Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Three Weeks, Three Litters

We now return to KITT-FM, where it's all kittens, all the time. And now, broadcasting live from our studios in Purrbank, Cat-ifornia - heeeere's your hostess, Mother Catresa!

Hi folks!

A few weeks ago, I wrote a long post about the mother cat and her two tiny babies, whom I fostered for awhile. Damn my computer, which farted right as I clicked "Post," and the entire entry was gone. I was so bummed. I thought I'd just try to recapture what I wrote by memory, but in just one week's time, I've gone through another litter - then, I brought home new ones yesterday!

That's three litters in about three weeks. Read my last post with news from our meteorologist, Chance O. Showers: it really is pouring (or is it purring?) kittens!

Let me recap the lineup so far.

The first litter featured a beautiful and sweet mother cat named Dorianna, and her two newborn babies. They were only a few days old when I got them, and their eyes weren't even opened yet. Such delicate little angels! I've never had kittens that little. It was so sweet to watch them snuggle up to their mommy and nurse. Kittens that young don't do much; their movements consist mostly of stretching in search of a nipple, a very slight and shaky crawling, and rolling over onto their backs. This is the cutest pose, because the tiny babies kick their legs in the air, like bugs on their backs. I took a movie of them on my new camcorder. If I can ever get tech-savvy enough, maybe I can post it here on my blog.

Unfortunately, I had to give up Dorianna, a medium-haired gray kitty, and babies - Malcolm and Inara - early, because Malcom had a nasty eye infection. The staff wanted to send the litter to a foster home where someone is available throughout the day to clean the eye constantly. I can't take cases like that, because of my work schedule. I greatly miss the mama and babies; they were so very sweet, and Dorianna was a model doting mom. She deserves a Mother's Day can of tuna!

The second litter - sisters Orla, a blue-cream longhaired tortie, and Lenore, a black-and-white tuxedo - came to me in the middle of last week, and it seems like they were in and out faster than you can say kitty litter. They just needed to stay somewhere for a few days before the kitten shower, held yesterday (Sunday) for Mother's Day. So, Sunday morning, I packed them up and headed to Animal Friends, where each was claimed by a loving family within three hours. Our time together was short but sweet.

Now, finally - the current residents at Mother Catresa's sanctuary! I left the shelter yesterday with a litter of four tiny, five-week-old girls - oh, they are so itty-bitty! The runt, a little black girl, practically fits in the palm of my hand. I haven't checked the paperwork for their names, although I know that the shelter staff gave them all names that begin with "B." Two are black-and-white tuxedoes that look exactly alike; I'm hoping to find a unique freckle on one of them, so I can tell them apart. One is solid black (the runt), and the other is gray and white. They are all shy and mostly hiding in my bookshelves and around my computer, but wouldn't you do the same if you were an orphaned baby missing its mommy in a strange place?

I am amused that I have an all-girl lot of kittens - it's like a slumber party up there! Maybe I should head to a toy store and buy them some Barbies and a Dream Corvette, so they can play girly games together. And I, the mom, can bake cupcakes - and eat them all myself. Hey, it's for their own good; chocolate and sugar must give kittens bad gas.

Until next time, I remain,

Mother Catresa
Patron Saint of Homeless Felines
(and the "smitten kitten")

1 comment:

Puppy day care said...

pictures!! Or else I stop reading Mother Catresa!