Mama's "little" helper...

Saga has decided that she needs to help Iines with the kittens... As you can see, there really isn't room for 2 and Iines looks a bit stunned ;-)

Saga was soon removed from the nest after this picture... ;-)

Iines' dna tests :-)

I finally got and answer from VGL today! I sent the samples on 26th of February but they arrived in the lab only a few days ago.

Here's the result:

Agouti Result:
A/A - All offspring will have agouti banded hair.

Dilute Result:
D/d - One copy of dilute allele. Cat is a carrier of dilute.

As I suspected, Iines can't have non agouti kittens... But it was quite a surprise to me that she carries dilution (2 of her siblings were dilute and parents are carriers, so I thought that it was only a small chance that she would be a carrier, too)! Kassu and Tiikeri both carry it too, but still no dilute colours. Maybe I should use for example a creme male next time ;-)

Kittens are doing well and they have names, too :-) I didn't have time to update my page in the morning, but I named the kittens last night. They are Destiny, Liberty and Infinity :-) (songs by Stratovarius....). Weights have gone nicely up! Destiny had gained 32 g from yesterday morning!!! Liberty 22g and Infinity 17g. Destiny is the biggest kitten at the moment (170g) and Infinity smallest (158g). Liberty is between them (166g).

Kittens!

Iines finally had her kittens yesterday! I haven't been able to take decent photos of them yet... Iines doesn't want me touching the kittens much... however she wants mee to keep her company all the time! Now that I moved my computer in the bedroom, I won't get so bored...

Tomorrow I have to go to work, but I think Iines will manage 8 hours without me :-)

Still waiting...

It's only day 65 and I'm bored, tired and a "bit anxiously" waiting for something to happen. I wouldn't even be expecting them yet... but since the first litter was born so early, I thought this might be the case this time, too.

Iines has considered her options and it seems that sturdi is her favourite. She only sleeps in the cardboard box if she has company there ;-) (you should have seen Saga yesterday when Roope and Iines were in the box together! She was so pissed off for not been able to fit in there and decided the perfect solution to the problem was to destroy the whole box!)

Iines eats and sleeps and that's about it. Maybe tomorrow...

Waiting...

Day 63

Here she finally is.... Unlucky Lady Luck, with her new "look".... It has been difficult for me NOT to laught at her expression, but I have managed to keep my poker face ;-) She seems to be embarrased enough as it is, so I can't even imagine how she would be, if I would laugh at her...
She looks funny, but is obviously feeling a lot better! She is changing her coat so our home-operation with Marja and Toni didn't help for long. We removed every knot that we found (several of them) and the next day - I found 7 more!!! So I had to take Lulu to see a vet, who sedated her and trimmed the coat off.
A suprised-looking Lulu ;-) She has been sleeping next to me when I watch tv, plays a lot and purrs very loudly. She wasn't happy the first couple of days, but now she is clearly feeling better.

Roope :-) As anxious as ever...

Iines wants to "hang around" with others, but doesn't have the energy to play with them anymore. Saga and Iines cuddle a lot and look so happy together. I'm still no sure whether to let Saga participate in the delivery or not. Iines will ultimately decide that (of course), but the last time my parents picked Roope and Saga to their place...

Saga hates closed doors and was really unhappy to be on the wrong side of the door. She kept so horrible noices that Iines was really stressed out. Maybe this time she isn't so stressed, but let's see...

Things are really calm and quiet around here at the moment. Roope doesn't bully the girls and they all seem to be getting along nicely.

Day 60

Only 7 hours of work tomorrow and then winter holiday \o/

Iines was still in one piece in the morning and hopefully she is the same when I get home... I'm not expecting her to give birth just yet, but you never know what will happen. She kept on waking me up at night, but her reason for doing so was hunger ;-) She wanted treats and kept rubbing my face with her paw until I got up and fed her. A few times I tried to close my eyes and go back to sleep, but she didn't leave me alone until she got a few treats.

If it was any other cat, I would have gone straight back to sleep ;-) But Iines is so sweet that I can never be "angry" at her. And after all, she was hungry so she didn't wake me up for no reason. I'm hoping that she will wake me up when she is ready to deliver the kittens. At least she woke me up the last time :-)

She still manages to wash herself so the belly isn't big at all.

But now I'm heading back to Mäntsälä from Nurmijärvi, where I was working today. Tomorrow I will be in Mäntsälä the whole day, so I can go and check up on Iines during the day.