Schimmel Siamese & Oriental Cats are Oriental cat breeders based in Oxford, UK. We sometimes have Oriental and Siamese kittens for sale. We also have 2 Oriental Stud Cats and online kitten diaries.

Kitten Diaries

Toussaint

November 2009

Birth

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Toussaint's Kitten Diary - November 2009 to February 2010

Litter out of QGC Schimmel Stripe It Lucky X CH Aportent Mixedminx

Day 5 - November 27, 2009

It is with total heartbreak that I must write to say our beautiful little Charlotte has joined her sister in Rainbow Bridge. Despite the 2 hourly feeding and supplementing, Charlotte did not have the strength to continue fighting. Her body will be taken to our vets for a post mortem this afternoon. We are both grief stricken at losing Charlotte, as is Toussaint who can not understand where her babies have gone.

There will be no further entries.

Day 4 - November 26, 2009

We do appear to have a problem. On the 24th Charlotte made very little weight gain so I had given her some Nutri Plus Gel. Then by the morning of the 25th, she had lost quite a significant amount of weight. It made absolutely no sense to me because she has constantly been suckling from Toussaint. This led me to believe that there obviously must be something wrong with Toussaint's milk. She does have plenty of milk, but for whatever reason, Charlotte is not getting what she needs from it. I made the decision that I would hand feed Charlotte myself, and after the first feed it was evident that my milk theory was correct. The reason I know this is because I weighed Charlotte just before I fed her, then I weighed her after I finished feeding her. She had gained 3 grams after that one feed.

Charlotte took to the syringe feeding straight away and on the first feed she was just so incredibly hungry bless her so if I can get between 2-5 mils into her at each feed then we certainly have a fighting chance. This does now mean that I will be syringe feeding her every 2 hours for the first 3 weeks of her life which is exhausting as anyone who has had to do this will confirm but if that is what will make the difference between life and death then it's worth it. As per usual, I'm using an evaporated milk mixture as opposed to a kitten formula, most of which are actually made from bovine sources anyway and I fail to see how a formula from a bovine source is beneficial in any way to a feline but then I'm only a breeder, what would I know :).

Today's photos are not great but I do find it so difficult to photograph black based cats so you can't really see just how sweet Charlotte is.

Day 3 - November 25, 2009

I really do not feel like writing a diary entry at the moment because each time I enter the kitten room, all I think about is darling Emily so it is difficult.

Charlotte, so far, seems to be holding her own, both she and her mother were quiet yesterday which is to be expected however Toussaint continues to be a doting mum and will only leave the kitten box if Charlotte is asleep. Even if Toussaint is eating, when Charlotte cries, she jumps straight into the kitten box to feed her and comfort her. I don't think you can tell by the photos below but both of Charlotte's eyes are open now, and she has lost her cord. She's such a sweet little girl and I am just hoping and praying that she be okay and thrive.

Day 2 - November 24, 2009

We have devastating news this morning in that Emily passed away during the early hours of the morning. She was alive and feeding at around 2am which was when I last checked on the babies, however when I checked again at 7am she was gone. This is just so incredibly heartbreaking. We have not lost a kitten since becoming a raw fed home, and since using homeopathy as well as conventional medicine and her loss is huge. Emily was such a beautiful little girl and even though she was with us for such a very short time, her loss is felt very deeply by both of us, as well as her mother Toussaint. It is not just we humans who grieve for the loss of a baby, their mothers also grieve and it is so sad. For obvious reasons, there are no photos today.

Day 1 - November 23, 2009

Our Bronte sisters have had a very good first 24 hours and I can not tell you just how much in love I am with these 2 girls. I can spend ages just sitting in front of their kitten box admiring them. They are just so beautiful. I guess it's because they are a Tortie and Torbie because the Tortie's have always been my first love when it comes to the Orientals, followed closely by the Tabbies and to get my favourite types in one litter is just brilliant.

Out of the 2 girls, Emily is the more demure one (at the moment), and her larger sister, Charlotte, is an extremely pushy young madam, even at this very young age. Mind you, Emily has no problems whatsoever holding her own and I am certain that as these 2 young people develop, we will have some rather fierce battle of wills because Tortie's are extremely stubborn people.

Toussaint is doing very well and we are just so proud of her. She is a devoted mother and adores her babies and whenever the kids have finished feeding, she wraps them up in her paws and snuggles them in very close to her and rests her head on them. Both Emily and Charlotte have made weight gains in the first 24 hours which we're delighted about.

Birth - November 22, 2009

It's been a long day, and having only just closed off our previous kitten diary, the Oceans, we are now commencing a brand new Oriental kitten diary.

I must admit that by the evening on November 21st I was becoming increasingly worried as Toussaint had been showing no signs at all of going into labour. By the 21st she was Day 66 taken from the last day of the mating's and so we had decided that if nothing had happened by Monday morning we would take her straight to our vet. What didn't help is that I could feel very little movement and was fearing the worst.

Toussaint spent the evening of the 21st being very restless however by Sunday morning there was still nothing. At around 0930 on Sunday she started going in and out of the litter tray, over and over again, then she suddenly jumped up on the bed, came up to me, gave a little groan, went to the end of the bed, made sure I was following and she went straight into her kitten box. Labour had begun...................

Unfortunately, a few minutes and some pushing later, 2 back feet appeared meaning a breech birth, and again, I was worried. I'll never know how Toussaint found the strength but she managed to deliver the baby in full some 10 minutes later and at 1032 we had a beautiful little Chocolate Tortie girl. It was about 15 minutes before I was able to take the baby from Toussaint to check her and weigh her because Toussaint was being extremely thorough. Just as I was about to give the baby back to her mum, Toussaint started pushing again.

Baby number 2 was born normally thank goodness but again Toussaint was really taking her time over cleaning the baby and dealing with the cord. The placenta for baby number 2 still hadn't come out 10 minutes later however whilst I was weighing and examining baby number 2, she did deliver the placenta and she dealt with that as well.

We had been saying all along that Toussaint was not particularly large this time around and that we would not be surprised if she gave birth to just 2 or 3 babies and after the 2nd baby had been born and Toussaint cleaned herself up, she settled down with her children just to bond with them, cuddle them, and sleep. By 1430 there was no signs at all of any other babies, and I certainly can not feel any more inside her at all. So it would appear that we now have 2 beautiful new babies, delivered by a perfect mummy, in which case we would like to introduce you all to.............................

The bronte sisters
Baby	Colour	Birth Time	Weight	Sex
Emily	Chocolate Oriental Torbie	1032	99 grams	Female
Charlotte	Black Oriental Tortie	1102	101 grams	Female

Toussaint has done us proud and her children are absolutely beautiful. My only concern at the moment is that since giving birth, Toussaint has not once been out of the box, not even to eat, so we shall be keeping a very close eye on her to make sure that she does start to eat. At the moment she is just very tired and it's no surprise, especially considering the difficulty she had delivering Emily. We do know that 1 of these babies definitely has a home waiting for her but until I speak with the mummy to be, I won't know which baby. For the time being, we shall just hope and pray that our dear Bronte sisters will feed and thrive.

Update at 1635 - Emily is not a Tortie, she is in fact, a Torbie (Spotted Tortie Tabby). I am delighted :) :)

Update at 1745 - Emily and Charlotte are both latched on and feeding, the "family" have been moved into the kitten room where it is peaceful and quiet, Toussaint has eaten which is a huge relief and she is just so in love with her children, as are we. I am in agony and can not turn my head to either side, so this is the last update for today. Tomorrow, we shall begin a new entry for Day 1.

Birth Photos

Please Click Here to read Toussaint's Pregnancy Diary.