How Accurate are X-Rays for Determining Cat Pregnancy?

[hteft]

@catwoman707

@sarthur2

This is the tiniest one. They are all still gaining great AND yesterday the two tiny's reached the milestone of more than doubling their birthweight! 

I used the tiniest as the model so that you can see how much he has filled out. Their eyes are starting to open. I do have a question about that. Every kitten's  eyes are starting to open. Two of them seem to have dried stuff covering the part of the eye that is still closed. It is only on one eye on each of them. Is that normal? 

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• hteft
• Sep 11, 2015

     

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• hteft
• Sep 11, 2015

     

20150911_235145.jpg

• hteft
• Sep 11, 2015

Catwoman, I was thinking of putting a sock on top of the corset. The issue I had with the armholes is the wood is in the way. Still may make armholes. When I modeled him, I put this on loosely, I didn't want to tighten in until I know I have the placement right. 

Is the placement right? And do you think I should make the wood shorter? Let me know and I will tweak it so we can get these two wearing them. Thanks again  

 

[LotsOfFur]

Oh that kitten face is adorable! It looks like it has a little dark eyebrow - ughhh the cuteness

 

[catwoman707]

Why am I just not getting the feeling this will be right?.......

Maybe because it's not fitted on him yet?

Because to me the sticks are not in the right place, this could be from no armholes.

Did you try tying it to see how it fits and works?

It looks to me that the sticks are too low on his body.

You know I could be mistaken too, if I were holding him and checking it out, it might be okay, I also can't see the front, how far the sticks go.

If you tie it, does it lightly squeeze his ribs together? 

Does the vest have a gap in front where it ties?

It should not if so. It should be stiff on the sides and bringing the 2 sides together will make sort of a point in front, like a teardrop shape.

Point is front, rounded end is on his back.

I mean they don't have to touch, but should be close when tied.

Please just fit it on him then show me okay?

I need you to really understand how it needs to work.

Picture this. No sticks, and a vest that just fits around him and ties in the front.

Okay, now add the sticks on to each side, going from his sides to the end of each side of the vest, what happens? it won't go around him, the sides stick straight out right?

So imagine tying the two stick ends together, but just enough so that the stiffness of the sticks are going to gently squeeze the ribs towards each other. Do you see what I mean?

Like I said, it may work fine, but I need to see it tied and how it fits and where the sticks land on him.

Headed to bed, back at it tmrw

 

[hteft]

 I have a friend here right now who is helping me make a better one with arm holes that hopefully will be more fitted. I will fit it on him first and then put the sticks on the new one and post a pic so you can see the front. She sews and to her this is a piece of cake. I am learning. Will post the updated version and pics. 

 

[Sarthur2]

Anxious to see what you came up with. Arm holes make the vest fit better, and they really need to be wearing them already so they can get well.

 

[catwoman707]

I forgot to answer your question last night about eye crust.

No, it is not okay, but is common.

Most kittens born to an outdoor cat will have eye bacterial infections, some are mild, some are not if there are signs of a uri in them or mom, but the key most important thing at this point is to soften the crud so their eyes can be open.

Using a warm wet washcloth, hold it on the eye for a bit to moisten and warm the crud, move on to the next kitten, when they have all been soaked, go back to the first one and gently rewipe, swiping it off at the crack of their lids.

Do NOT share the same parts of the cloth between kittens! They will likely need terramycin, but that's simple, it's an antibiotic ointment that will get rid of the bacteria easily.

Anxious to see what you came up with in a vest!

 

[hteft]

I can't wait to get the corset jackets on them too! And to model them to show you. I am working right now, when I am done I am going to eat and then get model them for you, so you can see. Way better with the arm holes! 

It is only 1 kitten who has that on his eye. It is only 1 of his eyes, that is why I wondered. Usually when you see the uri in the eyes, it affects more than one kitten. I do have terramycin at home. I have never used it on a kitten that young. Is the dosing the same? A small strip on the eye 3 times a day? 

This morning when I supplemented him, I did wipe that eye off with the warm, wet washcloth. That eye is only just starting to open, so I couldn't get a good look at the eye itself. Have to get back to work, more later this evening with pictures of the vests. Really looking forward to getting the two tiny's into them! 

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, terramycin a couple times a day on the eye.

 

[catwoman707]

The reason the eye must not stay glued shut is because there is bacterial drainage, if the eye is stuck shut it is unable to drain and can get very bad fast.

I just had to go over to a new foster yesterday to examine what was going on.

I saw that kittens were in the middle of their eyes opening, but a couple had one opening and one crusty and shut.

I showed her how to apply terramycin which I did then, a few minutes later there was a big glop of green goop draining from the shut eye.

This is the crap you want to be able to drain out, otherwise it will swell with that fluid and become a very serious issue, including loss of vision and removal of the eye.

So be sure to keep them as clean as possible and when you notice one is stuck again, just apply the dampness again to allow it to soften and unstick, then apply to the eyeball itself.

Do not apply it from the tube ever. Squeeze an amt on to your wrist and swipe up with your finger so you will not contaminate the tube.

 

[hteft]

Going to have to be tomorrow. Came home to a child who is throwing up. 

 

[Sarthur2]

Oh dear, hope your child is feeling better today.

 

[handsome kitty]

 
Going to have to be tomorrow. Came home to a child who is throwing up. 

Well, that's not fun.  Hope it isn't the flu.

 

[hteft]

Thanks, both kids are feeling better. My son also got it early this morning. I did not get much sleep last night. They went to the fair yesterday while I was working, after hearing about all the junk they ate, I am thinking it was too much junk food that made them sick. 

I just got back from taking Indipoo to the er vet. One of her nipples was bleeding. So I loaded up her and the kittens and off we went. Apparently the kittens are teething and her teat was pretty much bit off. He said that is pretty common to have happen. Ouch!!!!!  They gave her a shot of antibiotics. She now has 7 teats instead of 8.

The vet looked over the kittens while we were there.He said they all look great and are very healthy. I did tell him about supplementing the tiny's and he said to continue on with that during the day to help Indipoo out. He said they will catch up in size, but wasn't overly concerned that they are so much smaller than the others. I asked him about the tiny's chests. He feels they are not flat chested after all. I showed him the pictures on my phone from earlier in the week and he said in the pictures they do look flat chested, but now their chests are rounding out just fine.  He told me it is very common for kittens that young to be flat in the chest and then round out. I told him about the corsets, but he said they don't need them.

After some of the things I have read on the feeds, I am unsure whether or not to trust him on this. If I post more pictures of them tomorrow could you guys let me know if they still look flat chested to you? 

@sarthur2

@catwoman707

 

[catwoman707]

I'm happy to do this.

The pics really need to be clear, at different angles of the chest so I can really get a good look at them.

It's awfully hard to do from pics, some are clearly flat flat flat, and yours do look pretty flat as well, then telling me how they breathe differently while eating/sleeping, that pretty much sealed it for me.

However, the er vet had no reason to tell you they are fine if they weren't, especially since it can be life threatening.

Maybe he is right? Wouldn't that be great?! We'll see.