Rat - Cat's Long Birth...

by Sara Elizabeth
(Carthage, MO, USA)

My dad adopted a kitten for me for my 17th birthday from the humane society I volunteered at.

When I volunteered there Bella was the sweetest little kitten. Now my family laughs and says she suckered me in. Because when I brought her home, she turned into a monster!! We used to call her the spawn of the devil and rat cat.

When I adopted her I was told she was spayed, I realized later when her stomach started to get bigger that she wasn't.

On Sunday night, April 27, I was reenacting at a Renaissance festival. I had my long dress on and a big long cape over that because it was chilly out. My mom called me and said that Bella was in labor. I started racing through the woods, fields, back roads, and across the creek.

My friends chasing after me said it was just like from a book or movie. There was a full moon, fog, and you could here the owl crying. My cape was billowing out from behind me as I ran. I should have been thinking more clearly, and I would have grabbed my horse from the stables at the festival.

So I got home and found Bella in her box doing a lot better than I thought. And I was scared to death. I had been delivering animals for years, but I was still worried that something might go wrong.

About fifteen minutes after I got there, I delivered Bella's first kitten. She had no idea what to do, so I tore the sac, cut the umbilical cord, cleaned him and helped him start to nurse. And then I waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing happened. I knew there were more kittens, because I could still feel them.

The next day, I waited all day for a message from my mom that Bella had another kitten, it never came.

On Tuesday, I was in my last class at school and about to head to rehearsal for the play, when my mom texts me to say that Bella had another kitten. This was almost 48 hours since Bella delivered her first kitten. Then 30 minutes later she had another.

I rushed inside when I got home and found yet another kitten in the box. Then I delivered the last two within the hour. So all together Bella had six adorable kittens.

The first one was a male, black and white, I named DC after my hometown. The second was the twin to DC except he was orange and white with a bobtail named Milo from the movie Milo and Otis.

The third was a male tabby with a bobtail named Oliver from the musical Oliver. The fourth looked just like Bella with bobtail named Anne after a county in Maryland. The fourth looked IDENTICAL to Anne except she didn't have a bobtail and she was named Mary Alice after one of my best friends who died.

And the last one was white with a orange ear, a black ear, and a black tuft of fur where her tail should have been. The last one was nameless for a while, until I came home from my best friend Casey's funeral and when I saw the white one, I knew instantly that her name was Casey.

I was worried that Bella would be a bad mother, because she is such a monster, but she was a wonderful mother and I couldn't have been prouder.

I found homes for five of the kittens, and let my brother choose which one he wanted to keep. He chose DC, the first born and runt of the litter. And my brother changed his name to Luke from the character in Star Wars. And Luke is exactly like his mother, a little terror!

I left for the summer the day after I graduated in May. My mother was supposed to get Bella spayed while I was gone, but I realize she didn't, because now Bella is pregnant again and due any day now. Another story will come later when this litter is born.

How To Take Care Of Your Pregnant Cat answers all your questions about pregnancy in cats and kitten care.