On April 11 we got a new pregnant kitty who still doesn’t have a name. Last night she gave birth to four kittens of four different colors!
She is a rescue from a farm situation where the new owner was threatening to shoot the cats. She is not very trusting of humans, so we decided on the safest setup for a pregnant mama. We put her in a big dog crate, with a cat carrier as a safe spot within it. That way, if anything goes wrong, I wouldn’t need to somehow corral her if she needed to go to the vet – she’d already be in a carrier.
She spent some time quarantined in a different room, and yesterday morning we brought her into the big room where Mouse is, hoping they would get used to each other. I envisioned the kittens of both moms growing up together, if the moms got along. There were no fireworks when they met, so that plan might work.
We moved her just in time, because last evening she had her babies! She is a very stripy tabby cat, and one of her kittens is very like her – a mini-me. But one is calico, one is solid black, and one is pale orange with grey spots! I have had several litters with all black babies, so this is weird! I can tell them all apart from day one!
Once I knew the birthing was happening, I checked on her once, and then we watched only via the camera. When I want in, she just froze, so we just left her to it. We couldn’t see a lot of what was going on, but we could at least see that mom was very calm and seemed to know what to do. There were already the black kitten and the calico. I believe the light orange one came next and the tabby last.
Mom is semi-feral, but there seems to be absolutely no meanness in her. Since we got her, she has stayed mostly inside the carrier. She comes out to eat or drink, or use the litter box; at night she has prowled around some and tried to find a way out of the cage. I feel bad about keeping her confined, but it’s her best path to becoming adoptable, and the safest place for her babies to be born.
Whenever I went into the room she was inside the carrier – her safe place. But I have been able to reach in through the top of the carrier and pet her head. She has never bitten or scratched. She doesn’t seem to actively dislike it, and even showed slight signs of liking the feeling. She’s shedding, so it must feel good!
Early this afternoon I discovered that it’s still true. Even with babies I can still reach in and pet her. I managed to bring out each baby and weigh him or her, and then get them back in without upsetting her too much. I’m glad, because that’s important info to have, but otherwise I’m leaving her alone except for bringing food and water. It’s a fine balancing act: she has to get used to people, and learn that they are a (mostly) good thing, but I need to respect her instinct to hide and protect her little ones. She just has to put up with me from time to time – and her glare tells me what she thinks of that! I think she’ll be persuaded in time.
Her babies weighed in at 120 grams to 140 grams at < 24 hours old, which is pretty huge! They seem strong and are having no trouble nursing. And their distinctive coloring is pretty adorable!