The patter of tiny paws- how to care for the pregnant cat

There's something special about a cat who is in kitten.

Is it that smug expression?  The way she saunters around?    The hungry appetite - eating for how many - two, three, four, five, six?    We've had all these numbers born at the sanctuary.

In an ideal world, cats would not breed until they are over a year old.  But it's often the case that youngsters from four months onwards will be sexually mature, although it is more usual for them to reach puberty around six or seven months.

The breeding season begins in mid-winter and lasts until autumn.  The female cat will start 'calling' which is one of the ways she attracts a mate.   Not all cats 'call' but when they do it can be a fearful racket!   Your cat will become more friendly and fussy when in season and she'll roll over on the ground and then run away when you try to catch her.

The extremely emaciated dog brought in at the weekend is still with us - and improving.  This frail fellow has a great personality, wags his tail but only slowly - he's not up to exuberance just yet.

The battery hens went outside for the first time yesterday and they loved it!   Gorgeous George, our cockerel, chaperoned them everywhere.  Wish I'd had the camera when they saw their first worm - 'is this good to eat?'  They soon got the hang of it.   They're not scratching about in the ground yet, but I guess they soon will be.

Fine Spring weather and the goats went out in the fields for the first time in ages.   The younger ones jumping and playing like kids, the older girls had their heads down and munching leaves - no messing!

Still puzzled about the ginger kitten's eye.  The vet says it's fine and it doesn't seem to bother him, but..... the third eyelid being down all the time looks so uncomfortable for him.  Worried that there might be long term complications.  We're seeing the vet again in a few weeks time.  It might sort itself out as he grows.  I do hope so.

It's now almost two years since Samantha, our most beloved pony friend, passed away in her sleep.  She had been at the sanctuary for many years and had reached the grand age of 53.  We believed her to be the oldest pony in the country.   Samantha was 'old' when she came to us - around 25 we thought.  But she was as keen as mustard, a fast, active little dun pony around 12 hands high.  

And one of the most unusual equines we have ever come across with a mind of her own and superior intelligence, Sam wasn't interested in any other pony or horse.  She was fussy about her human friends too;  not a hint of malice in her but if she didn't care for you, it was cool indifference and a refusal to be caught. 

Because horse owners are now obliged by law to have a passport for their equine friend, it's become easy to check and there are just under a million horses and ponies in the U.K. today.