2-28-21 Weekly Roundup

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Weekly Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr Roundup.

OH COME ONNNNNNN CANASTAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

“Look lady, there’s your kitten. Looks like it’s a fish, but it’s a kitten. Now go away.” (FYI, today is day 42 since Canasta came to us. Our record is Margeaux, at 43 days. I don’t personally see any reason to try to beat that record, CANASTA.)

On the left: Canasta last Sunday. On the right: today. I don’t think she looks much bigger (Fred disagrees), but she gained nearly ONE ENTIRE POUND in the past week. She has gained a total of 4 pounds, 3 ounces since January 10th (which is 6 weeks/42 days that she’s been with us. If she keeps going (please don’t keep going, Canasta), she’ll tie Margeaux’s record tomorrow and beat it Tuesday.)⁠

She ate normally (voraciously) this morning, has been playing, snoozing, litterboxing, and occasionally visiting the crate to do a little nesting (just for long enough to get me excited before she strolls back out while rolling her eyes at me). I am impatient but not worried.

From 2011: Maggie, our 2nd pregnant mama. She got huuuuuge (honestly, I think she was bigger than Canasta is) and had 6 kittens. She’s the one I always think of when people talk about how big Canasta is (in a “She’s big, but she’s not Maggie-sized yet” way). Maggie was fine and so were her kittens; I have faith that Canasta and her kittens will be, too.⁠

(Of course, Maggie only made us wait 3 weeks, but then she wasn’t gunning for Margeaux’s 43-day record either.)⁠

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Still pregnant, still playing. A little less inclined to jump, though!

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I know it’s been hard to see the alien belly with Canasta because she’s, basically, just a big blob of white. Hopefully zooming in will help you see it – keep your eye on that middle nipple area.

By request: Canasta (left) the day we got her (January 10th) and this morning (February 21st). She gained 4 pounds, 3 ounces in 6 weeks. I… do NOT remember her being so small when we got her!

Good night innernets. ❤️

“Y’all keep it down in there. Mama’s trying to sleep!”

It’s been 6 months since Clyde and Cutey (now Jasmine) went home to Birmingham. And here’s an update on them!⁠

Jodi says: The dogs and cats after 6 mos are finally living together in harmony. I wasn’t sure I would ever see the day. We are all so excited and happy. Clyde seems to adore Tango like he is the cool big brother. He follows Tango and has to do what Tango does. My husband says Clyde just wants to make a bed out of Tango’s fur! Here are a few pics of them mingling. You will notice Jasmine and Trixie are more reserved in their affection. They are very similar in personality.⁠

Thank you Jodi! (Also, may I just say – Clyde’s TAIL! 😻)

I guess we’re going to make a fruit salad. Know what’s the perfect addition to fruit salad? Kittens. NO PRESSURE, CANASTA.

The kittens must have shifted, because Canasta can reach her toes now!

Canasta cares not one tiny bit about my desire for kittens. (Good night innernets.)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“Kittens, you ask? Hmm… kittens… kittens… Nope, never heard of ’em!”

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Canasta and Charlie playing last night before bed. I should’ve known when I saw her playing that there wouldn’t be any kittens overnight (though to be fair… I wouldn’t be surprised if she played right up ’til she went into labor.) The Dead Armadillo hunting technique seems to be surprisingly effective.

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Charlie and Canasta playing this morning. I love it when they chase each other.

Canasta loves herself a sparkleball.

Good night innernets.

Breakfast: eaten. Litterbox: used. Playing: accomplished. Kittens: Quarantined inside. Next up: a little yoga. She needs to work on her Dead Armadillo pose.⁠

After much discussion yesterday, I decided to wait on a vet visit. There is absolutely nothing in Canasta’s behavior that indicates the need for a vet visit. She is eating, playing, litterboxing and sleeping comfortably. Obviously she wasn’t nearly as far along as we assumed when she came to us. Sure she’s big. She’s PREGNANT. I don’t want to put her through the stress of a vet visit just because I’m impatient. I’m keeping a close eye on her, and will whisk her off to the vet at the slightest sign of distress.

Someone left a dead armadillo on my foster room floor.

To ripen your catermelon naturally, place gently in front of an open window. Will ripen to perfection in approximately 1 decade.

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I know seeing the belly movement isn’t easy, especially on small screens. I made this video that helpfully points out – with arrows – three belly movements, so hopefully you can see. There’s more belly movement than just those three instances, of course, because her belly rarely stops moving at this point.⁠ (Also, I am not any kind of pro video editor, so it’s nothing fancy.)

I cannot stop laughing at this goofball. She was flopped out on her back on top of me, and I had to get up. So I slowly sat up (I’m amazed I have the core strength to do that) and instead of getting to her feet and walking off of me the way she usually does, she just sat there like that. She’s such a nut.

Good night innernets.

They’re negotiating Charlie’s babysitting rates. I’m not sure Canasta can afford him.

Throwback Thursday: in 2015, when I was fostering Peter, Paul (pictured) and Mary, I proclaimed that we’d never had a Diamond-Bellied Tuxie before and that they were extremely rare. And several people (including Fred) believed that was a thing.

This is the thread y’all have been waiting for – guess the day and time she gives birth and guess the number of kittens! What does the winner get? Nothin’ but bragging rights. And keep track of your own guesses, ’cause I’m not gonna. I’m too busy staring at Canasta. 😳⁠

It’s been 46 days since she came to us at 8 pounds, 2 ounces. Today she weighs 12 pounds, 10 ounces (the weight gained isn’t all kittens, I assure you. She’s got a nice padding of fat on her now. This is a GOOD thing, since nursing mamas always get frightfully skinny). Her belly (at the widest point) measures 20 inches (possibly 21 – she wasn’t holding still.) Last time she checked out the crate: two hours ago (she spent 2 minutes digging, one minute relaxing and then left the crate.) Before that, she hadn’t been near the crate since 1 am yesterday. She is still eating voraciously. She plays, but she’s slowed down a lot (doesn’t leap in the air much anymore). She spends most of her time sleeping in the window or on the couch. Still has the energy to get in Charlie’s face and smack him when she feels he needs it (he still ignores her.)⁠

I didn’t start this thread before now because I’ve been SO SURE that she was going to give birth at ANY moment so it’d be a moot point. Well MOOT THIS, CANASTA.

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I’m sure I’ve posted this video before (probably about this time last year), and I’m sure I’ll post it again. Throwback to 2015, when I was fostering Peter, Paul and Mary, and Mary spit at me, then looked EXTREMELY pleased with herself.

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Slow motion Canasta – somehow she still finds the energy to play… even if “playing” consists of rolling around on her back trying to catch the toys I toss. No longer leaving the ground these days, though.

Permanent Resident Archie and his Resting Archie Face are a big fan of dried mealworms. He sits and waits for birds to knock some to the ground and then he eats ’em (the mealworms, that is. Not the birds. I mean, he’d eat the birds too, if he could get hold of them). (Vet says eating mealworms is fine “as long as they aren’t his only source of nutrition.” They are not.)

She came in like a basketbaaaaaaallllllll⁠

(To the tune of “Wrecking Ball”)

Good night innernets.

Kitten # 1 born at 6:06 am. Looks black & white, has tail light. Everything seems good.

Kitten # 2 born at 7:15. Another black and white. Yes, we are on the couch.

Kitten # 3 (far left) born at 7:42, and she has moved to the crate.

Kitten # 4 born at 8:57. Black or brown and white. Also, turns out # 3 is brown tabby (not black) and white.

Kitten # 5, 10:08. Black and white I think. Everyone is squirmy, nursing, occasionally complaining.

We are still at 5 kittens. I believe there might be 1 more, but I’m not sure. Time will tell!

She has eaten and is resting; I think we’re done at 5. The kittens all look to be in great shape. If Canasta’s okay with it, I’ll weigh them this evening when I change out the bloody, soaked pad on the bottom of the crate, and will get pictures of each kitten. For now, I’m going to stop harassing her and let her snooze and bond with her kittens. It’s been a BIG day for that girl, birthing the last litter she’ll ever have. ❤️⁠

Reminder: I have a naming theme: card games. I’ll name them eventually (won’t be today), and since most of the names are pretty unisex I’ll probably get them named fairly quickly (but again – won’t be today.)

Surprise, surprise! I went to take a nap and when I checked on her afterward, there were 6 little heads at the milk bar. This is #6 (born at 2:38), so we have 3 black and white, and 3 brown tabby and white. I have filed a request that she STOP having kittens now. 6 is a good, even number (I like even numbers, because it increases the possibility that they’ll be adopted in pairs.) I think she’s done – but we’ll see!

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I accidentally made this short video this morning, after kitten # 1 was born and had been cleaned up, and we were waiting for kitten # 2. (For the record, I did intend to livestream the births, but I was so caught up in the moment that it didn’t even occur to me until much later in the day.)

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I mean… she’s got 9 nipples. Why are you fighting over that one, kids?? (This video was made before kitten #6 was born.)

Good night innernets. (Canasta was across the room, eating.)⁠

I did a very quick weigh of the kittens – just weighed each of them, without worrying about which one I was weighing. They weighed between 4 and 4.5 ounces each (average birth weight for a kitten is 3.5 ounces.) Tomorrow I’ll get pics of each kitten so we can start trying to tell them apart. ❤️

Look at those healthy little wigglers! (Yes, we’re still at 6. I can’t be the only one who wondered if I’d walk into the foster room and find juuuust one more surprise. Nope!)

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Canasta and her newborns. That one little brown tabby and white is all “‘Scuse me! Places to go!”

Back in 2017, we fostered (along with Belle and her kittens) gray and white cutie pie Ressler. Ressler is now Arlo, and look how gorgeous he grew up to be!⁠

Dana says: We adopted Arlo (formerly Ressler) over 4 years ago. He and my youngest basically grew up together. He will come find my son to check on him often. He still chews a nice soft blanket as though he’s nursing. He likes to rub our feet at dinner each night and lounge in the sun with Zoomer (also adopted). I put up a bird feeder outside of the window and they have their own lounging bench. I thought I’d send a few pictures and say thank you for fostering these babies. I couldn’t imagine our family without this sweet boy. I know Zoomer feels the same way.

Thank you so much, Dana!

Here’s your first look at the kittens side by side. They’re arranged in birth order, and their weights are from about 3 hours ago. I haven’t named them yet but will in the next day or two.

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Party at the milk bar, and #6 practices his/her Dead Armadillo.

Good night innernets.

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Previously
2020: Pablo sleeps like an angel on his bed of kittens.
2019: (It’s not a skill they’ll ever master.)
2018: “Paws up, y’all!”
2017: “I SAID BACK OFF!”
2016: No entry.
2015: (Please note, not all cats were present for this, because they have busy and fulfilling lives and sometimes don’t feel like coming down to help me out, because they are BRATS.)
2014: It’s a hard life, being this beautiful (that’s Orlando.)
2013: ::loonyface::
2012: She yawns at me and says “What babies?”
2011: Bath time for Corbie.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: “What doin’, Skittyboo? What it do?”
2007: The first round of Hellcats were unfortunately faster and meaner than we expected.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

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