New Arrivals

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The time has finally arrived for the kitten blog! Our darling Gray Cat waited until the last minute, but she finally had her kittens. She bestowed upon us 3 black-and-gray striped balls of fluff, much less than we were expecting for the size of her tummy!

Here is some background: When we moved into our house we semi-adopted a very friendly, greedy stray cat who we named Big Black. He immediately claimed himself as the owner of our house, bossing us around and sleeping wherever he pleased. About a month into our residency, we began to notice a timid gray cat that would sit on our porch. She would run away if you came too close, flinched at every movement, and became extremely uncomfortable with any eye contact. But she was so small and beautiful, so we began to feed her too. Well, at some point around this time, Big Black decided to make her his girlfriend, and about 3 weeks later our precious Gray Cat had a baby bump. As her belly grew she became more and more affectionate, finally allowing us to pet her after more than a month of feeding her. The cats became an inseperable pair, coming around together for food, then sitting on the porch and cleaning each other's faces. Soon Gray Cat began to follow Big Black into the house, becoming a bit more adventurous as we gained her trust. Then a week ago, she mustered up the courage to check out the upstairs. She would do this secretly when we weren't looking, then run downstairs as soon as we "caught" her. By the end of the week she was scoping out our bedroom, but she still wouldn't stay upstairs with us (the way Big Black does- see pic). For nearly 6 weeks we counted down the days until the kittens would arrive, placing bets on how many monsters we would soon have to feed.

I have never seen, been around, handled, or raised newborn kittens before, so in the weeks leading up to the birth I did my research. I counted days to figure out how far along Gray Cat was, made sure she was getting enough food and water, even constructed a nesting box out of cardboard for her and the litter. I had no idea if she would even stick around here to have the babies, as she was only just beggining to get comfortable around us. In the end, Gray Cat has behaved completely different from every account I have read online. Why would things go as I expected, right?!

This past Monday morning, I was getting ready for school, groggy as per usual. John woke up feeling sick, which we later found out was a stomach infection, so I was busy trying to take care of him while pulling myself together. I let the cats in the back door as always, and fed Big Black first so he didn't bite my toes off. Then Danny and Amy (our friends currently living with us) called to tell me they'd gotten in a small accident- hit a pothole, just some scrapes and a flat tire- but they were ok. I realized I hadn't fed Gray Cat yet, so I filled her bowl and called her, but she was no where to be found. I distinctly remembered letting her in, but had not seen her inside since I fed the other beast. I checked the porch, the garage, and the entire downstairs but she had vanished. Skeptically, I ventured upstairs and, lo and behold, found her hiding behind some pillows in the upstairs hall nook. She immediately started howling at me, a noise I have never heard her make, and I knew it was time- she was gonna have her babies right here and now.

So here is this cat, squatting on our nice floor pilow, moaning and ready to give birth. Oh, Mondays. I called John out of his sickly slumber to help, before running downstairs to grab the nesting box I had made. I gently tried to move her into the box, but she was not having it and, instead, proceeded to have her first kitten in the middle of the rug. John managed to grab some towels and set them up on the floor pillow where Gray Cat promptly moved with her baby. I will spare you the details, but it was horrifying. At this point, I was late for work and had to leave, so I put John on baby duty.

When I returned home that afternoon, we had a final kitten count of 3. Gray Cat had properly cleaned them and they were happily nursing. I couldn't resist taking pictures; flash off of course, so as not to hurt their developing eyes. To our amazement, Gray Cat has become even more affectionate since the arrival of her kittens. She often leaves the kittens (fed and sleeping) and wanders around the house and yard, stretching, chasing bugs, or just looking for our attention. She also allows Big Black to hang out upstairs- we are careful when this occurs- but he seems to understand they are his babies and he has become quite protective. He has been fighting off other male cats from our yard every day this week! We are taking it day by day and still have a lot of logistics to work out. But I can't turn away an animal in need, and Gray Cat chose our house to be the home for her babies, so for at least 8 weeks they will be living with us! They are growing rapidly, and will soon be opening their eyes and crawling around the rug. We have installed a baby gate: some cardboard blocking off the new "nursery". Gray Cat can come and go as she pleases and lets us do the same. Honestly, she gets jealous if we spend too much time ogling the kitties instead of her. Basically, we are in cat heaven 😊

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Photos

Nursing time
Our exhausted mom takes care of her newborn babies

Big Black
The proud father

Baby bump
A very pregnant Gray Cat

48 hours old
They fight to sleep on top of each other when mom is gone.

4 days old
They must be starting to regulate their own body temps because they now spread out when they sleep (it is hot upstairs!)

Sleep swimming?
My favorite kitten sleeping on his or her back with legs twitching

Comments

[Home and Away]

When we lived in Chiang Mai we had two female cats...
they would alternate having kittens on the end of our bed. After eight weeks we would give the kittens to the hill tribes who needed them to control the rat population. Enjoy them!

[Kristins Adventures in Wanderland]

That's so funny! Phuket has so many strays already, so we hope to find these kittens a forever home with an expat or local.