IT'S A BOY....AND A GIRL....AND A BOY....AND A GIRL....AND A BOY....AND A GIRL....

Here are our new arrivals.....

We took in a pregnant kitty about two weeks ago and she gave birth today. We had never seen her in the neighborhood before the night she found us and I'm reasonably sure she was abandoned as soon as her humans realized she was going to have kittens. She's yellow and white, has a sweet disposition, and is extremely affectionate. How someone could be so cruel and indifferent as to abandon her is beyond my comprehension. I could do a little preaching about the irresponsibilty of allowing one's cat to roam and become pregnant, but it would take up too much space.

I took her to the vet and she passed the crucial blood tests with flying colors. The vet did an ultrasound to find out if she was indeed pregnant, and if so, how far along she was. It was determined she was nearing term and would have at least two kittens, possibly three. My vet said she was not a good guesser....and boy was she was right. The mama kitty actually had seven kittens but lost one during the birth process. She's only about six months old herself, and the vet thinks this is her first litter. Mama kitty is having a little bit of trouble knowing what to do and when to do it. During and after the births, she did all the things she needed to do for her kittens, except allow them to nurse. She was jumpy and didn't want to stay in the basket with them.

I waited a few hours to give the mama time to adjust and decide what needed to be done, but I also placed a call to the vet and asked how long I should wait before intervening and offering bottle feedings. The vet said to not wait, but begin feedings this afternoon, which I did. Two of the kittens seem much smaller than the others, so they're getting a bit more of my attention.

We've fostered more mama kitties and their litters than we can count and found homes for all but two of the mamas, who reside with us. Until now, we've never had one that didn't know how to nurse her babies. Tonight, this little mama is trying to feed her kittens, but she's not as attentive to them as I'd hoped she'd be. She's easily distracted and I'm a bit nervous and concerned, but I have to be careful about checking on her since I don't want to disturb her but I do want to be sure the kittens receive the nourishment they need.

I'm probably more worried about the kittens than the mama........