My Novels

Thursday, May 02, 2002

Well, it finally happened -- Pretty had her kittens this morning. When I went out early to change the cat litter, I saw she was starting labor. I fixed her special place, and she liked it...and proceeded to deliver the first kitten. And every time I thought she was through, she'd have another one! Eventually by 11:00, she had four kittens, and darn if they don't all look nearly like her! Two of them may be solid black, but at least two seem to have the same white markings as Pretty. I guess this means they all had the same daddy cat, since you get a better variety of colorings from several males mating with the female.

I was glad it all went well though, and no problems. The other cats knew something was going on, and would occasinally peep behind the curtain I had fixed to shield Pretty and the kittens. But they didn't bother her at all, and Pretty was purring, very sweet and let me pet her off and on while in labor. I've found that female cats, once they trust their owner, nearly always like you to come around and see what's happening, and pet them.

Years ago a stray female had kittens in my garage. Anyhow, the morning she had her kittens, I had gone out on the backporch and she came running out of the garage, meowing, as if asking me to follow her. When I got in the garage, I could hear a kitten mewling, and sure enough, she'd had the first one. I settled her down in the box I had fixed, and she started purring, happy to have me pet her. But I couldn't believe she had SEVEN kittens, although one was born dead (it may have not had room in there to live!)

And I AM going to be busier than usual, taking care of the kittens till I can give them away. I sure hope I don't get emotionally attached to any of them, but if I do, I MIGHT keep one. The others will have to go though. I had good results last time by placing a designed ad on my vet's bulletin board, so I may do that again before running an ad in the newspaper. I always make my ads distinctive, say something about having a loving companion, etc...which makes it stand out, and attracts a better kind of person who really wants a companion cat. I also won't give a kitten to anyone with small children in the home, as often they mistreat kittens. But good PR never hurts!

Otherwise, the same old routine here. We got a new Wal-mart supercenter, and you'd think it was the greatest thing ever to hit town. Not so sure about that. I have been twice, but am not crazy about the HUGE space to cover for shopping.

That's it for now.

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