When I set up this website and started doing the blog, my aim was to document as much of our experiences as new breeders as I could. Now I know why breeders don't do it! I didn't want to make a mating announcement in case it didn't take. When we knew it had taken, I didn't want to make a pregnancy announcement in case there was a problem with the birth. When they were born I didn't want to make an announcement in case they got sick...you get the picture.
Happily, we have had 2 healthy litters and Pickle is pregnant with her third and final litter at the moment. I think I'm just about in a place to give a rundown of how it has all been.
Pickle (Weeyin, Duffy), first got mated a few weeks before Bubs died. We think it took but the stress in the house meant it didn't hold so we took her back to stud when she next came in to call (season). The original plan had been to mate her to Zerah who is Zori's brother but the second he was put in with her he started trying to escape! Cinna valianlty volunteered from the other other side of the stud run and so became the father of our first litter.
I think the commitment we were making really started to dawn on me when I had to start buying all the equipment. A kitten pen, medical kit, scales, food, bottles and formula in case of an emergency, TOWELS TOWELS TOWELS, bedding, a heat mat, special cleaning spray for the pen, special washing liquid for their bedding. The list is very very long. I hope never to have to use any of the things in the medical kit but it's a great comfort knowing that it's there.
Then there was the task of starting to field kitten enquiries and vet potential new owners, it's been an absolute joy though to meet people already familiar with the breed and have some people round to meet the gang as their first experience of the breed. I don't think we'll ever get bored of it.
Pickle began to get bigger and as the weeks went on, sought more an more attention and comfort from us. We knew the week she was due but not the exact day so alarms were set throughout the nights to check on her. Politely, she went in to about at 7am on the 8th February 2021. In bed with me. In fact, all over my pyjamas. I quickly moved her to the kittening pen, woke Ian and got my mentor on video call. Nothing was happening. Pickle let me have a look and all I could see was a tiny nose and tongue peeking out of her - the sack had burst but the kitten wasn't coming out. I was honestly terrified. I eventually got in and gave her a bit of help, the kitten had paw up by it's head which was preventing it coming out. Happily with only a little help, the wee man started breathing quickly then went straight on to suckle. I'll give the full story of those boys in a separate blog.
After Pickle had sufficient recovery time, she began calling again. We gave her a melatonin implant to keep her out of call for a few months then mated her to Cinna again and she gave birth to 4 kittens in September 2021. Sadly one of them died at around 8 days old. We don't know the cause, she just went downhill very quickly.
So, that's why I haven't announced pregnancy and litters. It's scary, it's fragile, and sometimes it's incredibly sad. But I think it's important for people to know about this side of things so I'll continue to try and write about it.
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