We are 7 weeks old now!

Prior to typing today's kitten diaries, we would like to congratulate Linz and Martin on Tifa's fantastic show results and we would like to congratulate Julie and Andy on Mimi's fantastic show results today. Please Click Here to view the girls' results.

Thames has such a look of mischief in his eyes, actually mischief is the wrong word, it is merriment. His little eyes just seem to smile all the time and he looks at people as if daring just one of them to deny his total "cuteness". He is a young man who will easily wrap Nicky and Karl around his paws I think. yet again today he has continued to chew on my toes at every given opportunity. It got so bad at one stage that I picked him up and put him inside the cardboard box in the hopes that he would start to chew that again like he used to but it was all to no avail. Ock, well I don't know what to say about her, she is still so incredibly weak but she does now eat from the plate. It can take her up to 20 minutes to finish a meal and that meal is tiny. She is probably only eating about a teaspoon of food every couple of hours, but that is more than she was doing 48 hours ago. I long for the day when I enter the kitten room and see her playing on the floor with everyone else but I just don't know if that will ever happen. This really is the toughest battle we have ever fought, and one of the saddest to see her like this. But I just know that deep down somewhere inside herself, she is finding the will and courage to carry on so we will do whatever it takes.

This diary entry is in two parts. Let's being with Thames. This boy is a ray of sunshine, I don't know how else I can describe him. I'm sure I have said this before but he reminds me so very much of his dad, mischievous and adorable. Like all Tabby babies, Thames has this knack of just making you feel so much better when everything seems to be going horribly wrong. He is getting so big now and he is also spending more time downstairs during the day than he was last week. He hasn't really ventured too far into "my" room downstairs yet, but he has been having the time of his life in the hallway, particularly when the sun is shining through the front door. Unfortunately though, he is still incredibly mischievous and the little bugger is turning into a toe biter as well now. It would appear he has given up chewing cardboard boxes as he seems to prefer my toes so when I am in the kitten room, if I stand still for more than 5 seconds, all you can hear is "Ouch" or "Arrrghhhh get off". This boy will keep Nicky and Karl amused for hours on end once he moves in with them.

Now, onto Ock.....................................to be honest, I don't know where to begin and chances are, this part of the entry will appear very disjointed so bear with me please. I would like to thank two people, the first being a lady in the USA named Kami. The second person to thank is Teen, yet again. Yesterday afternoon, I received an email from Kami. She had very kindly taken the time to send me an email which had a link on it to a breeders' web site and Kami felt this might help. I clicked on the link and what I saw gave me hope. It was so difficult yesterday, just watching Ock getting weaker and weaker, and refusing all foods, refusing milk mixtures, a/d. For anyone who has watched a baby fade before their very eyes, they you know what we are going through. I can not imagine what it is like for our darling Ock though, because she is so very weak yet she watches her brothers and sisters running around, playing and doing everything normally. This must be breaking her heart as much as ours, I can see it in her eyes. She doesn't want to be away from them though as they all sleep with her which she finds comforting and they do keep her warm as well. Back to the link, well I have posted it here for anyone else who wishes to read this: http://www.siamese-kittens.com/fading_kitten_syndrome.htm By the time I read this, it had just gone 6pm. I picked up the phone to call Tina straight away as I didn't think I had any of those a/b's in my own kitten cabinets. Teen called me back straight away, I explained to her what was happening and what I had just read to see a) what her own thoughts were; b) if she happened to have any of those a/b's; c) and if she didn't have any, what was the equivalent. So as Teen and I spoke, she had her head in her own kitten cupboard, while I checked our downstairs and upstairs ones. What a bizarre phone call as we sat there telling each other what tablets we did and didn't have :) Turns out neither of us had those exact same ones as mentioned on the web site, however, Teen told me of one that was very similar that might work and sure enough she had some there. While she was telling me this, I found some in my upstairs kitten cupboard, the exact same thing. So we discussed it, we spoke about Ock, we went through every possible "Have you tried this", "have you checked this", "what about this". What it came down to was this, Ock was dying, that was evident, in which case, anything was worth a go if it could turn her back around. It really was our last hope because by this stage last night, Ock's jaws were very rigid, her eyes were lifeless and there was just very little there. I ground the tablet into a powder, mixed some boiled water, took it upstairs to the fridge in the kitten room and as soon as it had cooled enough, I syringed it into Ock. Throughout the night, we continued to syringe liquids into her, she was also given Nutri Drops. This morning, Ock had moved from where she was on the scratch post bed, to the chair, and around her mouth, I saw what looked to be kitten food. But this could have been there if one of the mum's had been eating and had then licked Ock's face. I fed the babies their breakfast, flew back downstairs with a/d and a kitten food mixed in on a plate. I put the plate in front of Ock, she had some nibbles. It was not easy for her because as she had not been eating anything other than what we had been syringing to her so her jaw, like the rest of her body was quite stiff, but she definitely ate. Today, every 2 hours when Heston has been fed, I have done the same thing. She has also had another dose of the tablet. They say that there is a time to fight, and a time to let go. I believe that now is the time to fight, harder perhaps than ever have ever fought before for a baby. I pray to God that I am doing the right thing and not just prolonging the inevitable. At around 2pm today, Ock at again, and I placed her back in the bed on the activity centre, and this time, both her eyes were open much wider, and she seemed just that little bit more with it. I do not know if it's the tablets, I do not know if I've actually been given the miracle that I have been so desperately praying for, I do not even know whether or not we will get there and this is going to be an exhausting, and a bloody hard fight but if we win, then it will all have been worthwhile. To have been given a glimmer of hope when I thought that today I would be burying our baby, is something that I really can not put into words at all. If we do win this battle, then I will never be able to repay Teen for her help, or Kami, a lady whom I have never met, but one whom took the time to send me that link in the hopes it might help. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me and I don't think Kami will ever realise just what she has done for us. I will add here as well that the ones who will suffer the most as a result of last night/today's fight for Ock, is our older cats. I have been so caught up between Heston and Ock, that I forgot to put their chickens in the oven for tonight's dinner!

Day 45 - September 6, 2007

This one is such a very difficult and heartbreaking entry to write. It is at times like this where I wish I had never even started doing kitten diaries. A couple of days ago, I was speaking with Teen and said to her that I did not like the way Ock looked as she was extremely lethargic, had gone off her food, and just seemed to be slipping away from us. Up until that point, Ock has always been a vivacious, happy, confident, and active child. A vet would call this "FKS" (Fading Kitten Syndrome). FKS is something I am not totally sure I believe in but it is similar to cot death in children where they do just slip away for no apparent reason. There is some thought that blood grouping is attributed to FKS, or some form of infection, different vets, different studies, different breeders all say totally different things. The problem is, no one really knows a cause as to why this happens. For a couple of days now we have been syringe feeding a/d to her, she has also been given Vitamin B12, and placed on a course of synulox (mild, general, antibiotic) although if this is FKS, the Synulox will make no difference whatsoever as that is designed to treat symptoms of infection, something that Ock is showing no signs of. If it was a bug of some sorts, every kitten in the home would have it and everyone else is perfectly fine. I don't believe that one of our kitten visitors have brought anything into the home, because again, had that been the case, everyone else would show symptoms and be the same. That is just it though, there are no symptoms at all, this is like watching a baby who has just decided she no longer wants to live and is willing herself to die. In the past 24 hours, she has been deteriorating rapidly, right before our eyes and this is something that we are finding hard to deal with. We are still trying to syringe feed her, although she is just giving up and will not drink at all. The thing about FKS is that it can occur at varying ages of a kittens' life. I know of breeders who have lost a kitten at 12 weeks, in exactly the same way, others who have this happen at 4 weeks. There never seems to be any valid explanation or reason but I don't think the age of the baby makes any difference because when it is happening, and you know there is nothing else you can do, other than pray for a miracle , the pain is so immense.

Day 44 - September 5, 2007

It has been one of those days whereby every time I have attempted to start today's kitten diaries, my attention has been drawn elsewhere and as a result, it is now 1612 and I am only now just starting to type the entries. This means unfortunately there are no photos in any of today's diaries and all I have really done is just scribble a few lines. We have 2 of our older Oriental Black kittens leaving home tomorrow which meant I had to spend a minimum 2 hours doing their paperwork and preparing for them to leave. Tomorrow, there WILL be photos, one way or another :)

Thames, what can I say? Such an ungrateful little man. His mum and dad, Nicky and Karl, came to visit him, and Nancy Drew today, and whilst Nancy Drew was an absolute angel, Thames, in typical Oriental Tabby fashion, was having none of it. As far as he was concerned, it was most definitely not cuddle time, it was play time. Of course, he is as stubborn as his father (why else would he think that he could chew the metal coils on cat toys!) so poor Nicky and Karl were permitted only the briefest of cuddles with their new baby, whom Karl has now named "Batfink" which is rather appealing.............not that Nicky agrees :) Nicky did actually have a very nice name chosen for Thames but upon meeting him, this may well change. There are a number of names I could give him at this precise point in time but I'm not sure they are the sort of names Nicky would appreciate :) It really was just so fantastic to see Nicky and Karl again, you couldn't ask for a more wonderful couple and I don't know if Nancy Drew and Thames know just how lucky they are to have such a very special mum and dad. On reflection, Nancy Drew probably does, Thames no doubt believes it is his right to expect the best mum and dad in the world and I can't see him being particularly grateful.

Day 43 - September 4, 2007

As per usual, I took photos of our younger 2 litters first, and then by the time I went to take photos of the Water Babies, the Nuts and the Detectives, I had taken just 2 photos of Pecan and the flippin' camera batteries died. I now have them on charge but that will take a while so I don't know whether or not I will get any other photos in today's kitten diaries for these 3 litters.

Tomorrow, Thames' mum and dad will be coming to visit him, and I think the time has come to be honest and while they are here, I must sit them down and explain to them both just what it is they will be taking on when they add him to their family. Honestly, he is such a mischievous, stubborn little child, exactly like his father, and we all know what a handful Ashanti can be. The problem is of course, that Thames has this same expressive look in his eyes, again, the same as his dad, and all you can really do is just pick him up and cuddle him because even when he is mischievous, he is just so adorable. Ock is just a little too well behaved at the moment which is something that worries me greatly in a Tortie! I am just waiting for the moment that she does something totally outrageous because believe me, it WILL happen. There is no such thing as a good Tortie, I should know as have 4 Black Torties in our home. She is still incredibly clingy with her mum, more so than any of the other babies, and of course, Toussaint encourages this because Toussaint likes her children to be dependent on her and at the moment, Ock is the only baby who continues to follow her mummy around, wanting to be close to her.

Day 42 - September 3, 2007

I can't believe our Water Babies are 6 weeks old already, although having said that, both of them act as if they are much older sometimes. Ock flat out refused to have her photo taken today. Every other baby in the kitten room was more than happy to look pretty for the camera, but not Ock. Each time I turned her head towards the camera, before I could press the shutter she put her head back down to go back to sleep. I ended up with quite a few blurry photos of her. So now, instead of seeing her beautiful little face, all you can see is the gorgeous red mingling through her Tortie coat. Thames, on the other hand, was more than happy to look directly at the camera and show what a handsome boy he is becoming. At the moment, Thames has just one mission in life. That mission is to chew on the cardboard play box until there is absolutely nothing left. I've never seen a boy with such determination when it comes to eating something that he shouldn't.