02-05-2010, 04:31 PM
In the early hours of Sunday 31 January my darling Evie gave birth to 6 tiny babies ranging from 62 to 82 grammes. I was terrified!! Lola's babies had always been a minimum of 87gs at birth but nearly all over 90gs. I spent the whole night waiting for them to die.
By Sunday night Evie had lost all interest in her babies so at 2:30am on Monday morning I drove 25 miles to the nearest 24 hour vet to get some formula milk to try and help the kittens (the tin I had in the cupboard was out of date just when I needed it).
By the time I got home at 4:00am the kittens were weak and wouldn't take the formula. I tried and tried but they steadfastly refused to drink the bottled milk. Evie only had colostrum coming from 3 nipples and obviously had a high temperature, something was wrong and I didn't know what to do, I was frantic with worry! When I weighed the kittens in the morning they had all lost weight.
As soon as my vets opened on Monday I got an appointment and took Evie and the kittens in. Evie had a seriously high temperature but no apparent retained kittens and no other sign of any infection so the vet gave her an antibiotic injection and another week's supply of antibiotic tablets to take away. He didn't hold out much hope for the kittens but said to persevere with the bottle feeding.
At around 9:00pm on Monday night I finally managed to get some milk into the kittens, they must have been starving! I thought we had reached a turning point and they would take the bottles now - not a chance! How such a tiny kitten could be so stubborn I really don't know. They clamp their mouths shut and shake their heads or they refuse to suckle and just let the milk dribble out of the sides of their mouths.
I weighed the kittens at 10:00am every day and although none lost weight after the first day they struggled to gain weight but by today, Friday, the smallest had gone from 62gs to 87gs and the biggest from 82gs to 114gs, still small but still here!!
Despite their size they are probably the liveliest kittens I have ever seen. If I put them on our bed when I have attempted to bottle feed them, so that I know I have tried each one, they crawl all over the place. I block them in with pillows and one had climbed up and onto the top of the pillow in the time it took me to bend down and pick another kitten up. They are so noisy, amazingly loud, screaming blue murder when removed from the pen, I can't believe the noise they can make!
Evie has milk now but still not in all of her teats and now she's feeling better she has become a wonderful new mum, caring for her noisy brood in the very best way. She is doing so well for being a first-time mum. I love her to bits. I was so scared of losing her but now I think that fear has gone. As for the babies, they are still smaller than average but they are still all here. They are very special babies and I know it's going to be hard to part with them when the time comes but if they turn out like their mum then there will be some very happy families around in May!
This has been the hardest time of my life and has taught me the hard side of breeding. I have been so lucky with Lola, her kittens have always been no trouble but now I really think I am an experienced breeder. I am so lucky to have had Evie's babies survive, I know they are not completely out of the woods yet but we're getting there. I'll see if I can get some photos of my miracle babies over the weekend, they are just so precious!!
By Sunday night Evie had lost all interest in her babies so at 2:30am on Monday morning I drove 25 miles to the nearest 24 hour vet to get some formula milk to try and help the kittens (the tin I had in the cupboard was out of date just when I needed it).
By the time I got home at 4:00am the kittens were weak and wouldn't take the formula. I tried and tried but they steadfastly refused to drink the bottled milk. Evie only had colostrum coming from 3 nipples and obviously had a high temperature, something was wrong and I didn't know what to do, I was frantic with worry! When I weighed the kittens in the morning they had all lost weight.
As soon as my vets opened on Monday I got an appointment and took Evie and the kittens in. Evie had a seriously high temperature but no apparent retained kittens and no other sign of any infection so the vet gave her an antibiotic injection and another week's supply of antibiotic tablets to take away. He didn't hold out much hope for the kittens but said to persevere with the bottle feeding.
At around 9:00pm on Monday night I finally managed to get some milk into the kittens, they must have been starving! I thought we had reached a turning point and they would take the bottles now - not a chance! How such a tiny kitten could be so stubborn I really don't know. They clamp their mouths shut and shake their heads or they refuse to suckle and just let the milk dribble out of the sides of their mouths.
I weighed the kittens at 10:00am every day and although none lost weight after the first day they struggled to gain weight but by today, Friday, the smallest had gone from 62gs to 87gs and the biggest from 82gs to 114gs, still small but still here!!
Despite their size they are probably the liveliest kittens I have ever seen. If I put them on our bed when I have attempted to bottle feed them, so that I know I have tried each one, they crawl all over the place. I block them in with pillows and one had climbed up and onto the top of the pillow in the time it took me to bend down and pick another kitten up. They are so noisy, amazingly loud, screaming blue murder when removed from the pen, I can't believe the noise they can make!
Evie has milk now but still not in all of her teats and now she's feeling better she has become a wonderful new mum, caring for her noisy brood in the very best way. She is doing so well for being a first-time mum. I love her to bits. I was so scared of losing her but now I think that fear has gone. As for the babies, they are still smaller than average but they are still all here. They are very special babies and I know it's going to be hard to part with them when the time comes but if they turn out like their mum then there will be some very happy families around in May!
This has been the hardest time of my life and has taught me the hard side of breeding. I have been so lucky with Lola, her kittens have always been no trouble but now I really think I am an experienced breeder. I am so lucky to have had Evie's babies survive, I know they are not completely out of the woods yet but we're getting there. I'll see if I can get some photos of my miracle babies over the weekend, they are just so precious!!
...pics soon, cant wait! Yay kittens!