 2007

There isn't an entry for today as I had quite a few things to get done around the home, chores that I had been putting off that really needed to be taken care of.

Day 19 - June 8, 2007

The Capitals have been in fine form all day and have not been keen at all on staying in the box! Each time they climb down the ramp, I put them straight back in. I am fighting a losing battle though because no sooner than I put them in at the back of the box, they start climbing out all over again <sigh>. Once they start to become a bit older, I have a feeling that they are going to be quite an active litter and will probably be hard to handle. As for Edinburgh, well we are still battling on with our weight problems but today, for the first time since she was born, she actually managed to find herself a nipple and latch on. I was stunned because not once have I ever seen this girl latch on, even when I have been sitting in front of the box trying with her, she just didn't want to know. You can imagine how thrilled I was about this. I stayed on the floor in front of the box with a hand on each side of her fighting off London and Canberra who also wanted to share that same nipple. There was no way on earth I was going to let anyone push her off now that she was actually drinking. Poor Canberra couldn't understand why I wouldn't let her feed. I did explain to her that she is a porker anyway and it won't do her any harm to wait a bit because Edinburgh really could do with some of mum's milk. I just hope and pray now that she has done this once, she will do it again. I am almost positive that my first choice was right and that little Dublin will be remaining with us. I just adore her, there's something about her. She has a lovely little red patch on the back of her head, and 2 partially solid paws on the right, which I find very endearing. She also has an evil glint in her eye and she is going to be a very wicked little girl, I just know it :)

Day 18 - June 7, 2007

I am getting worried about Edinburgh as her weights have been slipping again for the past couple of days and as she is so small, she can not afford any weight losses at all. I was at my wits end this morning at the weigh in session because she had actually lost a couple of grams since yesterday. So, this calls for drastic measures unfortunately. I am experimenting with her now and am trying something different which I started at her 12:30 feed today and I'm going to continue this experimental feeding for the next 24 hours and see if it makes a difference. I really am not happy at all about having to go down this road, but I have got to try something to get her back on track. I do think though that the reason behind some of the loss is activity levels. On 3 occasions now in the past 24 hours I have entered the kitten room to discover Edinburgh at the opposite end of the room exploring!! This really is not good as she is only 18 days old and the evaporated milk mixture doesn't seem to be enough to sustain her as she is burning off a lot of calories on these little excursions of hers and there is nothing left to keep her going. Our other babies are all doing okay at the moment and they are all in and out of the box now starting to explore, and I'm really not happy because they are so very young but at the end of the day, if they feel they are old enough to be out of the box then they probably are and I am just being an over protective mum. Their own mothers don't seem to worry when the babies go walkabout although they do all watch them from a distance to make sure no one gets lost or hurt.

Day 17 - June 6, 2007

Today, we are trying to get back to some form of normality after losing our Sabre, so our kitten diaries have resumed as per normal, complete with photos just in case some of you have forgotten what your babies look like. Before I start with the entries though, there is a couple of things................firstly, we would like to congratulate the Maroochydore home for their great show results at the Somerset Cat Club show on June 2. We are delighted for Teen, Tone, and Val and extremely proud of both girls' results. Secondly, we would like to thank all those very kind people for their messages on Siamese Cat Chat regarding the loss of Sabre. Your posts are very much appreciated. We would also like to thank all those lovely people who were kind enough to take the time out of their busy lives to email their condolences. As of yet, I have still not replied to the emails but will do so very soon. Now, onto our babies................

Edinburgh is still holding her own, she didn't have a great weigh in session on June 5 but I am not surprised at all as it was the day before that we lost Sabre, and to be honest, my mind was not really on the babies. She's been picking up again though since then and I'm happy enough with her progress at the moment. She is a little poppet, and an incredibly stubborn little minx! As she is a bit older now, the refuses to feed from the syringe unless I hold her in a certain position, and her arms absolutely MUST be free from the towel so she can grab at things and she is making the syringe feeding quite difficult to say the least. I only have about 5 more days of 2 hourly syringe feeding, and then I can move to 3 hourly, however, I am actually going to early wean her when she reaches 21 days of age. I have to do this very carefully with lots of milk based products because if she goes onto solids too quickly it can cause problems for her digestive system, but if I can get her onto some partially solid foods, then this will certainly assist with her weight gains. I have no doubts at all that she will be ready because she actually chews on, and tries to eat the towel I wrap her in for feeding. As for our other Capitals, well, I really wish they would stay in their box! I have the ramp down on the box because the other babies are also living in the Capitals' box and they need to get in and out so they can run around and play. The problem is that the Capitals believe they should be running around and playing as well and I went into the kitten room the other day to feed Edinburgh and there were Capitals everywhere!! London was half way down the ramp. Washing and Canberra were under one of the posh boxes, Dublin was trying to climb up the ramp into the other posh box, and Port-of-Spain was falling off the edge of the ramp. As you can guess I was most unimpressed with their sudden bouts of exploration and I very quickly picked up the babies and plonked them back in the box. It made no difference though because being Blacks and Black Torties, they have no comprehension of the word "No" and they just do as they please. They do feel very much at home with the other babies' company and they sleep curled up with them, underneath them, and on top of them and Washington is getting so big now that I have, at times, mistaken him for one of our Tails of Hans Christian Anderson. This isn't helped by the fact that if he is out of the box at feeding time, while I am trying to feed Edinburgh, he is trying to climb up my leg. At 17 days of age! Honestly! I really am in 2 minds about these darn Black Tortie girls and I do have a problem in that I adore them all and I keep looking at them, comparing them to each other, and I am finding it very difficult to decide exactly which one will stay with us. Each day, I decide on a different baby and I really am struggling. I did go back and look at early photos of Cacao (the Capital's grandmother) and Drambuie, and Dingo (Dingo is a baby from Drambuie's last litter, and the Capitals are a repeat mating of that litter)., to do comparisons as I want a girl who looks extremely similar, but I actually just ended up confusing myself (nothing knew there!)

Day 16 - June 5, 2007

There is no diary entry for today.

Day 15 - June 4, 2007

All 3 diary entries are the same today.

During the weekend, our mature dog, Sabre, started to deteriorate. She had been suffering with arthritis and leg problems for a few years now and was on medication as well as herbal supplements. Whilst she was not able to run around like she used to, she was still mobile and had quality of life. Her deterioration was very rapid and with a heavy heart, we phoned our vet first thing this morning and we explained the situation and took her in at 10am. Sabre was suffering and was in pain and we made the very difficult decision to let her go to Rainbow Bridge. I stayed with Sabre while she was euthanased and in a week or so, her ashes will be returned to our home, where she belongs. Sabre was 16 years old when she left us and she had been Graham's faithful companion for 15 1/2 years and they both had a very special bond. I could not put into words, just how special Graham and Sabre's relationship was. Our home seems so empty without her and our hearts are broken. In time, Sabre will be added to our Rainbow Bridge page. We know that she is not in any more pain and that her suffering has ended, but that is little comfort for the pain and loss we are experiencing. We know that as time passes, we will learn to live without her in our lives, but she will never, ever be forgotten and she will remain with us always.

Day 14 - June 3, 2007

There is no diary entry for today.