The Kitten Report. Issue #1.
Kittens: Day 3
Things went well for the first two days though I have barely gotten any sleep since the 22nd.
Nosa (see her in all her glory HERE) the eldest, is up for a fight every feeding time, scratching at her siblings just to get to her food. The black one seems to have a bit of orange and a patch of white under her lip, as though she's perpetually lapping up milk and forgetting to clean after herself. The orange tabby one is content with lying about and sleeping and the one with the orange spots seems to get to Starbuck first, every single time it's time to feed. He is the fattest of the bunch.
Today however, I had to change the sheets on which Starbuck had her kittens, as there was still some blood on them. But it was also today that Nosa and the black kitten sneezed/coughed/I have no idea what that was. They would open their mouths and breath rapidly four or five times, like there was something stuck in their throat and then stop. This happened twice today and I'm getting quite worried. Nosa herself seems to be relatively smaller than the rest of the litter and she's particularly agitated, traveling the entire length of Starbuck and back and under and just...everywhere until she stops because of exhaustion. She is also the noisiest.
I do not --under any circumstance --want to lose the eldest. Or any of them.
I've been warned that first litters may not leave the first few months intact and this is me being absolutely dire...
The births themselves have put my emotional investment in an ever-expanding bag and I am so anxious about these little guys that I check in on them every few hours. The first week is especially crucial for kittens and though I trust Starbuck to be a good mum and I don't weigh them, I have to be ready for anything. Be it bottle-feeding or looking for a proper veterinarian.
I've been referred to the Aso't Pusa Veterinary Clinic by dark-beloved and I'll look into that first thing tomorrow morning (frak work requirements if I'm worried about the kittens!). Hopefully I can have the kittens looked at and told what to do.
This is proving to be a harrowing week, what with my work requirements still incomplete and the kitties needing a look every now and then. This is my first litter with my first pet on the first few days of the frakkin' rainy season.
I am a mess!