6 Beautiful kittens saw the light on March 7, 2021. The  litter of Jane & Bentley consisted of 3 males and 3 females. The males were named Darwin, Dublin and Denver . The kitties were named Delhi, Daloa and Dakota. 

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The delivery went smoothly and Jane had no problem with it at all. The first 3 kittens  came with half an hour in between. Jane needed an hour to brush the kittens dry and get herself back in order, because then numbers 4 and 5 came, again with half an hour in between. Jane waited 1.5 hours this time before the last kitten was born. 

All the trimmings and they were fine in weight. Varying from 106gr to 126gr.

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The first 3 days there was not a speck in the air. The kittens grew well and Jane was a really sweet and alert mom. In the evening, the daily weighing of the kittens showed that they had lost weight. The next morning they had lost weight again and it turned out that Jane had very little milk. Tried to give the kittens Royal Canin milk, but via the syringe it was not without a struggle and only a little milk ended up in the stomachs. It also turned out that Jane wasn't keeping up with the kittens' pee and poop, so I did my best.

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The next day some kittens had remained the same in weight and some had lost weight again. Made an appointment with my vet, because this was clearly not going well.

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At the vet, the kittens were given fluids under the skin. Mom had a blister on her tongue so she was given antibiotics and pain medication. Maybe that's why she didn't keep track of the kittens' pee and poop. The vet could find no further details and indicated to feed the kittens every 3 hours by means of a tube. Jane still had milk, but it was insignificant and not nearly enough. The vet's diagnosis was that the kittens probably had a virus and that unfortunately it was just a matter of bad luck.

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The kittens only slowly gained a few grams, because 9 out of 10 times she spit everything out again. All very pathetic. On Tuesday March 16, Denver passed away and Dakota died less than 5 hours later . Wednesday again with Jane and the other kittens to the vet to leave them there for observation. Delhi was very weak at the time and I didn't expect her to make it through the day. I had asked the vet to do a biopsy on her if she were to die. He did this, because she died, but there was nothing to be found. He stuck to his diagnosis that there was a virus among the kittens  .  Because there was no resistance and because they did not receive any antibodies through the mother's milk, the kittens had to fight very hard. Daloa passed away on Thursday and on Friday morning I drove the two males to my vet again. Emotionally I had a hard time, but somehow I had good courage for these 2 gentlemen.

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Friday evening I came to the vet to pick up my 2 gentlemen, but only 1 male was still alive. Dublin hadn't made it either. I was amazed at this, because he looked the strongest of them all all along. So I went home with just Darwin and Jane. Still every 3 hours he was fed through the tube and it all seemed to be going in the right direction. His weight increased, Jane looked after him as usual, but he still had a very big belly.

Tuesday the 23rd I went to the veterinary clinic in Heythuysen. I wanted a second opinion and a fresh look at this situation. I was hoping for a different diagnosis and a new solution. The vet there checked him completely, also made an ultrasound to see if he had fluid in his body, but everything looked good on the ultrasound. The only fluid present was in his blister. Diagnosis was exactly the same as the one my own vet gave. A virus, no resistance, no mother's milk and therefore, according to him, bad luck. Just keep doing what you're doing, even though you know it's going to be against your better judgment.

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Darwin passed away on Wednesday 24 March. 

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Luckily Jane is doing well and it seems like she forgot she had 6 kittens. Despite the vet's advice not to wait too long with a new mating, I'm going to leave Jane alone and have her checked by the vet soon.

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Fortunately, since I started my Cattery in 2018, I have never experienced a situation like this and I hope never to experience it again. Emotionally this has certainly been tough. 

Abbey also expects a litter soon and I have never been so afraid of a litter from one of my cats. I have always experienced the birth, the kittens and growing up as an energetic event. Love, joy, oes and aas, and admiration. I still see it as an energetic event where I get warm feelings, but the feeling of Jane's nest doesn't just let me go.

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I hope to be able to inform you soon that Abbey has given birth.

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