Kitten Pool

It has been suggested that I start a kitten pool. Post a comment with when you think Michaela will give birth and how many. I'm going with 5/20 and four kittens.. and no, I don't have any inside information.. (no x rays, no ultrasound, not even any real skull count), probably more wishful thinking than anything else. As I mentioned on Monday, I am fairly certain I felt the kittens move for the first time on the 6th. I also know that the vet said that she could not feel kitten bones the morning that Michaela arrived on April 30th

Sorry for the poor quality photos of her belly, but a black cat after dark does not photograph well.

So, what do you think?

A special former foster update - Happy Birthday to Miles and Treads

For those of you newer to the blog, Miles and Treads were part of a foster group I had way back in 2003. Treads (the tabby) was originally Peanut, the runt of the litter that was born at 1.7 oz. I was so scared that I ran the whole family into the shelter and I was told to just let nature take its course.

I was not having any of that and I interfered often and with reckless abandon. I isolated him and his mother so he could have one on one time without being knocked off by his siblings who were twice his size. I held her down and let him nurse when she wanted to get to the other kittens. I supplement fed him whenever I could.

I could not, would not, stop fighting for him. When the time came to return them for adoption my heart broke. Ann adopted him and his brother "Gonzo" now Miles, and has given me random updates over the years. Yesterday morning that photo came in and I nearly broke down. It was so nice to see him again. I am so happy that he is doing well and has reached such a milestone in his life.

Teaching Michaela to play

Now that Michaela isn't scared of everything, I can tell she is getting very bored in the kitten room. I thought I would break out the always loved fishing pole toy and try to work off some of her energy.

To say she had no idea what was going on is an understatement. The toy almost sent her back into hiding, but I went slow and did my best to activate her instincts...

She really only wanted to run off with it, so I let her and it went where some of her other favorite things ended up. This gives me hope that she will enjoy mothering in that basket.. now I have to get serious about getting my webcams back up and running.

Convincing Momma Michaela to eat

When Michaela was dropped off to me it was conveyed that she was not eating well. Considering all she was going through and how scared she was I was not surprised. I was hopeful that being somewhere quiet without competition would prompt her to eat.

While she was willing to try anything I put down, she was not all that interested in eating that much. She almost seemed to have a "you have to pet me elebenty million times to activate my appetite" rule. I would rub her belly for a while, she'd jump down and eat a few bites then jump back up for more attention. Leaving her alone with the food didn't help either. I tried mixing it with some water, I tried fish flavors (which did get her to eat a bit more on her own). I got so exasperated, I tried raw.

That hit the spot. Have to say it made me a little proud, but I'm running low on raw at the moment so I can't put her on it exclusively.

I have been able to get her weight up from 3.22kg to 3.42kg (she's put on about half a pound) so I'm pleased with that. I still wish she would eat more though..

This made me smile. I'm not sure why she put the dog hair toy, that Robyn from Love and Hisses gave me, in the Moses basket I'm hoping she'll give birth in, but I'm choosing to believe it is a sign that she thinks the basket is an acceptable place for babies.

#BlogPaws 10th Anniversary conference with @Chewy #ad

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the BlogPaws conference this year. It was held in Kansas City, which isn't too hard to get to from New England, so I purchased a ticket at the early bird rate last year and spent the entire year anticipating the conference. Then, in the final months, I received a sponsorship to attend the conference

I am a BlogPaws Conference Sponsored Blogger on behalf of Chewy.com®. I am being compensated to help share information about the BlogPaws 10th Anniversary Conference and Chewy.com with my readers and fellow Influencers, Neither Chewy.com or BlogPaws are responsible for the content of this article.

I was excited when I was chosen by Chewy to blog and share social media posts about the conference. Making a point to search out fun and interesting things to share with my followers definitely enhanced my conference experience. The fact that most of the sponsors in the exhibit hall were "bipetual" this year made it easy for me to find wonderfully interesting products to talk about on the blog in the upcoming months.

I am super excited about Lenny Pads reusable potty pads

Pet Fusion has some really interesting products coming out

These Dharma Dog Karma Cat® cat beds are super cute

You can see in the background of that last photo the "living room" they set up in the exhibit hall. They had several areas for bloggers to congregate and mingle with their friends and other bloggers. They were called experiential areas and they had a "patio", an "office", and even a "kitchen" where they were dishing up dog food for the dog bloggers.

Learning sessions are the heart of the conference, and I attended a few of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as much out of the sessions as I would have liked, but I know others who enjoyed the ones they attended. Sessions ranged from Facebook Ad Essentials to How to Start a Podcast. If you would like to see some of the past sessions, the BlogPaws YouTube channel has a few of them from 2013. You can even watch a segment from PetWorldInsider about the 2017 BlogPaws conference in Myrtle Beach

But do you want to know what I think is the best thing about going to BlogPaws? It is meeting up with like-minded individuals who spend their days thinking about their pets, photographing their animals, who go out of their way to learn more about their pets so they can share what they have learned with the world. I'm sure most people have other cat owners that are local to them, but very few people have another cat (or dog, or ferret) blogger in their own backyard. I was able to connect with old friends like Julie and Cupcake (above) from Cats Going Places and I was able to meet new cat bloggers like Tuxedo Trio. Hanging out with people who are passionate about the same things you are is priceless. Not only do you *not* feel like the crazy one, you just have to listen to learn from these amazing women and men and it only helps hone your craft.

Chewy has acquired the BlogPaws community and will be in charge of the 2019 conference. This is not really a surprise since both BlogPaws and Chewy had been brought under the PetSmart brand. While no announcement has been made as of yet for specific dates and location, they have said the conference will be in Florida. If you are considering going to a blogging conference and you want to learn more about blogging about pets, want to connect with brands and other bloggers and be part of the pet influencers network I recommend you attend the 11th annual BlogPaws conference.

In all honesty, going for the swag alone is reason enough to go..

Travelin Jack shows off the swag that was just in the cat swag bag

Because this was just the beginning. You should see all of the stuff I got when talking to the brands about their products. You really do need to bring an extra suitcase to get it all home.

A big *Thank You!* to Chewy for sponsoring me to go to BlogPaws and I look forward to what you have in store for the pet blogging community in 2018 and beyond. You should totally check out their social media platforms and follow along because they share some really cute cats and dogs there. (that and the more you check them out, the better I look)

*Chewy on Twitter *Chewy on Facebook *Chewy on Instagram *Chewy on YouTube

*BlogPaws on Instagram *BlogPaws on Facebook *BlogPaws on Twitter

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Chewy. The opinions and text are all mine. Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.