and today i have mostly been...

[steve_earwig]

Oh, and now they've dried off a bit I think we've actually got 3 greys: 2 dark and 1 light, which might make them easier to rehome. If we can ever bare to part with any of them...

[steve_earwig]

...buying kitten food. 'cos apparently it has all the right stuff for mum in it too.

I managed to get everything clean last night too (move mum to temporary nest, move kitten, move mum, move kitten, move mum...)



She's also partial to the cat treats from Lidl.

So I've bought rather a lot of them...

Notice I finally found a use for the useless boot liner from the yoyo. Also, no Welly, they're asleep (I checked )

What was this forum about again? What, cars? Pfft.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Steve,

You & cat's

Your making me miss mine

Might have to do something about it yet

[steve_earwig]

How many can I put you down for?

[Welly]

I'm sure you don't need reminding that within a few short weeks they'll be leaping about like nutters all over the place?

The Kittens we babysat last summer were lunatics I didn't think it was possible for a kitten to climb a wallpapered wall and then grab hold of and swing about on the curtains until I saw it

[steve_earwig]

They don't do wallpaper here, just painted walls (sometimes with patterns rolled on) so they won't be climbing the wallpaper. There are curtains though...

Maybe I said, we had a kitten who climbed the wallpaper and curtains when I was a kid, Spider Brown he was called.

Still, 5 kittens coming though here like a miniature tornado is certainly going to be, er, interesting

[highlander]

I didn't think it was possible for a kitten to climb a wallpapered wall

We had a ginger long-haired Persian cat who loved to sleep outside in the flower beds on warm sunny days. Except that one day, he woke up to discover it had been absolutely pissing down with rain. He came inside, mud all through his fur, so a snap decision was made to give him a bit of a rinse in warm water...

Up until that moment, I had no idea it was possible for a fairly large adult cat to run up a mirror. It's like he just ignored physics in his hurry to "nope" right out of there.

[Welly]

We were literally discussing something similar the other day wondering what would happen if you put a cat in a shower cubicle

[steve_earwig]

Depends on the cat I reckon, I had to shower Charles and Camilla when they were kittens 'cos Charles came with ringworm, he actually liked it while Camilla didn't seem too bothered. On the other hand poor Beanie shat herself. I was holding her at the time

Most cats hate water but you do get the (really) odd one that loves it, swims in the bath etc.

As for the shower cubicle, you're starting off by shutting them in there, which they won't like, then things just get worse. Budget for new bathroom...

[PhillipM]

I've got one cat that will rip your face off if you so much as come near her with wet hands, and her brother who happily jumps in the bath and paddles around.

[steve_earwig]

I'm sorry to report we lost one of the kittens this morning. Worse still, he's the little guy in the pictures above. Yesterday my wife pointed out that the 2 tabbies were smaller than the greys, maybe they'll catch up? This morning we were up there with them, the greys were asleep while the tabbies fed. Then Annie moved and I noticed one of the tabbies was hardly moving and seemed to be fighting for breath. I didn't know what to do, I tried blowing in his mouth and gently massaging his chest but he soon faded away.

Very sad but this is why I didn't want to name them, little animals sometimes just don't make it. It was probably a manufacturing defect, although disease is always something to worry about. Ana at the vet's said she could have given him an infusion and a vitamin injection but, from the time I noticed to the time he stopped moving was less than 5 minutes, we're not far from the vet's but he still wouldn't have made it there.

I've brought him home, Ana said I could have left him with them for cremation but this always seems like a cop out to me. So he'll go under the lawn with the other cats. Yeah, I realise I'm probably mad but it's how I was brought up.

I'll also be keeping a close eye on the other tabby.

[Welly]

That's very sad to hear, sorry mate you're not having much luck with pets, I guess that's nature coming into play and bugger all you could have done about it. Still it will be nice to see the other Kittens doing well but sorry for the little fella there

[steve_earwig]

Thanks Welters. I had half a mind not to say anything as there's so little good news to go round at the moment, but then I figured I'd probably post more pictures and it would be obvious one was missing.

I'm still watching the other tabby and it's obvious he's not so hot either, he has trouble finding the drinks dispensers and is pretty feeble at it. I'm not sure what to do about it really, apart from trying to get him to feed. I could feed him myself but doubt I could buy anything suitable in Croatia. Part of me is remembering I've been through something like this before with Beanie and I got way too attached, so it really hit me when the worst happened. Do I really want to set myself up for something similar?

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Very sorry as well Steve,
Poor little fella
I do hope the others are ok & I totally understand your attachment thing

[steve_earwig]

Thanks DDD, I'm wondering if I should change the title of this thread to "Today turned into a disaster because..."

The vet's closed early today 'cos it's another damn bank holiday here but t'wife managed to get hold of our regular vet Mirela (who's meant to be on holiday). She says female cats usually have chlamydia (dirty cows) and often the first kittens to exit pick some of this up, the first thing it does is block their noses so they have trouble feeding and it's a downward spiral from there, sadly. This is quite common, it's nothing we've done wrong, nothing wrong with Annie, it just happens. Also, for the first 3 weeks of their lives there is nothing we can do for them, nothing we can give them that would be anything like as good for them as their mother's milk, which also contains her antibodies to help them fight off disease.

I've nothing good to report on the other tabby either, last time I was with them I tried to get him to feed but he just squealed and wobbled off to hug one of the greys and go to sleep. Bugger