|
Pet Food Recalls |
Links open in new browser window for convenience
|
Photo : 10 August 2006 |
GUANCHE Blinky van Kamiel Blue Mackerel Tabby Sphynx, F born 24 September 2005 - Trenton, New Jersey
Sire : Crystalskye Kamiel of Pimpernelle Dam : Edgewood Mistenguette (Fabiola) of Pimpernelle
She was from the last litter fathered by Kamiel before what I consider his untimely death in 2006 |
This is the story of a virtually hairless female kitten, one of only two from the last litter of my original Sphynx stud, Kamiel. She has a brother, Ziggy, who tends to develop some fuzz during the colder months but loses it when it becomes warmer.
In her first days she developed an eye infection due to unknown causes, which I treated with Fougera Erythromycin Opthalmic Ointment which I kept in the refrigerator. After a week or so, the infection did not clear up and I took her to my vet and she was examined by someone who was not my preferred doctor. I told her that I was using the mentioned gel like medication, and she prescribed Vetropolycin, which she said is better. I used that for a few days with no positive results -- Blinky's right eye seemed to atrophy. I checked online for eye meds and found that the active ingredients in Vetropolycin were thought to cause blindness in human babies. I immediately called my preferred professional telling him what I discovered on the Internet. He told me to stop using that med and to return to the previous one, but he did not think that Vetropolycin was dangerous for cats.
Blinky hated me washing her eye a couple times a day and applying the gel -- she became untrusting and always hid when I came into the room. The vet told me that several things could happen with that right eye, among them that it could become infected and have to be removed -- why don't I put her down [a socially correct way of telling me to kill her] and avoid future problems. In all my years of raising cats I have never had an animal euthenized, and did not intend to start now. No matter what their extra demands on me, I always attended to them the best that I could, and the kittys always loved me for it. Recently I found a really kewl Ten Commandments for pet owners [nominally about dogs, but applicable to any pet], which I have always strived to follow --
The months passed and Blinky grew into a loving affectionate member of my cattery. Her right eye had the look of one that was clouded over somewhat, perhaps slightly flatter than a normal eye, but I could still see the pupil and iris coloration -- whether she can see with it or not I have not determined. She did everything that any of the other cats did without a problem, jumping up onto high places and back down again, playing with the others, eating, finding and using the litter boxes -- when she was about 12 months old she appeared to have become pregnant [Zews was the father], as most cats do when they have a male available [although I have two Sphynx females several years older than Blinky, living under the same circumstances, who have never become expectant even though they snuggle up to the male, play with him and sleep together].
In early August 2006 Blinky became overly affectionate, always wanting to be with me, on my lap or shoulders, seeming to want me near her constantly -- this is one of the signs I have noticed when a female is close to delivery -- that, and the enlarging of their mammary glands [teats], which she did exhibit. On 14 August, while she was still accompanied by the other cats, Blinky went into the bottom of the three large stacked fruit boxes I provide as apartments for them. She broke water and I went to my study to get my coffee mug. I returned to the kitchen, removing the two upper fruit boxes and I could see what was an unusually large sized kitten with Zews seemingly licking it and Olga beside him -- I pushed them aside and found a headless kitten! After a few seconds of shock, I ran to my bedroom to get the birthing box I always have there, putting Blinky it and took her to the bedroom -- as I watched she seemed to be pushing hard to deliver a second baby and I held her paw, which they always seem to like. A much smaller kitten finally appeared, but she neglected it, something some mommys do when it is their first litter. I hand fed it with goats milk for four days, trying to get Blinky to feed it, but she seemed clueless -- it died on the fifth day. Perhaps she was somewhat young to have a first litter of kittens, although when I raised Siamese they sometimes had them at as early as 10 months and always seemed to know instinctively what to do with them, sometimes having three large litters a year. The Siamese male ALWAYS stayed with the mommy, helping to care for his offspring without getting a craving for fresh kitten.
After these events I put Blinky with the other cats again. In March 2007 I noticed that she seemed to be getting fatter, and tried to keep track of her progress to avoid what happened the first time. In early January 2007 Kappora , a gorgeous import from Russia, had the exact same expectant look about her, but much more pronounced -- I put Kappora in my bedroom with Fabiola to keep her company. Kappora began acting strangely, drinking a lot of water, not eating as much as usual, vomiting, and she seemed to be getting thinner on her back while getting more globular on her underside -- I thought that these things had to do with pregnancy and did not become overly concerned. After a few days I suddenly found Kappora dead under the covers as I was getting into bed for the night -- she was still warm. It was not until months later that the news of poisoned pet food appeared in the news, exactly the kind of expensive things I always got my cats as treats -- thus I strongly suspect that her very untimely death was due to the food I was giving them almost daily.
On 13 April I put both Blinky and Olga into my bedroom -- they were both quite fat and their teats were starting to become more pronounced. It occurred to me that perhaps they too were poisoned by their food, although they were not acting strangely as Kappora had been. I called my vet. He told me if I had a doubt that I should bring them in for tests -- since I always attempt to think positively, although figuring into the picture everything that could possibly go wrong, in this case the positive had more credence than the negative did.
At about 23h of 17 April, I found Blinky happily purring away in the birthing box, feeding 5 beautiful kitties, all dark colored with some lighter spots -- their final body colors will develop over the next few weeks.. The following will give you the illustrated story of their progress --
|
|
The birthing box in a dark area beneath my dresser, with a cut out side opening to allow easy access -- I had previously simply left a flap of the top open for the mother to jump through, but soemtimes she landed on her kittens. I always have fresh clean replacement boxes available for them, and put newspaper in the bottom which the mother begins to shred with their claws when delivery day approaches |
|
18 April 2007 -- Blinky knew about the birthing box, and initially nursed her babies in it -- when I first started making the boxes available I had old toweling on the box bottom, but the kittens get their claws hooked on the fibers making it more difficult for them to move around and are sometimes wrapped by the material as mommy tries to find them |
|
|
18 April 2007 -- a close up of the five kittens |
|
18 April 2007 -- later that evening she decided she wanted to be on my bed, putting all the kittys there, so I had to place three more pillows as a corral for them |
|
|
18 April 2007 -- they all seem quite happy, but I would have to reorganize them when I went to bed for the night |
|
22 April 2007 -- five kittens among some pillows. Note the light colored ring around the neck of the one in the foreground -- Ringo might be a great name for it, although I have not yet attempted to figure out their genders |
|
|
23 April 2007 -- Olga was also in my bedroom because she seemed to be pregnant [on the left front] -- Blinky on the right -- a couple kittens sleeping at some pillows on the upper left |
|
28 April 2007 -- I wanted to make some kind of an enclosure / nest for the mother and kittens while they were on my bed. I had simply been putting three extra pillows to delimit a space for them, but it was difficult for me to sleep with my back towards them, the only way possible due to my bad hip. Luckily I always save old packing material and found a 14 cm wide piece of foam 14 x 14 cm |
|
|
28 April 2007 -- using a long kitchen knife I cut the central part out, resulting a raised border of about 14 cm on all sides. What would I use to cover the foam was the next step -- I did not have any towels that I dedicate to the cats that was large / wide / long enough |
|
28 April 2007 -- OK, many years ago I got two of the coverlets they provided on Iberia Airlines -- one of them amply covered the new enclosure leaving some edge to tuck under the bottom ends -- problem solved -- when this one gets dirty I replace it with the second from the built in cat rag hamper in the bathroom |
|
|
28 April 2007 -- they seem quite happy with their new enclosure. Several of them already learned how to climb out and snooze under the covers or on my pillow -- Blinky usually follows them and rests on my pillow when all her kittens are asleep in the nest |
|
28 April 2007 -- Blinky with her five, while Olga snuggles up beside her. Note the scratch marks on Blinky's underside, caused by the pumping action of the kittens while they feed -- I never noticed this before with the Siamese when I bred them, but that is probably because their stomachs were hair covered |
|
Photo : 10 August 2006 |
GUANCHE Olga van Zews Tortoiseshell Sphynx, F born 12 October 2005 - Trenton, New Jersey
Sire : Amaravati Zews of GUANCHE Dam : Amaravati Kappora of GUANCHE
She is the only living offspring of Kappora before her untimely death on 4 January 2007 |
Olga is one of only two kittens from the first and only litter of Kappora, the female I adopted from Russia -- her daddy was Zews, also a Russian adoption.
|
|
28 April 2007 -- Blinky with her five, while Olga snuggles up beside her. Note the scratch marks on Blinky's underside, caused by the pumping action of the kittens while they feed -- I never noticed this before with the Siamese when I bred them, but that is probably because their stomachs were hair covered |
|
30 April 2007 -- Olga broke water at 11h -- at 14h she was under the covers, her two new kittens were being fed by Blinky, while one of Blinky's larger babies was snoozing on my pillow -- the other four were asleep in the foam nest I made for them as of midnight Olga only had two but she still looks slightly fat and I can feel something in her abdomen |
|
|
30 April 2007 -- no matter how much I try to organize the darlings, they always have their own ideas. The two mommy cats seem to want to keep some of their kittens outside of the nest I made for them. In this shot I already turned the Iberia blanket over and two of Blinky's kittys were asleep in there -- note the much smaller size of the two new ones -- they may have some problems feeding with the larger ones present, so I may have to bottle feed them for some days. They are also in front of MY pillow -- how will I sleep tonight? |
BAD NEWS |
1 May 2007 -- -- I slept OK, on the far right of the bed with the cats on the left -- after four hours I woke up and started bottle feeding Olga's two kittys. Tonight the darker mottled one died. The light colored one does drink from the bottle and I think I observed her suckling at Blinky and Olga |
|
DO NOT Click
|
3 May 2007 -- BAD NEWS -- at about 04h I finally went to bed and found a NEW Olga baby under the covers, half eaten, with Olga next to it wanting more! What I hypothesize that happened is that she was under the covers, started eating the placenta, either could not see where the placenta ended and the kitten began, OR she just got the munchies even though they have both dry and moist food in their dishes on the floor, as well as fresh water |
|
3 May 2007 -- after cleaning up the mess I went to the kitchen to refill my coffee mug -- when I returned I found a 2nd NEW kitten near the birthing box on the floor, crawling with the placenta still attached and yelping, while its mother was eating some dry food. I put it on the bed, cut the umbilical cord and started bottle feeding it immediately. It seems slightly larger than its 3 day older sibling -- in my experience that is a clue that it is a female |
|
BAD NEWS AGAIN |
4 May 2007 -- I bottle fed the two new babies. When I went to bed I looked all over for Olga's two remaining kittys, but they are nowhere to be found -- I can only assume that the vampire mommy ate them |
|
4 May 2007 -- although I removed Olga from the bedroom and put her with the two other sphynx in the middle rooms, she kept wanting to get back into the bedroom -- here she is in the nest with Blinky helping suckle Blinky's five hairless klittens which are now 17 days old |
|
Analysis Thus Far |
Online I found that cannibalism is rare among cats, although it does happen, some say in 8% of dams. The theoretical reasons given are fear of aggressors [there were none in this case], a location that was not quiet, dark enough or stress free [my bedroom door is closed, as are the blinds; the birthing box was in a dark place, I even turned off the air purifier so that the noise would not cause undue stress], the mother somehow knew that the kittens would not live -->> |
More Analysis |
the mother was sickly and thought that she would not live to be able to take care of them -- there was some unspecified genetic reason -- all of these seem like very anthropomorphic reasons to me, liberally transferring to cats how humans might hypothetically react under similar stimuli. The curious thing, as noted above, was that I assumed that Zews killed a kitten in like manner which Blinky had in August 2006, but now conclude that Olga was the culprit |
|
|
5 May 2007 -- I changed the sheets, the pillowcase on my pillow, the Iberia blanket on the kitten nest and replaced the winter comforter with a light cotton blanket on my bed. Here the fat and inquisitive babies are clumped together exploring my pillow, almost hiding a white plush bear I added for scale and contrast |
|
5 May 2007 -- the five are spreading out -- one can note the two black and white ones [tentatively male & female] on the right, with the three mottled grayish blueish ones [probably 2 females and a male] on the lower left. In the coming weeks their body colors will develop further. They are completely ignoring the bear |
|
|
5 May 2007 -- Blinky is seen on the left grooming herself as her alert kittys take a look around. They are perhaps the best litter my cattery has produced since I started breeding Sphynx cats in 1997 -- nary a whisker nor a hair or fuzz to be seen. |
|
8 May 2007 -- here you can see Blinky with her youngins who are snoozing. Their nest takes up half the headboard side of my bed, with my pillow on the right -- tomorrow they will be three weeks old |
|
|
23 May 2007 -- the 5 are always attentive, and follow me everywhere. In a week or so they may be big enough to have figured out how to crawl up onto my bed, which means I will probably get somewhat less sleep than I do now |
|
9 June 2007 -- the five kittens are doing very well, are litter trained and eat moist and dry food -- they will be adoptable at the end of this month THE END |
|
I have received several comments about the above -- Ned -- I read some of your posts on the apple board, regarding your cat problems and subsequent behavioral anomalies. I have been thinking about it intermittently since then. I'm curious about the kind of treats and food they were consuming prior to the cannibalism. I sense that aside from the kind of mother / offspring destruction generalized across species due to fear of famine / starvation, predation or inferior genetic traits recognized by maternal intuition (another hypothetical premise) there may be the result of the contaminated food, some kind of brain mutation that would cause such uncharacteristic behavior. This is just my opinion, of course and we know everyone has those. If you would give me the brands and type of food and treats they have been eating, I would be thrilled to assist you in your research. I sense that eye atrophy is a clue and worth isolating in focus (no pun intended). I would like to say that, although Science Diet and Hill's Prescription Diet foods are more expensive than other foods and probably the most expensive, they are clean food and safe from contaminations. Tumors are a big problem with dogs (what I have) and cats. My dog has had three surgeries since last June to remove many. It was at that time we switched him from Iiams to Hill's. The tumors colonize and will reform where others have been removed until they've completed their reproductive cycles. This latest national pet food contamination notoriety surrounding contaminated wheat gluten and melamine from China is probably only the latest info on contamination. I suspect it's been going on for decades since animal feed is made from rendered carcasses cooked down to kill the organic contamination but certainly cannot eliminate effects of the inorganic stuff or many viral infection ridden mass. Anyway, I'm thinking brain tumor may be the culprit behind the eye atrophy and the cannibal behavior and the tumor (s) caused by feed contaminants.
Celsia -- Sonny I can give you here only what comes to my mind, for spending time observing what animals do and not for what books say. I think that if a female deliver a dead baby or that the baby dies, she will have to make it 'disappear' because it could lead to infection having it around. If she couldn't leave the place she did what she could, in her animal spirit. Instead of eating just the placenta she ate the rest too, not because she is a vampire but because those things don't have to stay around. The other kittens may have died and she did the same. Dead animals attracts things that are not good, including flies etc. So a good mom need to clean up the place the way she can.
Rivka -- ....tis rather gruesome and sad.... I had a hamster who ate her offspring.... but never heard of a cat doing so... My vet tells me that he never heard of putting two females in the same room to birth as one or both might get violent in the same manner as defending their food... causing them or one of them.... to grab and bite on their kittens or even eat them to prevent the rival mommy from having them. Don't know.... this is just what my Vet speculated. He isn't familiar with Sphynx Cats or their habits though. Anyway, perhaps if Olga were to be isolated if you allow her to have more babies she wouldn't be this way. Perhaps her temperament is the kind that feels easily threatened. Wonderful litter though!! Congrats!
Nan -- Sonny, I just read you cat pregnancy and birth saga, and I'm exhausted! I do not know why your mother kitty behaved as she did, and I don't know how you can keep up with all these little creatures.
I found this from the San Francisco SPCA Cat Behavior Program web site -- Problem Behaviors
In Mom Cats About 8% of kittens die from inadequate maternal care. The deaths are usually due to hypothermia if the kitten strays away and is not retrieved, or improper / inadequate nursing at birth and after. Maternal neglect has several causes : some cats seem to lack maternal instincts. In some cases, it is nature's way : if kittens have birth defects or otherwise weak at birth, the mom may ignore them, or as discussed below, cannibalize them. In many cases, it seems that environmental stress plays a role, and thus it is very important that the environment be kept quiet, calm and with few visits. Except to feed, clean, and check in on the babies a few brief times a day, cats should primarily be left alone the first 2 weeks postpartum. You will need to watch daily for signs that a mother is neglecting her young, especially in the first few weeks. Call us if: the mother spends all her time away from the kittens she does not groom or nurse them frequently the kittens cry and she seems not to respond |
God Bless !
If you
had any experience with / ideas about the above, please contact
me at * 
|
|
|
My Closeout Deals & Real Estate -->> Personal Sales My Cigars & Goodies on -->> YardSaleNet.net My offerings on -- My Stuff on -- My Items on -- |
Back to Or visit my other web sites at
|
Free counters provided by Andale.
|
COPYRIGHT © 2007 by * due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid My Other |
-- eBay
G5
iMac, the Perfect
Home / Office Computer
