Baby #3

And it looks like there are going to be only three babies.  I could be wrong, and I wish I knew for certain (someone knows as there is an X-ray) but it looked like she was contentedly cleaning them up and I didn't see any further contractions.  So in the space of an hour, out they all came.

Baby #3 has a set of well working lungs and vocal cords.  I thought for certain something was going horribly wrong and I ran to be by her side, but nope, he (and I don't know for sure it is a he) wanted up on her belly and she was busy chewing off his cord.

I was loathed to disturb them, but I really felt the need to make sure cords were trimmed and in general they were OK.  So I pulled them off one at a time, and they all seem to have good vocal cords.  I wish I could have gotten better photos, because little new born claws are so freakin adorable!!!  I also see panther in two of them, by the shape of the face.  One looked bigger then the other.  I *think* we have two boys and a girl.  I also *think* we have two tigers w/white and one black and white, but they were still so wet I couldn't be sure of anything.  I will know for certain tonight.

 She was happy for the praise (Good Kitty, you did such a Good Job with them, you cleaned them off so nicely, etc) and liked it when I patted her, so I think we'll have smooth going now that she's done labor.

I wasn't going to share this photo because it hides all the action, but you can see a better shot of her back foot.  I wanted to share that because I think it is key with what is going on with the fur loss.

I got out a brush, some nail trimmers and some treats last night.  She was quite happy for the attention, climbing up into my lap and rubbing her head on my hand.  As long as the brush didn't hit any mats she was quite enjoying being brushed too.  But then we hit a few snags, and she didn't much like that.  So I abandoned the brush and patted by hand.  This led me to feel quite a few small mats.  They came off very easily when pulled but for the most part I tried to break them instead of pulling them off.  I also REALLY wanted to deal with her feet.  Her claws were very long, and her feet were so dirty.  I put her in my lap, belly up, and patted her belly.  She did seem to like that, and I was surprised her white fluffy belly was completely in tact.  Not a mat, not a bare spot.  So, dirty feet, matted fur, missing fur, I couldn't help but wonder if she got something on her back (something intentionally poured on by a malicious person?) that got stuck in her fur.  It makes the most sense.  I knew a bath was going to be out for a while, but I could trim her claws.  She was just fine, totally nonchalant when I clipped them.  She only has one extra claw on each foot on the "thumb".  It is not attached to any ligaments, so it dangles free, and cutting it was a little interesting, because it would twist so easily.  I finally pinned it down and trimmed up as far as I dared.  If it had been one of my own cats who I knew well enough, I could have done more, but I was pleased I was able to get as much as I could.  I went for the back feet and she got anxious and jumped down.  A lot of cats do so I didn't think much of it.

I then remembered I had water and face cloths in the room, so I thought a sponge bath might help.. Again I did well with the front feet, she actually seemed to love the attention.   I did not get them clean, but I think I made a bit of a difference.  I think there is staining from the draining of her eyes.  So I went to do the back feet.. yea, she disagreed that I should be by her back feet and went off with a warning to keep me away.  A nip in the air no where near me, grabbing with the front paws, kicking with the back.  I waited a few minutes and tried again in a different manner to make sure she didn't think I was playing, and same result, so I gave up.  I used the wet cloth to wipe her down, which she also really seemed to like.  She enjoyed laying on the sofa (which I had to cover up with bulky stuff so she wouldn't think to give birth on it) and I'm sure that is where she is going to end up most of the time.

She ate well yesterday morning, and when I went down and offered her some *never fails Fancy Feast Melodies* she covered it up.  I opened up a jar of baby food and she was licking that quite fiercely,  so I opened up a can of A/D and ran upstairs to get a spoon and some KMR.  She drank from the KMR for a while, then gave up on all food.. covering everything with anything she could find.  There was a lot of air covering, which did not work for her, because the food was so NOT covered up, so toys were brought over :)  Guess we know why now..

She's a good mom, and it looks like once again a medicated vaccinated pregnant mom dodged another bullet.  We won't know for certain for a while, but at this point, we are in good shape.  (I was so concerned because of her condition and the history that originally  I almost tagged her posts as foster, not fosters.. but I figured optimism was a good thing)