Our First Litter!

by Kimberly
(New Hampshire)

We had a foster cat staying with us at one time and we ended up finding a home for her with a friend. They had to move and she came back to us. She was three weeks pregnant! Her nipples were definitely different and after a week we realized that we were going to have kittens.

During her last few weeks she was a little bit more affectionate, but not by all that much. It wasn't until her last two weeks that she just blew up, literally overnight! One day she was fine and the next she was a walking baloon! She ate like a pig and wanted to sleep a lot and not play like her normal self. There were several times that I thought it was time, but all were false alarms.

She also hated our male cat (RIP my dear friend), she would hiss at him, run from him, she just hated him. Later it was him that would stand by her and guard her and the babies from the other animals in the house. He wouldn't let anyone within 5 feet of her box, he guarded them like they were his.

One day I woke up and she was cowering in a corner, with her ears flat, she looked terrified! She was meowing and looked like she was begging for answers. This went on for about 20 minutes. After that she ran from under the bed to under the dresser. It kept up for a while, she would sit and cry, then run to the other side of the room again.

Finally, she lay down and I swear, I have never heard a cat cry like this! Her eyes were wide and she was screaming! This was baby number 1. Our little Blackie was the first to be born. After the first kitten there was about an hour gap and then kitten 2 and 3 came out like bullets, boom boom, done. They were identical twins, there was not a difference in them, they looked so alike.

Then another hour. I took a shower and called the vet to see what I should do and they told me to bring her in. She was in labor for a while and there was no kitten. I get out of the shower and baby number 4 is coming to this world, little Nibbler, the runt of the litter.

Mama did so well with the babies. We moved them to a box and she went right with them. She was the best mama for the babies.

It was so hard to find them homes. I double and triple checked every home they were going to go to. I still think about them, and I know all of the families that took them. We kept the runt, she was kinda plain and no one who came through to take her home with them, so we took it as a sign.

The runt, little nibbler, got out and got pregnant and in a week or so she is going to have her first litter. At least now I know what to expect, and I'm going to try not to cry this time :).

We are a pet family so these are going to be like our grandchildren. But that's how it goes, the mama does it all, just sit back, try not to cry and watch. Oh! and a pack and play, they are amazing things! Hold mama and babies, and there cheap too! And don't name the babies, it's a bad choice! :)