My darling Cacao only has 5 days to go now, however I do think she will actually have them on the 17th, and not the 16th. She is now very massive and has hit that stage where she is uncomfortable with the extra weight she has to lug around. The heat we've been having certainly hasn't helped her a great deal either. She's become very loving with me lately, even more than she is normally and she hasn't been quite so evil to the other cats although she will still sleep on her own as opposed to with the others. It's just about at that time where we will look at moving her into our bedroom of an evening now to give her some peace and quiet and to make sure she knows where she is supposed to have her babies. She's still eating like there is no tomorrow and I'm pleased to see that she has such a good appetite. I do still feel the babies moving which is always very reassuring. The time seems to have flown by since the last diary entry and I had quite a shock this morning when I realised that she is due so soon. If she does a good a job as she did last time then I shall be very happy indeed. I'm not even going to hazard a guess as to what colours she will produce because I was certainly wrong about the colours I expected from Tia's litter. Mind you, so long as they are all healthy and Cacao has an easy time of it then that will be more than enough for me. I am really excited about this litter because Cacao's last litter were so wonderful and I just know I'm going to be so tempted to keep one however I definitely won't be keeping any as we did keep both Sambuca and Drambuie from her first litter. Cacao still looks really well in herself although she does tend to waddle a bit more now which is no surprise considering her size. The next entry in here will hopefully be the birth announcement.

May 28th, 2004 ( under 3 weeks to go)

I was just about to start this diary by saying how much calmer Cacao has been these last few days, that is, until she just had a go at her daughter, Drambuie. Every evening now, we've been put Cacao in our bedroom with us to sleep of a night because I figure this way, the other girls in our house get some peace and quiet. Normally we would put her in the upstairs part of the house and leave the others downstairs, however, Ice and Kahlua are relegated to upstairs of a night now because Sambuca is starting to call for the first time ever and Ice is trying to bonk her. I wouldn't mind so much except she's not quite 5 months old yet! Anyway, back to Cacao..........................to look at her, you would think she was due in the next few days. She's put on an incredible amount of weight and I'm thinking she will have 6 babies. Normally Cacao doesn't show as much as Tia because Cacao is such an incredibly long cat so her pregnancy is distributed better, however this time around, she's simply a balloon on legs. It will be interesting to see if she continues to gain weight or will slow down a bit now. I was starting to get a little concerned as up until yesterday, I hadn't felt the babies move. Fortunately, while she was sitting on my lap yesterday, I had my hands on her on both sides and felt definite movement in there so that was a big relief. I'm really looking forward to this litter of Cacao's and the time seems to be dragging by so slowly. It's a good thing that I have Tia's litter to keep me occupied and to help pass the time. Cacao's appetite is still very good and she often is seen with her head stuck in one of the food bowls.

May 21st, 2004 ( approximately 5 1/2weeks pregnant)

May 13th, 2004 ( approximately 4 1/2weeks pregnant)

There's not much at all that I can say about dear Cacao. She is just being her typical self. Loving, affectionate, talkative and naughty. She's gained a small amount of weight but spends the majority of her time sleeping. Her Ori babies from her previous litter can't understand while their mum doesn't seem to have any interest in them any more. She appears to be quite well in herself and is in good condition and still enjoys her forays out into the cat run for fresh air and sunshine. Her appetite is very good, however Cacao has always been a good eater. Throughout the day she can usually be found curled up on the lounge with Gonzo the Gorilla and she actually doesn't go upstairs a great deal now. I think this is partly because the Ori girls are always tearing around like lunatics up there. We were speculating today as to how many she may have and are thinking that maybe 5. Who would know though.

May 1st, 2004 ( approximately 2 1/2 weeks pregnant)

I must admit that this mating between Cacao and Ice was not planned at all! It was in fact, very bad timing. It happened whilst Graham was at a football match on April 12 and I was at home because I'm not very mobile due to having my foot/leg in a cast. Anyway, during that morning, without warning, Ice and Cacao were across the room from me having a wonderful time mating. By the time I was able to find my crutches and go over to them it was too late. For the first time ever, Cacao had not shown any calling signs prior to this. I telephoned Cacao's breeder, Donna and told her what had happened and asked her advice. After Donna finally stopped laughing about it, we discussed it and decided that there was very little point separating her after the deed had been done and agreed to let them mate throughout the day and then I would separate Cacao from that evening onwards. Both cats put on quite a "show" for me during the day and I witnessed a total of 8 matings. That evening after dinner, Cacao was put in the Kitten Room where she was kept right away from Ice for a couple of days. Sure enough, within a day or two, she had gone off call and hasn't come back into call since. Naturally it was absolutely no surprise when Cacao pinked up and I'm hopeful that as she was mated for one day only I can pinpoint her due date to the exact day which will be June 16th. Apart from her pinking up, the only other sign is a very slight weight increase which you would only notice if you knew her very well. We are hoping that this litter will consist of Oriental Blacks & Seal Pt Siamese. There is the possibility of other colours however our stud boy is very young and I'm not 100% sure of what colours he carries. At the time of writing this, I am still waiting from kittens sired by him to be born and I really must thank Doreen Sillis for her help and advice on this matter. As always, Doreen has been a fountain of knowledge and no matter how silly my questions are, she always takes the time to answer them. I must admit that I am very interested to see what this litter "churns out" because even though as both Cacao and Ice have totally different lines on the dam's side, they both share the same sire. Cacao was the one girl that we didn't want to have another litter so soon after her first litter, because unlike Tia Maria who bounces back within days of having her babies, it takes Cacao quite a lot longer to recover and gain back her strength and condition. Even though she was in great health and condition when she was mated, I would have preferred to hold of until at least September before mating her again. I shall be keeping a very close eye on her throughout the pregnancy and am considering giving her supplements which is something that I don't normally do.