Expected litter out of Schimmel Stripe It Lucky x Schimmel Taking A Chance

Well Marcelle, this is it................are you ready???????? This will be Cointreau's last pregnancy diary now as tomorrow is her due date. She has caused some sleepless nights for the past couple of nights because she spends half the night lying stretched out, beside me, under the duvet, and the other half of the night is spent up and down on the bed, in and out of her kittening box, "rearranging" all the bedding in the kittening box. Her unsettled behaviour is fairly indicative that labour is during nearer and I have to say that I will just be glad when it's all over and we can hopefully relax a little bit. I noticed on Saturday evening when we were upstairs that Cointreau had definitely "dropped" which is another sign that labour is not too far off. The babies are extremely quiet at the moment with very little movement so chances are they are moving into position now. Her appetite continues to increase and she is eating enormous quantities of food at the moment which I am pleased about because I'd like to get as much good quality commercial kitten foods, and home cooked foods, into her body during the next few days as giving birth takes so much out of the girls obviously. Teen and I were only speaking yesterday about this forthcoming litter and we are both fascinated to see what Ashanti is capable of producing. For those who don't know, Teen, Tone & Val of Maroochydore Siamese & Orientals have Ashanti's sister, Tabbi, and this will give us an indication of what Tabbi herself may be capable of producing when the time comes. There really is very little left to say now as we are playing the waiting game, so please check back in the next day or two when hopefully, we will have exciting news to share with you...................

It's hard to believe that we have just one week to go before Cointreau's babies are born and I must say that the closer it gets to the due date, the more excited I am to see what she will produce, and Marcelle is feeling exactly the same way :) Cointreau is doing very well and although she is not overly large, we're really happy with the way her pregnancy has progressed to date. She hasn't really slowed down, even this far into the pregnancy and when she is in the mood, she still tears around, in and out of the cat run, and up and down the stairs. Having said that though, she is sleeping a bit more than she would be normally. I keep telling myself that at some point, I absolutely MUST go to the garage and get the cardboard box I've been storing, to prepare it for the birth and now that we have just one week to go, I really should make it a priority I guess. Mind you, Cointreau has showed no signs of nesting yet but this will no doubt change within the next few days. Very shortly, she will be sleeping in our bedroom with us all night long although I am not expecting her to go into labour until the 18th, but being a Siamese, she is sure to surprise me and will give birth on the day she is supposed to, especially now that I have said otherwise :)

Well we now have just over 2 weeks to go (her due date is approximately April 17) and all is going very well so far. Cointreau is perfectly content and spends a lot of her time eating, sleeping, grooming, and smacking all those that she doesn't feel are worthy to be in her presence. I don't actually think she looks particularly larger this week than she did last week, however she is certainly a heck of a lot heavier when I pick her up. It will be interesting to see whether or not she "balloons" during the last week as she did with her first pregnancy. Despite being just 2 weeks off giving birth, she still goes into the cat run and climbs on the shelves etc which is something I'm happy to encourage because she certainly should not be lethargic at this stage of the pregnancy.

There has actually been very little change between last week and this week although Cointreau has expanded a touch more around the abdomen now. Again though, I have no idea if this is noticeable by the photos below or not. She really is blooming in her pregnancy though and during the day, she alternates between spending time in Graham's room, or spending time with me. Of an evening, she sleeps upstairs along with her mum, her grandmother, and her "groom". All 4 of them snooze the night away on the bed in the spare room. I have increased Cointreau's food intake again now and apart from the biscuits that are left down all of the time, and the main evening meal that everyone eats, she is also fed 2 extra meals a day, as is Sambuca who is also pregnant. She is still quite active, but for the past few days at least, she's lost that "nutty, hyperactive" phase which I am rather relieved about to say the least. It seems as if this pregnancy is really flying by so quickly which is a good thing because I really quite excited about this birth and what will be produced.

Spring Fever, or something has gotten into Cointreau! I know that I always say I like our girls to be active during their pregnancies but she is taking this to the extreme. She has been running around like an absolute nutter, tearing throughout the home, running at full speeds in and out of the cat run, flying out the window with the grace and agility of an Olympic gymnast. I tell you, it is not safe to be in her path while she is having these rather extended mad moments. Five weeks into the pregnancy and not a great deal has changed as of yet. Again, her abdomen is a bit more swollen than last week, but I still don't know how noticeable this is to anyone other than myself. I have been comparing this diary when Cointreau's first pregnancy diary to look at the size and with her last pregnancy, she wasn't particularly big at this stage either. I know that like every other litter, we will be playing the guessing game as to how many. I have increased her dietary intake now in the respect that she gets one extra pouch of either Hi Life or Natures Menu (kitten) pouch per day. This does not seem like a lot I know, but she is still eating the normal meals that the rest of our felines eat each day, and she is also constantly eating the James Wellbeloved kitten biscuits. Remember that I don't want her expanding too much, too early on, as overweight cats can have difficulties when they go into labour. I must say though, that she is definitely eating a much larger quantity of food early on with this pregnancy than she did with her last pregnancy.

I am pleased to say, actually, that's a lie, I am delighted and ecstatic to announce that after last week's confusion over the "is she/isn't she" dilemma, we can at last confirm Cointreau's pregnancy. By March 8/9, her nipples were bright, bright, incredibly bright pink of an evening, and remained so during the day time as well. I'm not quite sure how Marcelle will feel about being a Great Granny, but I reckon she'll be rather thrilled to say the least. In fact, I know she is delighted because one of these future babies will be sharing her home with Marcelle & Jim, and their fur kids, Moogs and Bailey :) Actually, I think Cointreau will also be rather pleased because it now means I will not be picking her up and turning her upside down 10 times a day :) Cointreau is definitely heavier now when I pick her up and there is the very slightest of swelling of her abdomen which may not be particularly visible in the photographs below, but it's very apparent to me when I look at her. She is a bit restless in that she doesn't know what she wants or where she wants to be at the moment. She divides her time between Graham's room and the rest of the home and she is also spending an awful lot of time in the cat run as well. Mind you, the sun has been out so all of the cats have been making the most of the cat run during the last week. Today's photos are not great, but Cointreau was not in a photographic mood, so I took a few quick snaps and then let her go back to sleep.

Is she or isn't she?????????????????? Never before have I been so confused about queen and her condition. Cointreau seems to pink up of an evening, but then her nipples are a normal colour during the day. One week into the pregnancy and Cointreau decided to show signs of morning sickness bless her, although in her case it was "afternoon sickness" and I can honestly say cleaning up morning sickness is one of the very few aspects of feline pregnancies that I do not enjoy. To be totally honest with you, on March 3, and March 4, when they still hadn't changed at all, I was so incredibly disappointed. For me, this could be such an exciting litter as it would be our Ashanti's first ever babies and I can't express just how much I am looking forward to this litter being born. The thought of possible Tabby Oriental babies totally delights us, to say nothing of the fact that due to the line breeding we should have some stunning Tabby Point Siamese kittens. I also know that Ashanti's other "grandma", Marcelle, is feeling quite proud of Ashanti as well :) It's going to be an extremely long 6 weeks that will pass very slowly which is always the case when it is a pregnancy I am really looking forward to, although no doubt the Racers will help keep me occupied. Cointreau is doing extremely well in herself and she wasn't even bothered by the morning sickness. Her appetite has not increased yet, but then I would not expect it to. She is however, one of the first cats hovering around the kitchen door when meal time is imminent. This in itself has been unusual because whilst we have some fur children, like Amaretto, Parsley, Amarula, Tuaca, Toussaint, who all come running the moment "that" time of evening hits and I have to prepare their dinner, Cointreau has always been one of those who meanders over to the plates when they are put down on the floor. So for Cointreau to have joined the rest of the "starving cats", was quite unusual. Cointreau also feels heavier when I pick her up, yet to look at her, there is no change, not even the slightest swelling at all, so I honestly don't know what is happening. At this stage I will give it another week and see.

Tonight, on March 7, Graham and I both feel she may be pregnant as her nipples definitely do look pinker. I honestly have not ever been so confused before. I am acting exactly like I was with my beloved Tia Maria when she had her first ever litter and I can't believe I'm behaving like this. I've been tipping Cointreau upside down at least 10 times a day for 4 days now. Normally, I am always incredibly confident about whether or not our girls are pregnant and I'm never bothered if they are or not yet right now I feel as it's my "first time". I know that the reason for this lack of confidence is solely due to the fact that I want these babies so very much and if it turns out she's not pregnant, I will be gutted which is absolute madness because she will come back into call and I will supervise matings between her and Ashanti. I will try to get some photos of Cointreau tomorrow to add to this week's entry.