Seriously, all five of us went to see Simon the Vet today.  It was a bit tricky as Momma can't carry any of us, so poor ManSlave had to do the hard graft. He is very well trained and I have to say, very handy with all the running about.  As soon as Momma's back is strong enough, I am sure she will be back to doing all these jobs again!

First out of the box was Faith. She has a check up and look at her C-Section place and a tickle under the chin and a vaccination. I am so glad I don't get those, Neeguls make me shiver! Lillibet, who was sharing with faith had a check up and a weigh in. She is announced the fittest cat today! Momma speaks about her seizures, Simon agrees she is having many small ones a day and to only give her the small part of the vaccine just in case. She won't be meeting any cats with lurgies any time soon!

J1 is growlin and kicking up a storm in his box, I start to scream at him. He making me worried. ManSLave covers him and I Thwak Gracie for digging under my tummy. Gracie is next. She has a sore ear. She got a stack of cat litter in it a week ago and now she is scratching it every second of the day. Simon looks down her ear. "Clear of movers & shakers" he announces, "But there is something down here". Well, we all know what that is. She has to continue having ear flush and antibiotic drops.  She also gets the FeLV part of her injection. OUTCHIE!

I am next, I have my body examined and oohed and arrhhhed at. Everyone is pleased with my lovely soft skin. I do have a range of strange lumps, each different, each unique. They are to be left. But then, yikes, what's this? Can I have my ears checked too? REALLY? I wriggle a bit and then Simon is in my ear. He announces "It's always the right ear on nearly every animal i see." What does that mean? What is wrong with my right ear? Apparently, he tells Momma "It's blocked a bit, give him a few drops too"  GREAT!  I am bundled back in with Gracie who is miffed that her ear was looked at too, her right ear AND she has a repeat injection in 3 weeks!!?

Then it's J1's turn.  Bless him, this is his second visit. He saw Simon last week to have a Tardak injection to calm his testosterone down. He has been mighty feisty of late and with Momma a little slow these days, she doesn't always spot the signs of him getting over stimulated and J1 gets upset so quickly if Momma misses the signs... Anyway, he is here for another injection. It has to be given in his back muscle. He is one brave cat and Simon is one brave vet. "I won't be doing that again now" he announces, wincing at the thought of the pain he has just put J1 in.  J1 is very good really, he takes it like a man.  Hopefully this will help him empty his marbles out of his sock?

KS =^..^

J1 had his Crown Jewels taken away. He is very indignant about the whole thing. It happened for a very sad reason. Momma was going to get 'J1' the Neuter-UM chip but then after Cromwell was PTS with congestive heart failure, J1 had his Crown Jewels whipped off. 

J1 hasn't been a very happy boy. The Parentals spend lots of quality time with him, but he hankers after mating cats and that's that. He got so worked up one sunny afternoon and pinned ManSlave in the same place as he had pinned Momma months before. He was really angry and very upset. It took him days to calm down. 

The thing is, J1 is such a nice cat really, I know we have had our moments and the last time I was sitting peacefully in the sun and J1 escaped and attacked me with his marble sock. I got pretty scratched up. Since then we are not allowed out into the communal area whilst J1 is being visited. It is a shame. We were friends once. He just tries to either kill me or grab anything that passes for a humping session. But he growls and gets very upset if that thing moves. IE: ManSlaves leg etc.

He is doing better now, but never forgave ManSlave for taking him to the vets! Oh no, ManSlave gets a beating everytime he visits, so Momma has had to visit now instead. He has also had a Tardak injection to reduce his testosterone. Gosh, I was never this bad when I was neutered. He has classical music, new feather toys, relaxants and treats and still he is edgy and his eye look like pools of hell.  He scares me now, I run like a cat possessed if I even glance his way!  Even since he attacked Lillibet, she only so much as smells him and she spits and hisses and lashes out. Oh dear. He has made more enemies than friends here.

I heard the Parentals talking about 'integration".  Purrsonally, I don't feel he will fit in here at all. I am putting my paw down at this one. So it is decided that J1 will be found a suitable loving home after his hormones have chillaxed a bit.  I think Momma will miss him. She is quite fond of cuddling him. ManSlave is annoyed that it has come to this again - another boy and all so bad a turn out.

KS =^..^=

After Momma spending a very fraught week of two hourly feeds for the new born kittens, not one day after Walter was born, he was at the emergency vets being PTS. He had a cleft pallet. It was the saddest thing to have done, but the right thing. The milky just wasn't staying in him. It kept popping through the hole in the back of his throat and into his tiny lungs and drowning him. It was so sad to watch. Faith had little to do with Walter, she only had eyes for Cromwell. So Momma made the call.

Cromwell was fairing much better, but there was something not right with him? He seemed in pain and was racing around the kitten box, this is not right, this is something they do in a few weeks, not now. He was sitting up and being very odd?  Then the trouble started. He started to regurgitate the milk. Momma took him to to see Simon the Vet. Simon showed Momma very carefully how to tube feed him.  It could work. Even Momma's friend popped over, Miss Boucles, but she agreed there was something terribly wrong... then, right in front of them, he turned blue! This usually only means one thing... not enough oxygen.  

The feeds really took their toll on Momma's new spine and she was getting very tired but never gave up once. Right to the bitter end she fought to keep Cromwell alive. Faith was so very worried that her screaming baby would cry out in pain and that Momma had to keep taking him away. Faith was poorly her self too after her operation and all this was very hurtful.

Cromwell was gaining weight with all the feeds but his breathing became worse and his lungs kept filling with fluid and Momma was draining his tiny lungs. He grew in strength and fight but his body was now a permanent blue colour, we were losing him. Faith was becoming so distressed that her baby was racing about and she couldn't settle. But in those final moments, her and Momma laid on the bed together and decided what to do. It was a very sad moment and Momma didn't give him his next feed but took him to the vet  be PTS and join his brother in Rainbow Bridge. 

It is a very sad time for Maystar and one that will take some time to recover from. Cromwell & Walter were everything their new families wanted and everyone was so excited. Life is cruel. 

RIP
Cromwell: Maystarex Lord Privi Seal
Walter: Maystarex Esquire de Curia

What a very strange few days we have all had. On Thursday Momma announced... Bubbahs on the way at 6am.  Then all day, we all waited and nothing happened and Momma rang Simon the Vet who said, "wait a little longer".  Then on Friday nothing happened at all and we all carried on with our day.  Then on Saturday morning, really early at 5am, Faith began to show bright red blood and Momma woke up the whole house and said Bubbahs have to be on their way or we have trouble.  At 11am, no Bubbahs, so Momma rang Sion the Vet again and Simon said he would see Momma, ManSlave & Faith at 1pm and Faith would have to have her tummy cut open and have the Bubbahs removed.

Faith was utterly terrified of being put in her basket and taken to the vets, she was shaking from head to toe and praying she wasn't going to be cut open. She couldn't imagine why on earth that should happen to her, when her last litter was perfectly OK? 

It's Easter weekend, not the best weekend to be having operations and there were no extra staff on, so Momma and ManSlave had to help prepare Faith for her surgery whilst Simon and his nurse set about making ready the theatre. Everything was set. Faith was given a tiny dose of sleeping drug, but her heart rate was mental, she was in a panic and very afraid and even though she was asleep the peep peep peep of the machine made everyone worry for her stress levels and those of her babies.  She was cut open in a midline and Momma watched as the first kitten was born in a very different way imaginable and not how they had planned at all.

Then as quick as a flash, Momma was handed baby Walter, a little black smoke boy weighing 58gms. the smallest baby she had ever seen.  ManSlave and Momma rubbed and swung that tiny kitten to make him breathe. He was very flat because of the sleepy drugs and he was really hard to wake up.  Just as baby Walter was breathing, Momma was handed baby Cromwell a sealpoint kitten of 80gms. at least a little bigger this time. Again, ManSlave and Momma rubbed and swung that kitten whilst still making sure little Walter was staying awake.  It was very tricky indeed as they were just so sleepy and inside their tiny bodies there was a crackly sound and no one could make it go away. Simon put some special stuff under their tongues and still they didn't really wake up properly.   

Faith was brought around from her operation and was exceptionally cold and had to be heated up and kept warm for over an hour before she could come home and when she woke up a little bit, she began to panic and peed all over poor Souxie the Nurse. Faith still blushes thinking about it!  Eventually, they were all allowed home and by midnight all three of them were fully awake. The two little men were taking water from a syringe and drinking a little milky, but not from Faith, oh no, Faith doesn't have any milky Simon said? So it looks like Momma is going to have to feed them until her milky shows up,if it shows up?

So not the very best start to a new Bubbahs life, but they are welcomed to Maystar and now begins the long days and nights of two hourly milky bar. I wish I had milky bar every two hours but then again, dairy doesn't really suit me!

KS =^..^=