|
Last week I noticed a cardboard box on the laneunder the hedge. Having an animal sanctuary means that you always have to investigateboxes - it might be jumble, newspapers, blankets or .......this one hada little tortoiseshell cat inside. She looked young, thin and had a heavily bulging tummy - obviously pregnant.I carried her inside, she looked stressed and hungry. Usually, when pregant cats are brought inthey settle down for a day or two, and then we set them up into a kittening room and then they give birth. But the tortie girl started mewing and crying and dashing into corners as soon asI let her out of the box. This was an emergency, not a moment to spare - the birth was imminent - she was going to have her kittens whether a birthing place was ready or not.
I raided my stash of cardboard boxes (how would we manage without them?)and did a quick nest set up with newspapers and a clean sheet. Assoon asI popped the box in front of her she dived in and with eyes like saucers, she settled down. No time for circling andnest-making andno thank you to goats milk and warm fish, this young lady wasn't interested in food - she had something much more important on her mind.I left her on her own,which is the best thing to do with an imminent feline mum to be. Quiet, privacy and a darkish corner out of the way without any bright lights-just the sort of place they'd find in the wild.
When I looked in a while later - there were four little babies and mum cleaning them up as though it was the easiest thing in the world! She's a placid little cat and a wonderful mum too. I wonder where she came from and how long she'd been on the lane.
A quick kitten photo opportunitywhile Mum is havinga dish of coley.
The kittens are doing fine and have their eyes wide open now. Aren't they pretty!Just look at those tiny paws and the stripey tails! I'm always amazed by how quickly kittens can put on weight in the first few weeks. Such fat little tummies and they seem to increase in size every few hours. Two of the ginger boys are the dominant ones and feed more than the others. Thetortie girl is the smallest and looks as though she will take after herMum who is a skinny slip of a thing andvery good natured and placid.
Cats, just like humans I suppose, differ enormously in their maternal instincts. Some arenervous and move the kits constantly, others don't have so much of a motherly instinct and can't wait for the day they're grown up and they can go off on the razzle again! We've had others that are mega-mums and love their babies to bits, even when they're bigger than they are.This little girl is a method-cat - shelikes a routine andkeeps her children to a strict feeding timetable. Out of the nest for an hour or so at a time and off she goes for a run around but nothing would keep her away after that.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed