[CrazyDaisyLou]

How is Sparkle doing?

[AKaeTrue]

She's doing really good.
We can separate our house in half by closing doors.
We've been keeping her in one half and keeping our other animals in the other half - both sides have a door leading outside.
She keeps hanging around the door trying to sneak out.
I don't know why she wants outside so bad.
This morning I had to put her in my bathroom so she couldn't run out with all the morning commotion that goes on her - she meowed the whole time and didn't want to be in there.

Other than that, she's great...
We're just waiting. This should be the week.

[CrazyDaisyLou]

I think she probably wants out so she can find a place to have her babies. If she was outside for a couple of months she would instinctively look for a place in the woods that she could hide to have her babies. She would have learned what wild animals have to do to survive, and that is one thing.

Have fun keeping her in. :D In my experience, when a cat is determined to get out, they will try their hardest. They learn to hide in a corner near the door where you can't see them and go flying out just when you close it.

[AKaeTrue]

They learn to hide in a corner near the door where you can't see them and go flying out just when you close it.

LOL!
That's exactly what she's doing!
We've been having to crack the door, wait a moment (she pops out of hiding), close the door, chase her away, then run out the door as quick as we can before she has a chance to escape.
I guess maybe that's what's she's doing.
I think she spent her whole life outside before now.
She won't get in the box I made her.
And when I put her in it, she tries to resist going in, and then hops right back out.
She hasn't been nesting like she was before (or like I would think she should be).
Maybe she wasn't nesting before, she may have just been exploring.

[CrazyDaisyLou]

We have cats that never were outside and they try to jump out at unexpected moments. Cats that were out before are doubly hard to keep in. I know you said she doesn't like being locked in a room, but it wouldn't hurt to leave her locked in a room while you are gone, just in case. Then you know where she is, and you won't have to search the whole house looking for her.

If you know of a favorite place of her's, like in the corner of the second bedroom on the second floor, or whatever, you could just put a towel there and move her into the box when she starts having kittens. She may not even keep them in the box. One of ours used to drag them out and under the sofa, so I bought one cage to keep them in. This was right when we moved into our house, so it's been about 3-4 years.

Also, all our cats started having the kittens betweem 10:00 pm and 1:00 am, so if you get up one day and she doesn't look quite as fat, you may want to start looking. I found this web page that's a pretty good read. My sister just got a kitten that is 6 weeks old, so I sent it to her. It gives some pretty good facts you should go by for young kittens, and some are just good for cats in general.

How to Care for Your Kitten

[AKaeTrue]

Thanks for the link.

You're right. I need to be putting her in a room when were not at home just in case she has them... and I guess at night too.
Especially now since it's getting so close.

[AKaeTrue]

Sparkles stomach has been tightening up and releasing every now and then for 2 days.
I thought she was going into labor, but I guess not.
Did any of your cats do that?
It's like it will tighten up and you can feel the impressions of the muscles? Or maybe the babies?
Everything gets real tight, but it goes away and then nothing...
Is that normal in your experience?
I can't find anything online about this.
I called her vet yesterday and today and NO ONE called me back - I think they think I'm a pain in the azz
Because I've had to call them several times recently about some issues with one of my dogs...
And I called them about her twitching thing and they told me (with an attitude) that she probably had an itch...
The woman told me that I was a paranoid mommy... I guess that was a hint not to call them so much...

[CrazyDaisyLou]

I don't think I ever felt my cats stomach when they were close to giving birth, so I don't know. I found an emergency number in Wisconsin and called and asked them and they said you should probably take her back to the vet tomorrow, it sounds like she's in labor. She shouldn't have contractions for more than two or three hours (+/- some time) before they start coming out. I can ask my parents, too, if you want, but I won't be able to reply until tomorrow morning or afternoon (depends on when I see them.)

I think your vet needs an attitude adjustment. They should be answering your questions, not acting smart and giving attitude. It's only right that you would want to find out if she's having a problem. Not to be rude, but I would be finding another vet.That's why I take my cats to a vet a half hour away instead of the vet that's five minutes away. I called the one close to me once and asked them a question, a couple days after I had been there, and they were rude, and that was it. I refuse to go there again, unless it's a true emergency. They even made me make another appointment before they would answer my question. The one farther away just answered it, no questions asked.

Let me know if you want me to ask my parents.

[AKaeTrue]

She had her kittens this morning.
Everything went well.

[CrazyDaisyLou]

That's great. :D I'm so glad everything went good. How many are there? :confused: How cute are they?

[AKaeTrue]

Oh goodness...
I was in such a hurry I forgot to tell you 3 adorable kitties.
2 black and white and 1 black.
They are tiny too.
They seem to be doing real good.

[AKaeTrue]

[AKaeTrue]

[CrazyDaisyLou]

They are so cute!!

[CrazyDaisyLou]

I have a question. I went to walmart last night to get some ice packs for my knees (chiropractor suggested), and stopped in at the fish tanks. In the africans tank, they had some that were all orange. No other color, no stripes, just orange. Kind of made me think of a goldfish, but even more orange than that. Do you have any clue as to what they were? Alas, no pictures to show you. I was wondering. I kind of liked them, and thought maybe I could write it down for the future. They also had another one of the blue ones that I have, but my fish are at least twice as big, so I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to get one. So I didn't. Although I would like another one. Guess it wouldn't be a good idea unless I got another big tank. :) Not going to happen anytime soon.
Oh, and undergravel filters? Any thoughts on them? I don't know anything about them, was looking at prices and such when I got my tank, but forgot about it and thought about it yesterday.

Thanks

Daisy :D

[AKaeTrue]

Did they look like these?
The older they get, the more orange they get.
Also females are not as bright orange as the males.
They are Red Zebras...

[CrazyDaisyLou]

They sort of look like those, but I thought that the mouths didn't stick out as much. Don't know really how to describe it except their faces were flatter and rounder. The color looks right on, though, so maybe. Maybe I could see if I could get a picture. Sneak in with my digital my dad gave me and snap one quick. :D It would be easier to compare, then.

[AKaeTrue]

They do look like how you described.
These pics really do their heads no justice.

It would be cool if you could snap a pic or 2 of them.
The only orange Africans that I know of are the red zebras.

There's another orange cichlid called the red devil, but they are not Africans, they are central American.
They look quite similar when they are young.

I'll be leaving tomorrow, I'm not real sure if I'll have internet service or not.
If I don't, I'll be back online Tuesday or Wednesday.

[AKaeTrue]

Oh the under gravel filter, I forgot... sorry.

I don't use them personally because the dirt gets sucked under the
Gravel and under the filter itself and builds up under there.
Because the dirt cannot be removed out of the water by replacing
Filter cartridges, the water always has suet in it causing it to always have a bit of a cloud to it.
I like being able to remove the dirty cartridges.

[AKaeTrue]