Our new tabby foster kitty is a mom! She had four kittens last evening, and they all seem to be doing well. With great consideration she had four kittens in four different colors – so easy to tell them apart! There’s a tabby, a calico, a black one, and a little light orange one.
Tabby mom is semi-feral, and feels very protective of her kittens. She’s living in a largish cat carrier inside a large dog cage, and that’s where the kittens were born – inside the carrier. Mom comes out to eat and drink and use the litter box, but she basically lives in her safe cave.
This setup was recommended to me for feral or semi-feral pregnant kitties. First, they feel safer when they have a cave to be in. Second, you can reach in the top to pet them if they allow it, so there’s a little outreach possible right away. Third, During the birthing, if mom runs into difficulties, she’s already in a carrier ready to go the vet. In an emergency, you don’t want to be trying to get a wildcat into a carrier.
Tabby mom didn’t have any difficulties. We missed the first one being born, checked on her in person in time for the second one – and then retired and watched the rest on the security camera we had set up. It’s not a great picture, so I can’t tell you the birth order, but she felt less stressed with us out of the room. And we could see she was calm, knew what to do, and things were going as they should.
Given how protective she feels, and not very trusting, it’s remarkable how tolerant she is. I open the top of the carrier and pet her head, or take photos – her response is to just freeze in place – but I can work with that.