Day 5: Destination – Lower Deck (Minnie’s Log)

Okay, I think we have figured out a bit of what is happening here.

Minnie had not urinated or defecated all of yesterday, which made me very, very worried, besides worrying about her not eating (until last night, when Nutriplus Gel did the trick).

It made sense this morning when Minnie asked to go out of the condo. We let her out and she made a beeline to the sandpit to urinate (lots and lots) and then, defecate (huge stools too). She wanted to use the sandpit and not the litter box. But why?

The answer came after I put her back into the condo.

Minnie shifted the smallest kitten down to the lower deck next to the (clean and unused) litter box. Rey is the smallest and I think she doesn’t get much milk as she is always isolates herself in the corner of the basket, so Minnie shifted her down first, followed by Rio. Then, she let them both suckle to the their hearts’ content.

Makes sense?

It does, right? How clever is she?

1  She wanted to keep the lower deck clean because she planned to bring the kittens down (shifting nest after 5 days). Pole did this like clockwork, every 5 days, she would shift her kittens….13 years ago.

2  She brought Rey down first, then Rio and let them both suckle first. That is extremely perceptive and clever of her. I was so relieved that Rey got “access” to suckling.

It was after that that she brought the two fighters (and the biggest right now) down, Robin and Lynx. These two are robust!

I remember a senior vet telling me that it is alright to confine a cat in a cage. I was worried about the cat withholding urination, etc, he said not to worry. They will do it if they had no choice.

Well, looks like that’s not true with Minnie!  She withheld her urine and faeces for more than 24 hours!

Luckily we let her out today and she did it at the sandpit. I was quite puzzled initially – why wouldn’t she just use the litter box? Well, now we know!  She was planning the Day-5 shift nest operation, so it had to be kept clean. Cannot have a “toilet” on the same deck, right?

Here are some photos from today:

Minnie brought Rey and Rio down first and let them both suckle.

The two tough guys, Lynx and Robin were left up in the basket.

Now, everyone is down. She finally brought the two tough guys down as well.

So, this is Phase 2: the lower deck.

On Day 10, she will move again. It’s instinctive.

I placed rolled up towels all around this new nest.

For lunch just now, I managed to get Minnie to eat a decent amount of Coco&Joe’s but to start it off, I had to give her pure Nutriplus Gel on my finger, then squirt it onto the food and she ate up everything!

So, no trip to the vet’s today. Poo – done. Pee – done. Food – done.  All good for now.

Rey also got to suckle.

Will let Minnie out a few times a day so that she can do her business at the sandpit.