Hissy fits…

All went well last night by the looks of it. I did wake up at 2:39 am for no specific reason other than a buzzing sound.

It was probably in my head but I thought I should check the webcams. Nearly all wet food had gone so I decided to venture into the basement and add some new wet food. I have now started to add lysine to it, to boost Mitsy’s immune system after hearing her cough yesterday afternoon. Not sure I heard that happen before and it freaked me out a little. But she seems OK.

Note to self:

Must buy a headlamp for night tasks. I was unable to find our torches and one of the Ikea lamps that can run on a charge as well, has to be plugged in but it was flat, the other is broken after a fall. So I used the one behind the TV. Mitsy was quiet and when I went back to bed I saw her get up and eat, so I think it is good I went. I won’t be doing this every night though, because I already have such a hard time getting back to sleep afterwards. She could have eaten kibble, but wet food is good for her milk production and hydration.

This morning I got up around 9 and the first thing I did was go down and see to the food, which was almost gone again, the wet food in particular.

When I saw the video footage of my doing this I counted my blessings though. The Basement door was wide open when this happened, both times, and I am lucky that she has no escape plans at this time… The previous times I exchanged the box, she was in the back of the carrier. I need to factor in her protective instincts. This is not Turtle or Macsy, the domesticated cats in my past that I had litters with… She may not be ‘very feral’, but she certainly is not domesticated either. Plus her hormones are raging…

I also saw that there was poop in the litter box so I decided to change the boxes out despite the fact that mommy was in the Nest, with the kittens outside in the Basement. As expected she gave me an angry hiss when I grabbed the box. Then, when I put the other one in, she gave me an even bigger one. She never really charged, stayed in the Nest, but I did put on the bite glove the second time in. I cannot really blame her for her behaviour, it is completely natural.

So, next time I want to do this, I will wait for a better opportunity that is less risky.

Going in there did confirm to me how much bigger the kittens look on camera then in reality. They all are tiny, even the ones I described earlier as big. The smallest ones easily fit in the palm of my hand head to toe, and their faces are smaller than mom’s paws….

Evening post script

This afternoon when Mitsy seemed to run low on wet food again, I went downstairs to give her a refill from the outside of Basement. It was too close for comfort and she hissed and charged! Wow, scary thing, to be facing a cat in that state! She realised I was giving her food, but she was the only thing between me and the kittens and we had never been so close before! I did persevere, but did the kibble first using the old watering can, then tried the wet food again with our self-made feeding device and she did charge, but then retreated a bit. So I was able to give new food, albeit from the outside.

I just looked at the webcam for the current state of affairs and thought for a moment it was frozen.

But Mitsy is now just sleeping and using the water bowl as a head rest. Haha. I will leave her alone.

We already had two hissing moments today, what with the litter box and the food and that seems to be quite enough for one day, thank you very much,

She can munch on kibble and drink water. Good fibre for her poop…