Quite a handful!

We are at day 16 & things are beginning to get exciting because now seeing & hearing, with strength and the ability to begin to walk the kittens are beginning to be attentive, eagerly mewing & looking at me as I sit near to attend to them. Previous litters of kittens quickly learned to recognised & associate my appearance with food; their excitement was understandably exuberant. I didn’t however expect the same level of interest from these at this stage (given they don’t want or need my food offerings just yet) . What their eager interest and craning necks does show though is how curious they are about the world outside of their snug little den. They are not yet ready to venture out but have space within it to move around & explore which I’ve seen them doing as they gain strength & coordination of their limbs. 

They’ve just been weighed & they’ve just received their first worming dose - surprise! They didn’t like it!. As I placed them back in they were eagerly licked all over by mum who was making sure they are ok & that she wasn’t missing out on something that is nice - surprise - she wasn’t! Prune hates worming time - despite manufacturers telling us they are “pleasantly” flavoured to appeal to pets for easy worming. Pah! Not true! She is like inspector Clouseau, no amount of hiding any form of treatment gets past her! 

Weights today

The girls: Black 240g - Blue 241g

The boys: 292g & 256g

Worming:

Despite being indoor cats, my girls are wormed regularly. Their tablet treatment is given every 3 months.  Being indoor only that they do not get worms via the normal routes other cats would, plus being Sphynx do not get fleas (see info below) . Additionally I have no other pets who might bring worms or fleas into the environment. All that being said, the clear veterinary advice (yes, even for indoor kept animals) is always to treat for worms & *fleas as standard.

* Sphynx cats do not require flea treatment

During pregnancy & lactation Prune cannot have her usual tablet & so I change the worming medication accordingly so as to protect the pregnancy & feeding kittens. Although the cats are treated, it is also vital to give the kittens worming treatment too, even ones as young as these.

Panacur is one brand that I use and is well tolerated (though the taste hated!) & another is offered by Beaphar who at least make efforts to make it taste “pleasant”. Both brands offer the treatment as a paste/cream or as a syrup both of which are suitable for giving to kittens at this life stage. Hoping to go with “pleasant” I have begun with the Beaphar paste/cream & this is dosed in a schedule as shown here: 

Kittens and puppies: Treat at 2 weeks of age and retreat every two weeks until they are 12 weeks old, thereafter they can be treated at three monthly intervals.

Nursing queens and bitches: Treat at the same time and as frequently as their kittens and puppies until weaning.

https://www.beaphar.com/en-gb/product/beaphar-worming-cream

To understand why worm treating such young kittens is so important & how they can be infected while being in the den & maternally fed, the PDSA website provides the following information about worms in cats & kittens:

Worms live in the intestines, steal food and cause damage to the gut lining. Although worms rarely cause serious problems in adult cats, they can cause very serious illness (such as dehydration, anaemia, gut blockages and even death) in kittens.

Kittens catch worms from their mother’s milk and adult cats catch them from fleas and hunting (rats, mice and birds etc). 

There are two main types of worm that affect cats and kittens in the UK:  

1. Roundworm - look like spaghetti and grow up to 15cm long.
2. Tapeworm - grow up to 50cm long and look like flat ribbons made up of lots of little segments. If your cat has tapeworms, you might see little worm segments (the size of a grain of rice) crawling around their bottom

(https://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/pet-health-hub/conditions/worms-in-cats) 

Because the microscopic worm larvae/eggs can even live outside of the gut it is possible for them to be carried in to the home/cattery on footwear & though I do change my shoes as I come inside you can appreciate how simple it would be to accidentally bring worms into the environment which could then infect an indoor cat. Another route in for work larvae/eggs might be via contaminated food. 

Work treating my cats, & treating these beautiful kittens will ensure that they are protected from the harm that worms can cause & will ensure that all of the nourishment provided by the food they eat will feed them & not a clew of unwelcome worms who happen to be residing in their intestines. 

Day 14 Update

 

I note as I watch this video back how much there is to see in this short video. You see a mother cat who is intent upon gaining every calorie she can - she is cleaning them up ferociously because I’ve just been offering them formula - which they didn’t require because they are so full. You also see in the video that despite refusing my milk offering & being full that the kittens still continue to harass her teats - and as they do there are different stories going on. At one stage as she is still cleaning, at the same time in reaction to inquest from another kitten she is awkwardly positioned with her leg opened to give that access. Multitasking, she is aware and rearing to their needs. But having finished cleaning as the onslaught continues she lies down again but now she uses her back leg to push them clear and try to guard her tummy - though not for long as she realises it’s futile. 

I’m sure now that this onslaught is why she was so unsettled during last night. At one point bringing a single kitten up onto my bed (I put it back!). I assumed that she might be struggling to produce enough milk and her mewing (so rare) was her asking me to step in. And I think this is true she does want my help but not because she is lacking milk but more that she is overwhelmed by their continuous desire for it. She might be a little sore. Their claws are sharp and their constant suckling and kneading of her soft abdomen will be having an effect for sure. They’ll be using her as a teether too with their first teeth getting ready to emerge fairly soon. Even do, their gum line is hard and the pressure and friction will be affecting her comfort. Certainly she is taking more breaks away from them now - to get peace often choosing to take a little “me time” to snooze for longer but still not far away. She might have a drink, visit the loo, a quick burst on the running wheel to stretch and use her muscles and limbs having been on her sides for such long periods. 

The kittens are superb. Strong and healthy with increasing weights. Tonight’s weights are;

Black F 217g, Blue F 220g. Blue M’s 226g & 245g 

I watch them sleep, dream & stretch their limbs testing them regularly. They are at this stage still very much babies. They can move around but it’s more dragging/crawling and their motivation for moving anywhere is in getting to mum or finding somewhere in her absence that they might want to snuggle up. I sometimes lift a blanket to do a head count and find a pile of kittens laying at all angles absolutely zonked to the world. Bliss. 

I also watch them when everything is still and quiet. In the video below, taken in the dead of night June 4th into 5th shows Prune soundly sleeping and yet this kitten onslaught goes on still. The quality is not great. I zoomed in rather than move so as not to disturb them at all.. but as you watch the kittens have mounted themselves high up on their quest for a tear to be plugged into…thankfully though badly aimed there is some eventual success…..

Worth the Weight!

Happy Jubilee Friday! 

After 3 full days of feeding her babies without any kind of supplemental support assistance from me each time I’ve checked upon the kittens (frequently) they have had very full tummies.  I’ve just taken their latest weights & am thrilled that every single kitten is now over the 200g mark: 

Black Female: 208g   Blue F 201g

Blue M’s   218g   &   208g 

They are stronger by the day & exercising their bodies as they begin to explore more. I’ve noticed Prune is more inclined to have a little “me time” though she is never far away and returns swiftly with a soft reassuring new to let them know she is there. However, each time she settles with them the kittens want to latch on & I think she is needing a little break, perhaps feeling some discomfort from the almost constant assault on her tears since there are always favoured positions. 

I watched a fabulous short video on Instagram this week where a back a Sphynx mother was laying flat on her back, legs akimbo with kittens latched on from both sides at once . I thought this a super solution and wondered why this is not a position that is used more often. Maybe because m the usual side laying crescent shape into which kittens gather is residual instinct since in the wild this poison shields & protects mum snd her exposed abdomen… maybe too this position is a way to attempt to shield a couple of the teats hiding them more beneath this giving them a welcome break! Only joking, when you see how they insistently butt and burrow in order to seek out the teats you’ll appreciate that unless she lays like the Egyptian Sphinx tummy to the floor (which she will do in the weeks to come after they have weaned to meat), her underside is getting no such rest! 

This video taken today (June 3rd 2022) does actually demonstrate a bit that head butting and digging as well as the many needle like claws that rhythmically knead pricking at her soft underbelly skin. Note to self that I may need to perform another miniature manicure again!