March 1, 2022
On the night of February 28th, we all went to sleep with a pregnant Rosie and woke up in the morning to six beautiful kittens. Unfortunately the following day we woke up and one kitten did not make it. We tried saving it but it was too late. Rosie did an amazing job delivering her kittens, taking them out of their sacks and chewing all of the umbilical cords. When we woke up in the morning they were almost all clean and nursing from Rosie. She has been eating quite a bit of food and the kittens are enjoying lots of sleep and milk.
Rosie spends most of her time laying with them and cleaning them, she comes out every so often to get some lovings and goes right back in with the kittens. Right now the kittens eyes are still closed but most of their ears have popped up. We are so excited to watch them grow and learn and change. We will be updating once a week like we did with their pregnancy. If you would like to be added to our waitlist for one of our kittens the link is posted above.
Pregnancy Week 8
February 10th-17th, 2022
Week Eight.. this week involved a LOT of sleeping and eating. She is absolutely loving her chicken hearts mixed in with her regular raw food meals. She is mostly sleeping on the dining room bench, on the kitchen floor or on my legs wherever I am. She is coming for more affection now than she has been the last few weeks. Even if she isn't being pet she just likes to be near me. I got to see her babies moving around for the first time this week.. it was hard to tell at first but if you watched closely you could see a lot of movement. She is doing even more of a waddle now than a walk and is definitely not very fast moving. It is getting more difficult for her to bathe herself, so we had to trim her hair in a few places to make it easier for her. She is using the litter a lot more now - it seems that her water intake is still the same though.
Last weeks weight: 16.07lbs
This weeks weight: 16.36bs
Things that have changed this week:
- Her belly is filling out more and looking bigger especially looking down from above her.
- She is eating, sleeping and using the litter a lot more this week
Some things we learned this week:
- She may begin producing milk this week (usually this only happens if she's had a litter previously - which she has not)
- Her nipples will swell more this week and she will start to lose fur as they prepare to feed the kittens after birth
Kitten Development:
"During this week of pregnancy the kittens sense of smell is developing, as are their tongues, which will help them groom themselves. They will increase in size every day as they add fat to their bodies"
Pregnancy Week 7
February 3rd-10th, 2022
Week Seven.. Rosie has been doing a lot of resting this week. She pretty much lays sprawled out on the dining room bench.. sprawled out in front of the wood stove. or sprawled out on top of my baby belly. Usually when I go into the kitchen to get myself or the kids a drink.. she's right behind me coming for a few bites to eat. She isn't going into the kitchen and crying for food... just notices when I go in there and follows. She is still loving all of the affection she can get. Every morning when I get out of bed and look at her, its like her belly has doubled in size.
Last weeks weight: 14.75lbs
This weeks weight: 16.07lbs
Things that have changed this week:
- You can tell her belly is growing from every angle you look at her now,
- She is starting to waddle instead of walk
- She ate a lot more than last week, still little meals throughout the day
Some things we learned this week:
- She may begin nesting this week as she gets closer to labour - Rosie has not "picked" out a spot yet
- She will drink more water this week then normal
Kitten Development:
"The kittens are approximately 3.5 inches long and they've grown their first little bits of fur. Their tails have lengthened and their ears have grown"
Rosies Radiograph
February 7th, 2022
- Black Tortie
- Black Tortie Tabby
- Blue Tortie
- Blue Tortie Tabby
Our first time Mama had her Pregnancy Radiograph today with our wonderful Vet (Richmond Veterinary Clinic in Napanee, Ontario). The Vet is still operating curb-side so when we arrived we gave them a call to let them know we were there and they came out and took her inside for her scan. After the scan, the Vet came out and told us that she is doing wonderful and she has a FULL litter inside of her belly. Turns out that our sweet girl has a minimum of SIX kittens, but they are almost positive that there are EIGHT. They told us that in order to count the babies in a cat, they count the heads and the spines.. sometimes it gets a little difficult to count the exact amount but they gave us the most accurate number they could.
We are excited to welcome her kittens earth side VERY soon. One of the breeders that I became close with in Russia, told me about a site where I can input the colour of the Mama and the colour of the Dad and it will give me a list of colours that our litter could produce.
The colours we could get from this litter -
- Solid Black
- Solid Blue
- Black Tabby
- Blue Tabby
Pregnancy Week 6
January 27th - February 3rd, 2022
Week Six.. her eating schedule changed the most this week.. rather than wanting breakfast and dinner.. I noticed the first day that she ate a lot less at dinner than normal.. the following day she followed me into the kitchen more so I put her food out for her each time and she would eat a small layer of food and then leave and did this multiple times. She has done this mostly every day this week, which is exactly what I had read about happening this week. She is eating more overall each day now that she is having smaller meals all day long. She is bulking up on calories to prepare to feed the kittens after birth. Since extra nutrition is essential at this point in her pregnancy we spoke to our raw food supplier and she advised us to feed her heart which is VERY good for her and the babies. She is not sleeping as much as she did last week but still more than normal.
Last weeks weight: 14.68lbs
This weeks weight: 14.75lbs
Things that have changed this week:
- Her belly is filling out more and looking bigger especially looking down from above her.
- She is napping in her window seat a lot so we have moved her blanket to her birthing area in hopes that will encourage her more to "nest" there
Some things we learned this week:
- With her uterus getting bigger and therefore less room for her stomach to fill with food, feed her multiple small meals through the day
- Her nutrient requirements are one and a half times more than they were prior to her pregnancy
Kitten Development:
"During the sixth week of pregnancy, the kittens' skin starts to get thicker while their tails start to lengthen"
Pregnancy Week 5
January 20th - 27th, 2022
Week Five... sleeping.. sleeping and more sleeping. I have also noticed that her belly is really starting to grow. She's been sleeping on her side a lot, exactly like the photo for this week. It is really showing off her Mama belly. This week she was a bit more hungry than she normally is, since she is 100% raw fed, we cannot leave food out for her to eat whenever she wants, so when I head into the kitchen (which is quite a lot) she will climb up on the fridge with her front paws if she wants to eat - now she has an "afternoon snack" and then her regular dinner and breakfast. The kids are doing an amazing job at being VERY gentle with Rosie and not picking her up. Today we got her box ready to give birth in; Even though there's a chance that she could do it on the floor.. in her bed.. beside our bed.. anywhere really.. I wanted to have her area ready for her so that she can get comfortable in it if she likes.
Last weeks weight: 13.18lbs
This weeks weight: 14.68lbs
Things that have changed this week:
- Her belly is starting to fill out and look bigger, you can see that its starting to get harder to do things like clean herself (and she's cleaning herself A LOT)
- Lots of sleeping and starting to nap in her window seat more than right next to us
Some things we learned this week:
- Some vets can feel the kittens in her belly this week but its best to wait a bit longer and confirm with an x-ray
- If she isn't gaining weight that we would need to call the vet (she is gaining day by day it seems!)
Kitten Development:
"By the fifth week of pregnancy, the kittens' nerves and muscles are developing. With development of muscles, they can begin moving and kicking some within the uterus"
Pregnancy Week 4
January 13th - 20th, 2022
Week Four.. I found this week flew by, I am not sure if it was the excitement of Rosie becoming a Mama or if it was because she was so calm and snuggly but she definitely soaked in all the snuggles this week. Usually she goes and does her thing during the day napping on the top bunk of Henry and Jacks bed, or on the blue rocking chair in our bedroom.. I don't think she left my site at all this week besides to have a few cat naps on the dining room table (where she can still see us when she opens her eyes). She loves snuggling into my leg and having the back half of her body on the floor, or couch or wherever it is that I am sitting. She makes sure she lets me know if my hand is getting to close to her belly for her comfort.
Last weeks weight: 12.74lbs
This weeks weight: 13.18lbs
Things that have changed this week:
- Wanted to be in our presence more
- Wanted dinner earlier than usual, so we give her food when she "asks" and again at regular time
Some things we learned this week:
- From this point on in her pregnancy, we should avoid picking her up if we can so we do not hurt her or the kittens
- She may get a lot of morning sickness as this is a big hormonal change week (she was not sick at all)
Kitten Development:
"During the fourth week of pregnancy, the kittens' skeletons and nervous system develop more, as they go from being an embryo to a fetus"
Pregnancy Week 3
January 6th - 13th, 2022
Week number three... this was a big one. The week where we knew for sure that she was going to be a Mama. We were so excited when we found out, our 3 year old son still doesn't believe his Rosie is going to have little kittens running around.
We kept track of her weight since the first day we put her with Doyle, recording it around the same time once a week. We wanted to be able to keep track of everything we could think of to see how she changes and grows throughout her journey.
Original Weight: 12.01 lbs
Current Weight: 12.74 lbs
There were a few things we noticed this week that continued to confirm our suspicions that she was pregnant:
- She was sick 3 times in one day which we now assume was morning sickness.
- Usually during the day when she naps, its with Tinny but this week it was by herself.
- She doesn't want me to touch her stomach where she did not care before
- I could feel a couple of nipples when i did get to pet her stomach
Things that have not changed:
- She is currently not eating or drinking any more or any less than usual
- She is still very affectionate with me through the day
Right now her favourite napping places are in front of the wood stove or fireplace and in her cat tower. She comes and lays on my leg every time I sit on the couch. She has no interest in adding more meals through the day, just gets very excited at dinner time.