Day 1 so far so good

Well I’d say that it’s been eventful rather than restful today but the kittens look all contented sleeping soundly & cosy now they’ve been relocated AGAIN. I’ll tell you all about this in just a second, but first to confirm that they are all four most definitely boys! Ok … the nesting box saga… 

The lovely sturdy deep box that I’d readied for them with a half covered closed in roof has been a flipping nightmare! At first Prune was happy to remain with her litter, purring away and blissed out but then later she got the fidgets - which meant if she wanted to change position or even get out & go back in, the kittens started moving & snuffling which meant that Prune now had to try to insert herself around them somehow. I was up & down every time making sure that all kittens were at her tummy, not behind or underneath her. 

Then, Floozy could resist it no more & decided she too must be in the box to lick these new comers. I’m delighted that she is so keen to learn the art of mothering but less happy at the thought that a kitten would get squashed. I had that occur with another cat & kitten & it’s so very sad to find & lose one that way. Next, because I kept yanking Floozy out she would grasp the vet bedding on the bottom and as it lifted with her the kittens would tumble. Also then in her hurry to get back in the box was being toppled over. Poor kittens, it must feel like an earthquake! Evidently, the box idea needed to be shelved and kittens moved. 

I had already set up the smaller of my pet crates as a snug with cot bumpers around the sides for insulation and softness, and a heavy throw on top to keep it warm and draught free, so this was put into action.

First though I needed to insert one of the heat mats with its triple double layer covers, then over this I have placed the vet bed bedding they’ve been on already. There is room for them to move away from the area where the heat at is if they need to but with so many layers the heat will be very gentle. Next, in went the kittens followed by mum! Now there is more room. Floozy is in there now with them licking them away and Prune is happy to let her. Noodle has shown less interest in kittens this time, I wonder if she is maybe giving way to Floozy? She is still delivering mice! (Toy ones!) I still can’t get over this instinct to provide and to know that a mouse is what is needed. Some of these toy mice are pink with yellow tails- but recognised even so! 

Though they seem reasonably content, I’m concerned about them being well fed and established so earlier on I mixed a small amount of formula & gave each kitten about 1ml each. One of the blue boys took to it with ease but the others are less sure. I want them to keep feeding from mum, which at this stage is about every two hours day & night. 

The next job I need to do today I dislike doing but it is necessary as they are born with these long pristine white sharp needlelike claws… very soon they’ll be blackened with dried blood and poor Prune is already unhappy with the pain. I need to try to shorten & blunt them so that she & the litter mates don’t get quite so scratched up. Their instinct in their blindness is to snuffle their nose instinctively seeking & recognising the teat, but the searching and scrabbling is relentless- and why they get so scratched up. This is a big downside for the breed not having fur protection! They are so very tiny, and delicate and very very wriggly, plus they yell like hell which  activates mummy to worry. I really wish she knew I was helping!  

As I write, having licked for a good 30 minutes, Floozy is asleep with Prune & the kittens! Anyway, here’s the new location with Aunty Floozy (constantly) helping out & lastly with wonderful Mum!

Kittens are here! Yippee!

What a night (yes the Euros, well done England) but I’m talking kittens here people!

Prune told me with a series of short mews last night that things were finally going to get going. She has been so restless & the mews so unlike her usual chat that I knew we were on. 

She got up & down all night, then at around 8:20am the “first” kitten arrived, breach. A boy. The placenta took a while, she got up and the kitten was dangling precariously. After resettling her delft the placenta came  & for the first time, I needed to help to cut the cord which I then anointed with iodine & removed the placenta from the birthing box. I congratulated Prune on being so clever even if it had taken ages to get started.  

At 9:54 another breach blue kitten arrived, and I waited eagerly to see the placenta follow… but still several minutes later it hadn’t delivered. She pushed again a couple of times & there came a third breach kitten this tone black… she then stood up, this time with 2 kittens swinging away, then she squatted and perched to the side again to deliver the placentas. 

Things were then quiet and after a couple of hours I thought I’d have a sleep… then from the side of the room I heard a kitten yell out. That was odd since she & her kittens were right next to me & I could clearly see all 3! 

Going over to the furry black coloured radiator bed where I’d seen Prune earlier, and which I marvelled at at the time as while she looked so cosy & settled she never usually goes on it. I left her there not thinking she’d stay long… but she obviously got going kittening before I knew anything about it - as there l, found nestled amongst the folds of soft fabric I discovered a little blue kitten! It’s & it’s umbilical cord was dry & the little stump already shrivelled, a clear indication this was a kitten had been there a little while. I’d had the heating on as soon as the kittening began so it definitely stayed warm even while mum was busy giving birth elsewhere. This secret kitten would have actually been the first then & I think she must have had it when I went to the loo…. every time I have left the room since yesterday she has mewed and a couple of times today she got up from the box to berate me for leaving at such a critical time. 

I think that this kitten probably arrived at about 7am & having followed me to the bathroom, because it was then that I noted a discharge and so had resettled her in the birthing box, thinking no more of it than that her mucous plug had come away! 

Thank goodness that the little critter yelled.  It seemed to be quite ok despite the time it had spent alone. Warm & dry the dear little kitten had obviously been sound asleep then woken up very hungry & lonely 😩 

All 4 siblings, are now settled with mum in a nice deep cosy box lined with vet bed & a blanket.  On first appearance they look to be all boys but I will check that again later on as I must admit, I’m quite bleary eyed right now & I might easily have made a mistake. I’ll confirm on the next update! 

Well done my Dear Prunella Prudence you’ve done a fine job of delivering your litter… now comes the hard work of establishing them all to ensure they grow big & strong. 

Please keep checking back to keep up to date with them. I endeavour to post regularly when there are kittens here, daily in the early days if I can! Don’t forget to message me if you have any questions or interest in Prune’s sweet kittens. 

Bye for now Sphynx lovers, 

Dee & the Naked Sphynx Cat Hampshire Ladies & miniature Gentlemen 

Preparation is underway

Bang on schedule, less than 2 weeks until d-day is expected, I discovered Prune nesting in my overlong bedroom curtains. I later straightened them only to discover her in them again. I had been expecting her to begin to exhibit some nesting behaviour this time around since she is not relaxed around Floozy, so as usual I was already been thinking about setting her up a snug. Luckily my son showed up and popped into my little storage loft to get the smaller of my pet crates down. This is now set up with a cot bumper around the beside, a heady throw blanket on top, and a snug box and blankets inside. And as expected all cats have inspected. It passes muster. So much so that Noodle, who is always vociferous when she has a mouse (toy!!!) has been making delivery of the toys to the cage door every day since. You can see them in the photo above with Pru sitting outside, the prey animals are awaiting being devoured!

I do take them away (so she knows Prune has eaten?) but, lo and behold, sooner or later I hear the usual “I’ve caught a(nother)mouse for you” yell and they are dropped to the ground back at the entrance. The pink one in the picture is one of her favourite mice! I mean it’s bright pink with a bright yellow cord tail. It’s mouse shaped, but she knows this is a prey item as much as she knows that the grey furry one behind is too.

What’s odd is that she (nor the others) has NEVER seen a mouse, nor ever needed to hunt and yet both she & Prune recognise that these mouse toys represent their natural food. 

They have only done this with the mouse toys. Never with the fish or the bird toys with feathers. Noodle never did this for either her own two litters but began doing it (along with Pru) in 2019 when Pru had her first litter and, Pru began bringing them to her offspring & she joined in. But while Prune stopped fetching food, Noodle has carried it on and she most certainly recognises that kittens are on the way again and is taking great care to check on Pru’s welfare. You’ll see this care evident in the photo below as she lifts her head regularly to check up on her as she gets some rest. 

I couldn’t love ❤ Noodle more. Since becoming a mother (in 2017 & 2018) she has been motherly to her own as well as to Pru’s babies but she also exhibits the same need to care for human babies too. Whenever babies have visited us, recognising the human infant as helpless she sits right beside them, and will gently go nose to nose with the baby to check him or her out. She then always looks to me and back to the baby. And if the child should cry she tries her best to give comfort looking to me to help her out. I have a new grandchild due in a few weeks & hope she will get to exhibit this same behaviour again. I do so wish she had been able to have more babies of her own though as she was a super mum, and she obviously wants instinctively to Mother. She more than makes up for her loss of reproductive ability by being a brilliant “Aunty”. 

Prunella’s pregnancy is going very well. Her food is disappearing at a huge rate. The bowl that is normally needs to be replenished at most once a week, is now completely empty on day 2!

I’ve been feeling as well as seeing her kittens moving inside of her. It’s best doing this when she is sleeping because she is still the longest then. I have seen a head and a rump as well as limbs being pushed against her as they seek to reposition and stretch within her. One seemed to have stood up inside her to turn itself around! What must it feel like with so many are and legs, heads and rumps wriggling night and day? Certainly they’re growing at a speed & space is at a premium. Her breast tissue is beginning to be full & defined, her teats usually so small are now very prominent & enlarged in preparedness for those hungry mouths. The difficulty they have in finding the with no sight and no hair path to follow a heavy price for Sphynx mums whose tummies a quickly sore with scratches from those needle like claws they are born with. I do try as soon as I can to blunt them but they are so unbelievably small and delicate it’s not easy to do! 

One thing I’ve noted & which did not occur last time though is that Prune has patches of skin that have changed colour, darkening to black. I spotted these “marks” on her inner thighs when I bathed them a week ago but now the same dark patch is seen at her anus and her swollen vulva. You can just see one of those dark patches at the base of her tail in the photo above. The skin is the same texture as the rest, it’s just a much blacker in its appearance. It will be interesting to see if this disappears again in the days following the births.

Everything is ready. I have the birthing kit complete with iodine for umbilical cords, life drops, suction device, sterile flannels, weighing scales, forceps, lubricant, stethoscope etc (hopefully needing to use only the iodine!) & I’ve also got supplies of milk replacer, steriliser, bottles, feeding tubes, colostrum, subcutaneous fluids & needles and manuka honey at hand should I need to step in to try to save a little life. I lost & saved one last time & on reflection believe that had I not been so frightened to help out sooner I would have saved both. This time then I’m determined to be braver sooner if I need to do so. 

Although there are still 10 days to go, I’m staying close to home as Prune is restless & has been needy of being near to me. I want to give her the reassurance she needs by just continuing to be at home with her. I’m hoping that she will be as relaxed in labour & birth as she was before, and I expect Noodle to be stuck to the side of the birthing box ready to step in (quite literally!) . The unknown is Floozy. Pru has been hissing & low level swearing at her still, the occasional lightening fast series of left hooks and even seeking to bite her. Floozy seems oblivious to her pregnancy so I don’t know how that dynamic will play out when it all happens. I may have to close Floozy out of the room for a bit. I hope not. 

Speaking of Floozy, she was 1 year old on June 16th and a week later went into heat for the first time and, began marking my home with her urine . 4 times on the cat exercise wheel. It reeked! I put in into the bath with napisan and 6 sterident tablets, turning it over a few hours before draining the bath and showering it down. Next day the enzymic cleaners I’d ordered arrived and I sprayed it with that & thankfully the smell has gone. I’ve cleaned the other areas she anointed too. It’s hard as it’s not naughty behaviour but a natural thing, but Pru doesn’t do it and though Noodle did, back in the day, not to the extent Floozy has. She was hard in heat and then, suddenly it was over. I’m going to try to curb her marking by trying her (?) to use puppy pads which at least can be easily disposed of and which will protect my floors from smelling since cat urine laced with hormone calling cards is strong smelling indeed. I so hope that the wheel is not re-used next time though! 

But first Kittens!!!! 10, 9, 8, 7…….