Our Family's First Litter!

by Shelby Brabbs
(Indiana, US)

My family and I are avid cat lovers! We already had four, but there had been a skinny white stray, who we dubbed Casper, roming around our house for months. We always left food out for "him" and he seemed pretty content and healthy on his own.

However, as winter crept around the corner and it reached below 0 outside, we brought him in so he'd have a warm place to stay until it got warmer. We kept him in my room in the basement, out of contact with the other animals since we were not planning to make Casper a permanent resident.

Come to find out "he" was, in fact, a she! I had a gut feeling she was expecting and over the weeks we watched as her stomach grow larger. Obviously, we decided to keep her inside throughout the pregnancy so we knew her and the expected kittens would be safe. Our other four cats had all been spayed/neutered as soon as they were of age so this was a totally new experience.

I came home after my classes at my college and let our dog outside, fed the cats upstairs and went downstairs to check on Casper. By this point, I had done a lot of reading and knew that she was coming close to her due date since she had been here for about eight weeks.

I gave her some more food, since she had been eating more and more, but she didn't seem that interested. Other than that, she didn't act out of the ordinary at all.

Later that night, around midnight, I came home and went straight downstairs as I usually do. Casper always waits by the door for me, but she was not waiting this time. I called her name out and shook her food bowl all over the basement and could not find her. I finally decided to sit down on my bed when I saw a lump underneath the blanket.

Sure enough, under the blanket (apparently the nesting box with blankets and towels wasn't as good as my bed!) was Casper and a single gray kitten, all cleaned up and suckling.

After three and a half long hours, she had given birth to five beautiful kittens! Three are white, just like mommy. Another is gray with a white face, feet and belly. The last is black with a white face and belly.

They are all two days old now, healthy and eating well! Casper is a wonderful mother who stays in her nest with the kittens constantly and is quite protective! If the babies are fast asleep, she will jump out and onto the bed to keep me company, all-the-while keeping her eye on the kittens and returning after her short break.

The family has truly enjoyed the miracle of their birth and we will continue to enjoy watching the kittens grow up!