It's almost time, thought I'd start a thread in this forum.

[skewch]

Normally, I post in the breeders forum. I always frequent this one, pregnancy and kittens is my passion.

I breed Sphynx, with my first litter due on Tuesday. I know it could come earlier or later but I wanted to post about the situation just in case someone else could use the information.

Well, Molly and our stud Monty were blood typed a couple weeks ago and were found to have incompatible blood types. I will be bottle feeding the newborns for the first 24 hrs. She will wear a body sock to cover her nipples so the kittens won't try to nurse. Nursing from her will cause the kittens to die usually within the first 12 hours. I am NOT going to let that happen. I have all of my supplies ready and all I need now is the babies. I will dress her in her body sock starting on Sunday.

I had an xray taken to see how many she had, and only one showed up. However, she had alot of feces in her intestines so there could be another one or two. We'll just have to wait and see. She looks large enough to have 3 in there. Her belly has dropped and her nipples almost look like the milk is starting to come in.

I will use this thread to post pics etc. I am so excited for this event. You'd think I was waiting for my own grandchild...NOT!! LOL My cats ARE my children so the upcoming birth will be so exciting. I will stay with mom and babies in the cat room until they are old enough to mingle through the rest of my house...so at least 6 or 7 weeks of age. The last two litters I had were around that age when they wanted to go out of the room and investigate.

 

[katkisses]

Ohhhh, I bet you are SO excited!!!

that everything goes smoothly!

 

[mbjerkness]

so exciting

 

[kailie]

I can not wait to see pictures!

Hope all goes well hun!

 

[wellingtoncats]

She may just have the one and be filled up with fluid. My Fluffy had kittens 4-5 days early a couple of days ago, and at birth the smallest was just 50 grams. Do you weigh your babies?

 

[bridget]

You are going to stay in the catroom for 6-7 weeks? LOL, surely I misunderstood. Have fun with your babies! How exciting!

 

[skewch]

Yes, I have a weigh scale and will weigh each one daily, especially after the first day of bottle feeding. If the kitten isn't gaining what it should, I will increase the amount fed and how long I will supplement. I want to ensure the viability of the kitten(s) and will do whatever I can do make sure it is more than perfect.

I had this scale when I had my first litter in this house, 2 days after we moved in. Momma had 8 kittens and I wanted to be sure they'd be ok. They all did perfectly fine. I did supplement when needed, some of the babies were boob hogs!! LOL

 

[skewch]

Originally Posted by Bridget

You are going to stay in the catroom for 6-7 weeks? LOL, surely I misunderstood. Have fun with your babies! How exciting!

Well, I will have to come out to cook and clean LOL but yes, I will be sleeping in there and spending a lot of my days in there as well.

 

[cutekittenkat]

Sounds like you're going to be a busy mommy for this little guy(s)! Good luck, and you sound prepared, so hopefully it goes smoothly!

 

[skewch]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I am so excited. I am going to take some "before" pictures, she is amazing with how she carries her babies...one minute she is huge, next minute she looks so graceful.

Those babies better not be late or I'm sure I'll have an aneurism LOL

 

[goldenkitty45]

I hope she has more then one. "only" kittens sometimes are really weird because they have no siblings to learn from. Will keep my fingers crossed for a no problem delivery in a few days

 

[cutekittenkat]

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I hope she has more then one. "only" kittens sometimes are really weird because they have no siblings to learn from. Will keep my fingers crossed for a no problem delivery in a few days

I agree! They can have some pretty odd personalities when they don't have siblings, thouh it's nothing horrible. One of mine that I bottle fed from 2 weeks old always ate SO messy. We'd give him a bowl of wetfood and he'd sit right in it as he ate, and smother his face in it! I'd have to give him bathes twice a day! But if that does happen, you just have to be there with them to play often...can't wait to see some pics!

 

[northernglow]

Originally Posted by skewch

Well, Molly and our stud Monty were blood typed a couple weeks ago and were found to have incompatible blood types.

Was this an 'oops-litter'? We usually check the blood types way before mating the cats together.

(Sorry if I've missed some info).

Good luck, and we must see pics when the time comes!

 

[katkisses]

Not an oops litter. I read a few of her posts where she had them typed, I think after the kitty absorbed her kittens. She did a lot of research and felt like she can do this. Apparently, several breeders do this, when they find out that their breeder's have different blood types.

From what I understand she will let the kittens nurse on mom again in 24-48hrs because they cannot have any colostrum in her milk. For the first 24-48hrs I think she has to bottle food & keep mommies belly covered so they kittens can't nurse from her. The colostrum would kill them.

Some one correct me if I am wrong, I haven't researched this and I am going from memory, from Skewch's posts.

 

[skewch]

Katkisses, yes this wasn't an oops litter. I am purposely breeding these cats. Not all breeders type their cats unless there is a chance of this happening. Percentage wise, the Sphynx are 83% A and 17% B, so not a large margin. Devon Rex are 60/40. Siamese are 100% A. So if you don't research the types, you may not know. It's not like it's a horrible thing either. The kittens develop just fine in utero.

The breeder I got my little Selkirk rex from said that it is really common in British shorthairs which they also breed. He said they still breed their cats and it's not a big deal if you are willing to bottle feed. Because I don't work outside the home, bottle feeding is NOT a problem whatsoever.

The kittens' gut closes after a certain amount of time (usually less than 24 hrs) and doesn't absorb the colustrum into the bloodstream. It's the antibodies (Anti-A) that attack the red blood cells in the kittens and that's what kills them if they are B kittens. After the 24 hr period the colustrum is processed and broken down like anything else (KMR for example) and the danger is then eliminated.

She will wear a body sock so her nipples are unaccessible to the kittens. She will still have full access to her babies for bonding, cleaning, stimulating. I am very sure things will be just fine

 

[tamarae]

Good luck Skewch! I've never seen pics of sphynx babies, can't wait to see.

 

[skewch]

I've seen plenty of pics, just never any in person...YET!! I can't wait for it, even if she only has one, I'll love every second of the experience. I know that however many she has they'll be spoiled rotten LOL. They difinitely won't be the type to ignore humans...sphynx love their humans, and spend a lot of time with them. My sphynx are so great in that way, I never sleep alone!

 

[northernglow]

Originally Posted by skewch

The breeder I got my little Selkirk rex from said that it is really common in British shorthairs which they also breed.

True, that's propably why I think all cats are blood typed before breeding (as you can see, I have few brits..

).

We do it automatically here at the same time while the Felv and FIV-tests are done.

 

[skewch]

That's also what I did, got them the FelV and FIV tests done at the same time. I know for the future, blood typing is a concern and I'm hoping that Molly is the only one. However, I do own her half sister as well. I will have her blood typed within a couple weeks. I have lots going on between now and a couple weeks, want to ensure not to get myself overloaded.

Even if my other one is a B as well, I will try a couple breedings. Bottle feeding isn't that much of an inconvenience really. I don't think it is, anyway. Like you quoted me in your post, I talked with the breeder of my Selkirk and like he said, he still breeds and says he's never had an issue with any of the kittens, never a death or problem.

 

[skewch]

Well, no babies yet but last night we were in bed and she was under the covers as usual and all of a sudden as I'm petting her, down by her tail and back end it was all wet. Then, I noticed my leg had a wet spot and I'm like...oh geez I better do something. So I whisked her up and off to the cat room. She didn't have any contractions but she woke me up alot with wanting to lay on my chest and knead. She never lays on my chest. There has been no nesting either. I find it weird, but my last girl didn't nest either.

But, no babies so we still wait LOL. Hopefully tonight will be the night. I've got my fingers crossed! Been feeling movement for a couple weeks now, the other night felt a whole ribcage, that was cool. You can feel so much more on a cat with no hair LOL

I did take some pictures of her last night but they don't do her size justice. I will see if I can post them later.