Well Little Miss Fatty has just one week left and it will be interesting as to whether or not we fit in one last diary entry before she goes into labour. What a week it's been.............

all Cointreau has done is eat, and eat, and eat. We are used to seeing pregnant mummies with healthy appetite but Cointreau has to be seen to be believed. This girl is constantly eating. When she isn't eating, she is sleeping on our bed or nesting. To give you an idea, she and Cacao are going through 500 grams of turkey thighs per day, 2 quails per day, 2 chicken wings per day, approximately 200 grams of beef steak per day. I've never quite seen anything like it and first thing in the morning, I get up, go downstairs put the kettle on, take breakfast back upstairs to her and the whole time I'm gone from the room (about 5-10 minutes) she sits at the door screaming at me demanding her breakfast.

Needless to say all this eating does have it's downsides. Last night was a classic example when Cointreau went into my side of the wardrobe and then tried to come out on Graham's side. The problem was that she couldn't fit! She is too fat and couldn't squeeze through the opening. This meant that I had to open the door on my side even further, call her back through the wardrobe, and entice her out through my side. If she continues to eat like this, she won't even fit in her kitten box :)

Her babies are moving around an awful lot now and Cointreau is finding it very hard to get comfortable and she will lie on one side for 10 minutes and then change to the other side. I do feel sorry for her yet she appears to be taking it all in her stride bless her. We shall see what this week brings...........

Cointreau has had a really good week and I've managed to get this weeks' entry online on the correct day which makes a change! She is now starting to expand quite a lot however she actually feels a lot heavier than she looks. As you know, she and Cacao have been having some quiet, peaceful time in the kitten room but as of Monday I'll move them both into our bedroom and they will stay there until after the birth.

I've been really pleased with Cointreau's appetite and she is currently eating everything from quail, to Prize Choice mince, to beef steaks etc. I'm not quite sure what the girls have been doing in the kitten box but when it first went into the kitten room I had some lovely neat bedding piled up in there and now it looks like wild parties have been going on in there. Some of the bedding is all scrunched up against the sides of the box, other bedding is totally up side down, I do keep straightening it back out but the girls just put it back the way it was. From now on I will just leave it how they want it I think.

Something tells me that the final 2 weeks are going to go by quite slowly and it's just as well we have so much going on here at the moment because that will hopefully help the time to pass a bit more quickly.

Yes, I am incredibly late getting this entry online, and no, there are no photos mainly because I simply have not got around to taking any.

Cointreau is doing incredibly well and has expanded just that bit more and is thoroughly enjoying the company of her grandmother, Cacao. Since becoming pregnant, Cointreau and Cacao are inseparable and will not leave each other's side. As Cointreau does only have 3 weeks left, she has now been moved into the kitten room (so has Cacao) although when she gets to that point in time where she has around 2 weeks left, we will move her into our bedroom where she can be monitored.

Both Cointreau and Cacao are enjoying the peace and quiet of having a room all to themselves and because the nesting box is already set up ready and waiting, Cointreau has been sleeping in there and making the bedding comfortable in a way that she feels is best.

Cointreau is doing extremely well although I must say that at her Week 5 stage she is much larger than I would have expected her to be. I'm not sure how apparent this is in the photos below? She is so heavy when I pick her up and to give you an example of how large she is, we have a kitten box which is set up in my side of the wardrobe. Now the day before Toussaint gave birth, she kept trying to squeeze past the kitten box to get into the other side of the wardrobe, she was able to do that quite easily. Last night, Cointreau was trying to do the same thing however, she got stuck. Her tummy was too large to fit through the gap so in the end she had to back out of the space she had been trying to enter. She either has quite a few babies, or she has one or two very huge elephants in there :)

I am pleased with her progress though, she's doing so very well, positively blooming, tearing around our bedroom like a hooligan and her appetite is excellent. She seems to be forever eating and when she isn't eating or running around, she and Cacao are curled up together or having mutual grooming sessions. We shall wait and see what this week brings and how much more she expands.

Ironically enough, just like humans, cats can, and do, get cravings during pregnancy and Cointreau has now turned into a caffeine addict! No cup of coffee is safe and the moment I put my cup down, her head is straight in it and she's drinking my coffee. Of course, I don't let her have too much and I don't think a few sips will do her any harm at all and if her children end up being a very lively litter I will know why :)

Cointreau is getting very large rather quickly. She is incredibly heavy, she is constantly eating, and I think she may well be carrying a small army in her tummy bless her. Despite the weight gain, Cointreau is absolutely thriving and during her pregnancy, she and her grandmother, Cacao, have become exceptionally close and both ladies sleep with us every single night, usually on my pillows. I will not be surprised at all if Cacao helps her Cointreau to raise her children.

Today's photos are rather dismal, solely because I took them quite late one evening so the quality is poor.

I had to laugh the day after Cointreau was removed from the honeymoon suite because she was in our bedroom, cuddled up with Graham and they were chatting to each other and I said to Graham "While you've got her there with you, ask her how many babies she's having". So Graham whispered in Cointreau's ear, he then put his ear to her mouth to listen to her reply. I was then given a rather scathing look by both my husband and Cointreau and was informed that Cointreau's response was: "Don't be silly, I've only just had a honeymoon, the tadpoles are still checking into the hotel and they haven't even finished reading the Sperms and Conditions yet. When they've read through those we can start to weed out the good ones from the bad ones and then I'll know." Perhaps it was just me feeling rather tired but I did break out into fits of laughter.

It became quite apparent about 5 days ago that Cointreau was definitely expecting babies because, a) she started having morning sickness (on our bed!) and b) she pinked up, so it would appear that we will hopefully hear the pitter patter of tiny paws approximately December 18th. Unfortunately, along with morning sickness, paranoia has also set in. Cointreau is of the opinion that "everyone" is out to get her <sigh>. Of course, once a cat, regardless of whether they are pregnant or not, displays victim like tendencies then it is natural for the more dominant cats in the home to start to bully the weak minded cat. You can imagine what it's like in our home at the moment? So we have Cointreau on a flower remedy mixture that I made up to help give her her confidence back and so that she can stand up for herself but it will take a little while.

Apart from what has been mentioned above, the only other sign that Cointreau is expecting is one that is not apparent to anyone but ourselves and that is only because we know her so well. Cointreau has filled out slightly but that aside, she already feels quite a lot heavier and it comes as a surprise when I pick her up, or when she sleeps on us during the evening. So long as she does not gain too much weight too quickly then it will be okay. Obviously I am not increasing her food intake this early in the pregnancy, it is way too soon for that.

We shall see what, if any, changes occur within the next week so please check back around November 14th for the next pregnancy diary entry.