Darkie's 7.2
The litter is called 7.2 since the first pairing to 7th litter wasn't successful...
On their second date they were a lot more successful than on their first attempt! She gave in real fast and after few knockdowns they both found their positions. As I know of, there were multiple matings and she should give birth around July 19th. :)
Unfortunately the first attempt didn't take, but we will try again. :)
The litter was born on July 18th after what felt so long and hard pregnancy, especially in the end. But the amount of kittens is incredible! 9 kittens, of which 6 seems to be girls and 3 boys. :)
Quite the grumpy cat Ruusu tried her luck with calm Nutu. Nutu's tiring tactic was successful, and after almost 2 whole days the stud got to mate her! It's for sure that there was a successful mating on March 11th, there might've veen more without me noticing. Most of the attempts end up by one of them falling on his or her side. :D
If their fun beared fruit, Ruusu's due date is on May 15t 2019
| FI*Darkie's ... bara no tsubomi | Color and gender | Status |
| Ryuusa "Kaleva" | redtabby mitted / ♂ | Reserved |
| Dokuji "Melodia" | bluetabby colorpoint / ♀ | Reserved/To fosterhome |
| Mikoto "Siru" | bluetortietabby mitted / ♀ | Reserved |
| Kenshin "Luna" | bluetabby colorpoint / ♀ | Reserved |
| Shizuku "Lumo" | sealtabby mitted / ♀ | Reserved |
| Kasaku "Savu" | blue colorpoint / ♀ | Reserved |
| Niji "Baloo" | redtabby colorpoint / ♂ | Reserved |
| Miyabi "Cecilia" | sealtortie mitted / ♀ | Reserved |
| Seigyoku "Cosmo" | bluetabby mitted / ♂ | Reserved |
Combination of
FI*Darkie's Daikokuten, "Ruusu" (RAG f 04 21) x IC Mokotuvan Nutukka Utuinen, "Nutu" (RAG c)
Parents pedigrees (inbreeding 0,340% in 10th generation)
Final weights;
- Ukko-Kaleva; 2784 g (25.10.2019)
- Melodia; 1936g (24.10.)
- Zira; 2117g (24.10.)
- Luna; 1794g (24.10.)
- Lumo; 2208g (2.11.)
- Savu; 2444g (3.11.)
- Baloo; 2389g (24.10.)
- Cecilia; 2587g (10.11.)
- Cosmo; 2391g (24.10.)
14.11.2019
And so we're through with the kittenhood. My own wellbeing was truly tested with this litter, and I had to leave some things for minimal attention, because as ever, the most important things were the kittens. :)
I try to put some highlights down here, but even updating Facebook was slow and not on any schedule as seasonal affected disorder was added onto my already existing depression. It was tough, but I pulled through. The kittens left the household - Cecilia on November 11th and the peace has ascended to my home again.
What happened in the past 2 months;
- I wish all the best for the babies and families! As a litter quite exceptional, very much work but quite rewarding. :) I am very thankful for all the people that helped me. Next litter will hopefully take place the next year. ^^
- On Thursday November 7th as the kittens turned 16 weeks I took Cecilia to her last checkup for the flight and we checked her bloodgroup (A). The upcoming weekend I spent with her future owner, the breeder of La Perle Des Anges Cattery and on Monday 11.11., early in the morning I said my emotional goodbyes and so the first ever FI*Darkie's cat left the country... Cecilia was very good first cat to send out, but it really did hurt...
- Lumo and Savu spent extra week with Cecilia, her rabies vaccination meant she had to spent extra few days so that the vaccination is valid. It was nice that she had sisters accompanying her for a while longer. I took Lumo to Lahti on November 2nd and the breeder of FI*Utuinen picked up Savu on 3rd. :)
- On 23.10. I washed a big pile of kittens. On the 24th, when they turned 14 weeks, 5 kittens left my place; Cosmo was picked up and travelled to Tampere, I took Zira and Melodia to their fosterhome to Rastila Helsinki, Luna to Ruoholahti Helsinki and as a last stop Baloo to Helsinki's Lauttasaareen. On 25th Kaleva left to live in Raisio.
- On 22.10. was the 2nd vaccination of the babies. On this trip Luna got some stress and got a small diarrhea, I suspect it was because she got double shots since the first dose went straight through and on the desk. The kittens were somewhat tired at first but were playing like nothing ever happened during the evening, almost too wild bunch of kittens.
- On 11.10. Tessa was taking photos of the 12 week old kittens! The easiest way for you to find the photos is on our Facebook page where they have their own album. The photos are fantastic! I got the photos just in time before they left. :)
- On October 17th and 18th I took the babies to get neutered. On Thursday the 17th Baloo and Luna were neutered and on Friday the 19th Cosmo and Lumo. The girls got some massive lumps after the operation. As I've seen on previous occasions, the kittens were already playing by the night after they had been operated on, but the girls had to wear their dresses until their woulds had closed up. Luna's lump was still clear and big as she left my place, but Lumo's was almost gone by the time her new parent was ready to receive her. I don't think the boys even noticed something was missing. :D
- As they turned 11 weeks, I dragged the bunch outdoors to get some photos. :) At this age they had quite a vast difference in weights; between 1491 g and 2060 g.
- The first vaccination took place on September 26th and they got their microchips as well! I had to chip Cecilia and Savu because they got their passports, and since it was so easy with these two, I decided to chip them all on this visit. Was quite painless! Poor baby Baloo got his tummy twisted by the car ride + needles (the stress) and had a poo-accident just before we left, so he got a tiny wash on the clinic.
- I washed the kittens a total of 4 times; last time everyone got their bath the day before their departure. :)
9.9.2019
Finally today I paid for the registration of the kittens and by a coincidence the last of the kittens got reserved. I've reserved this week to myself (and cats), whereas last week I had guests for every day of the week. Now I'm relaxing a bit, sometimes you've got to sleep off some. :)
I made up personal pages for all of the kittens, since they finally got their names.
The owner of Nutu selected Savu, and after quite lengthy discussion I said ok to selling Cecilia to France to La Perle Des Anges cattery as a breeding female. Now I understand why back in 2013 Kin's breeder was teary when we departed on the airport... As Savu continues after her father, Luna was reserved as a pet.
So all the kittens are reserved, unless something catastrophic happens. :)
These kittens are HUGE! Kaleva crossed 1kg milestone at 6 weeks old, Baloo followed few days after and so did Cosmo. Luna and Melodia have fallen behind other sisters, they are way too busy being kittens to eat properly...
Weights of the kittens on 9.9.2019;
- Kaleva 1294 g
- Melodia 928 g
- Siru 1049 g
- Luna 892 g
- Lumo 1033 g
- Savu 1019 g
- Baloo 1194 g
- Cecilia 1071 g
- Cosmo 1165 g
24.8.2019
Phew, it's been kinda hectic lately! With a litter this big it feels like my door is continously opening. :)
The kittens went through a diarrhea and inflammation of the large intestine because the mother got sudden unbalance in her hormones. I got some Provera-pills for Ruusu to stable her hormones and 6/9 that got sick was treated with Tylosine and Inupekt. Provera proved out to be a miracle pill, because after just one dose Ruusu's milk production normalized from sticky-gooy to normal liquid.
I wrote more about the situation to Facebook.
Boys have been reserved for quite some time, but now also Siru and Melodia are reserved! I'm so happy to have found a proper fosterhome for Melodia this early on! I can't but wonder what ever was going on during 2017, when I didn't get requests. Alisa is now tentatively reserved and Luna and Savu are still under evaluation (possibly one is going to Utuinen-Cattery!) and Cecilia is looking for a home with show-interests. ^_^
11.8.2019
On Wednesday we started with the solid foods! :) Little by little they get more and more excited with the idea of eating meat, but so far they like to nibble on litter as well... They are not familiar with litterbox yet, but hopefully soon they get the idea. ^_^
These kittens are so huge! Few have crossed over 500 grams already! I also saw the patterns on the red boys, Kaleva being mitted and Baloo colorpoint - which is nice, since they are both going to attend to shows. :)
5.8.2019
I was gone between 1st and 4th of August, and their caretaker came to live into my apartment during my absence. Unfortunately we didn't avoid troubles, as Alisa (seatabby mitted) was not feeling well on Saturday the 3rd. She didn't eat from mommy or from the syringe, se had lost quite a bit of weight and was tired... And she had a fever.
She went to a vet and got antibiotics (Synulox) to her diarrea and was much more lively during the night. :) Now on Monday she's gotten 3/10 of her doses (twice a day for 5 days) and is eating with great appetite from mom and from syringe! I am really grateful that the caretaker knew to call me even as I was away. :)
My choice as keeper is Melodia, but unfortunately she can't stay at home and grow, but needs a fosterhome. All the boys are just about reserved and I hope I can soon open the girls for reservation as well. ^^
31.7.2019
Phew, it's been tight almost two weeks as I've been feeding the kittens with practically no sleep. Ruusu has plenty of milk, but there are just so many kittens! The first opened her eyes at the age of 2 days, but now as we're closing in to 2 weeks, most of them have their eyes open or soon opening. ^_^
2 of the boys are cream or red, no idea of patterns, third boy is bluetabby mitted. Most of the girls are blue, 2 are certainly torties, don't know if more of the kitties will turn out to be torties later. :) It is possible that there's just 2 torties.
Last night first of the kittens crossed 300 grams. ♥ The kittens were born so huge so we're not reaching our goals, but at least they are growing every day... :)
19.7.2019
Yesterday the litter was born! 9 incredible kittens! 3 boys and looks like 6 girls. Insane! The last week of pregnancy was super hard on Ruusu and the last few days she didn't eat one bit. She was just weary and tired and hot, I forcefed her some so she wouldn't starve. Now I don't wonder why...
9 big kittens! 96 grams was the tiniest and 124 grams was the biggest, so not a runt litter!
All kittens have such a beautiful features! Lovely long bodies and the mother is superb. Can't wait to see the kittens grow. ^_^
What has happened so far
- 9.7. Ruusu is now 7,52 kg. :) That's total of +1787 grams! And there's still a lot to eat. Her belly is quite petite from above, but not so much from the side. O_o I wonder if we'd get 6 kittens... :)
- 1.7. First time ever I've noticed so called "pregnancy brain" on a cat, Ruusu doesn't seem to understand anwything I ask of her, she's only after food.
- 27.6. We've got movement!!! At least for now we've got healthy babies. ^_^
- 26.6. It was during yesterday that I weighed her, 6,98 kilos! That's +1247 grams! I still couldn't feel movements on 41st day of pregnancy... Or maybe one tiny kick..? I just can't wait!
- 19.6. Yesterday I weighed her again, even tried to update but something was down. She's now massive 6,68 kilos! ^_^ Total of +947 grams.
- 11.6. Today I felt embryos while I was petting her! We are 100% pregnant. ^_^ On Sunday she had gained 410 grams (6,14kg) - still a long way to go. :)
- 4.6. It's been 3 weeks since she had her date, and her tits are soooooo red that I dare to wish for kittens... ^_^ Oh how wonderful that would be!!
- 16.5. Ruusu weighs 5,733 kg's :) I love how big she is!
- 14.-16.5. Like a miracle, Ruusu seemed to have some recollection about Nutu's last visit, because she got bored with grumpy attitude in less than a day! Nutu had mounted her first time in under 24 hours and even Ruusu seemed to try harder!!! Tho at first I had to scratch her chin to keep her from falling, but I think there were multiple matings..?
- 13.5. I quickly picked Nutu from his home late at night when Ruusu started heating, since Nutu was attending Baltic Winner on coming weekend, so we really didn't have time to waste!
- Unfortunately the first attemt didn't bear fruit. We'll try again, hopefully both of them has more confidence. :)
- 11.3. Unbelievable! Tiring tactic has been succesful! Almost two whole days later we have a successful mating! She's still growling and hissing at times, but finally she realized she can have fun with the stud. Yes! There's hope!
- 9.-10.3. Feels like Ruusu isn't warming up for the boy at all... Growling and hissing. She's not being mean, but she's just very uncertain about the situation... Her heat is on 100%, but she won't let het stud near her.