kittens day four

I think they are developing strong sibling bonds.

Kittens Day Three

The kittens spend all of their time smashing against each other, which makes it somewhat difficult to get a good photo of them. Either they lay all over each other, or they smash up against their momma when she is around. Maybe they miss being in the womb?

New drama is developing with Daddy cat......I was sure he belonged to a neighbor because whenever he showed up at my doorstep (with momma Kate), he was very friendly. He would try to come in my house when I opened the door (Kate would run), and he let me pick him up and never tried to run from me. I assumed me belonged to a neighbor that just let him out. He started hanging out at my house a lot in the last few days Kate was outside and I figured he knew kittens were coming and wanted to be around for the big event. Once I took Kate inside and quit putting food out on the deck, he disappeared.

After the kittens were born and I saw that several of them were black, I was pretty sure that this must have been the daddy cat. I was thinking that I should find out who owns him so they would know that he fathered some kittens, in case they might want one. So tonight I saw one of my neighbors out and asked him if knew who the owner was. He said some guys a few houses down from him asked him the same thing because this cat was hanging around their house too. So now I'm concerned that daddy cat is a stray too! Or maybe he has a house and he got lost and doesn't know how to get home. I don't know what do. I cannot care for all the stray cats in the neighborhood, but I can't bear to know a cat is roaming around homeless and hungry!

Here's a photo of daddy cat from a week or so ago when he was napping in my backyard, waiting on his girlfriend cat to come back.

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.

Day one kitten photos

Hmmm.....apparently I am a poor judge of size. I was assuming my sweet stray Kate would only have one or two kittens because she just didn't look that big. I think I counted 5 this morning. At least 4, but I'm pretty sure 5. She kind of growled-meowed at me if I came to close, and tried to hide the kitties from my site, so it was hard to get good photos, but here are a few.

I saw one grey tabby (like mom), but the rest of them appear to be black (like the daddy cat). I wonder if it's hard to find homes for black kittens?

They're a comin....

Kittens are being born as I write! Kara said Kate had spent all day in this cardboard box I put under a chair and covered with a blanket. When I got home from work a little bit ago I went to check on her. I noticed she was still in the box and when I shined my flashlight from a distance, I could see a little bit a blood (the box is lined with paper towels). I went closer and thought I saw a kitten. When I moved the blanket to get a closer look, Kate got angry and hissed at me, so I backed off and watched from a distance again. I saw her nursing one kitten and I'm guessing she is still in delivery with the rest, if there is more than one. I think I'm going to leave her alone for the evening, though I'm sure Kara will want to check on her when she gets home from work at ten. Pictures tomorrow, if I can that close without upsetting her!

I got nothing.

No kittens. Just a really pregnant cat who waddles around and sleeps, opening her eyes long enough to look at me and yawn. If I thought she would let me touch her, I would squeeze her stomach really hard to see if the kittens would pop out. (just kidding, I wouldn't really do that....but the thought has entered my mind).

Heading to Emporia tomorrow. I'm so lucky to have a job that entails travel to exotic places like that :) Next week I get to go to Salina!

Not yet.

Good grief. How long can she hold those kittens in? I'm so bored waiting on kittens to come I decided to make a video of her. It's not very interesting, except in the fact that she is no longer afraid and feeling the need to hide from me. She still won't let me touch her, but maybe in time...