We love our cats to the point that it is hard to imagine life without Sam walking around with his favorite cat in his arms. Now we have a few more to carry around.
Although our goal in life is to not overpopulate the world with felines, we were hoping to have a litter of kittens prior to sending them off to the vet for a surgical procedure. Our hope became a reality when Charlotte (our all black cat) had a litter of 4 all black kittens just over a week ago. She had them at night and was walking around the farm the next morning - just looking a bit skinnier than usual. What a quick rebound. I sort of wish that we could have a 9 week gestation and be back to our pre-pregnant weight 2 minutes after birthing. Oh well.
Her sister, Peanut, (our sort of tabbyish cat...now I'm making up words) was looking round as well. I had no idea when the kittens would arrive until I watched her get cozy in the same box that her sister (and 4 kittens) were residing. At first I thought that her sister just needed a kitten sitter and wanted to get out of the garage. But actually, Peanut was a genius. She let those kittens nurse and stimulated the old oxytocin hormone. Sure enough, her 3 kittens were born a few hours later, just 5 days after their cousins. Charlotte stayed with her sister, cleaning off all the kittens and essentially acting as her doula. Cats are so smart!
Unfortunately, one of Peanuts kittens was born with multiple anomalies. I knew it would not survive, but I am like Fern in Charlotte's Web - I could never sit by and watch a runt be killed and I am a horrible softy compared to my friends who are true farmers. So, I kept an eye on this little one as it nursed like a champ. Peanut would frequently be seen with her paw snuggling it, as I'm sure she knew that something wasn't right. It lived for 2 days. Poor little kitty.
These kittens are not picky.
They'll nurse from either cat and be perfectly happy.
One of Peanuts kittens - the only one that resembles her coloring.
It is very hard to take pictures of kittens.
They never stop moving and they never smile for the camera.
Oh I love this post!!!
ReplyDeleteI had a mom and daughter cats that had kittens at the same time. The mommy cat kept stealing her daughters kittens from her.. so my sister and I kept putting them back. two days later the daughter kitten died. I guess the mom cat knew she was sick. needless to say mom cat nursed two litters :) its neat how animals take care of each other!!