Kitten day (aftermath)

I feel so good about today that I have decided to write twice in kittenblog!

I can't really identify the sexes of the babies yet, but in about a week things should look a little clearer, but in the meantime I weighed them. I am going to have to try and moniter their weight daily to make sure that they are getting enough to eat, which is going to be hard since its kind of hard to tell them apart at this point. There is one large black kitten and one large tabby that both weigh 4.5oz, the other black one weighs an even 4oz and the tiniest tabby weighs 2.5oz. So small!

To give you an idea of how small we are talking...

I got so excited earlier that I forgot to tell you about the umbilical cord that I had to tie off. Okay, this is a little graphic but its a natural process so if you're squeamish skip ahead. When a cat has kittens they also have to push out the placenta. The kitten is attached to the placenta by the umbilical cord and the kitten is in a kind of sack. The mother cat will lick the kitten to stimulate it and also to break it out of its little birth pod and to get all of the "goo" off of its eyes, nose, and mouth. If a kitten is left in the sack too long it can suffocate, but Zelda did a good job getting her babies up and moving.

Anyway, back to the placenta. The mother cat will usually eat the placenta to help her gain the nutrients and hormones that will help her with the production of milk (the hormone thing I learned this morning!) and the mother will also sever the umbilical cord. Well, for the larger tabby kitten I don't know if Zelda was too tired or just not into it but she did not eat the placenta (can't really blame her) and she also did not sever the umbilical cord. I phoned my connection at work and she said she was at a loss for what to do there as she had never experienced something like that. "I hate to say it, but Google it," she said. So I Googled it. It was really simple. I had to take a piece of dental floss and tie it around the umbilical cord about a half inch away from the kitten's belly. Then about another half inch after the tie just cut it off. Clearly, Zelda was not all about the placenta, so I just got rid of it. She was totally cool with me helping her out, and does not mind me touching the babies although I keep it to a minimum. I'm trying not to bother her too much, so no new pictures yet, but as they get bigger there will be TONS.