Day Two Kitten photos

Katie is pretty tired today, but she indulged me a few times so I could see the kittens and take some photos. When I go out into the garage, she usually climbs out of the box for a good stretch and then takes time to eat a little. She lets me go over to the box to look at the kittens (no touching yet!) while she eats, though she keeps her eye on me the whole time and lets out a meow if she thinks I'm getting too close. Today I was able to count better and there are officially four kittens. Which means, I need four kitten homes in about two months.

I've decided that I would definitely take in a pregnant stray cat again. Kate has been such a good girl, and is doing so good at taking care of her babies! I keep thinking about what would have happened if I had not trapped her and she was still outside. First of all, it was kind of cold Friday night, which is when the kittens were born. She would have been huddled in her hole under the porch, trying to keep her newborns warm all weekend. Not to mention the rain and storms we had! And then what would she do about food? Stray cats spend much of their time looking for food. The lucky ones find a nice homeowner who will put out some food for them, but the rest have to search in trash cans for bites of food. But nursing moms have to stay near their kittens most of the time and they must be very afraid to leave them to go find food. No wonder they hide them so well! They have to find a way to keep other animals away from them.

So even though I feel kind of bad about keeping Kate locked in my garage, at least she is safe and dry and warm in there. She has constant access to food and water close by, and she knows that no one is going to try to attack her babies. She can rest with them all day, without having to worry or starve. It just makes me so sad to think about all the pregnant stray cats roaming the city, having their kittens in the safest places they can find. I know cats are resilient and are able to take care of themselves, but I just think they are happier when they have someone to care for them.