Okay, first things first: I’ve named Mama. She is officially Lucille Ball (there have been a lot of Challenger’s House cats named Lucy, one of them even my own (Lucy Peppers)), but I can’t imagine I’ll ever call her anything but Lucy. Well, maybe Mama Lu.
(I actually had a Lucille in the past, too. Clearly I like that name!)
I haven’t named the babies yet, and in fact we haven’t looked to see what we’ve got. I’m intending to determine sexes and assign names by Monday. I always post 7 days a week for the first month or so after we get newborns, and this time around won’t be any exception. That gives those of you who read from work a little something extra to look forward to on Mondays!
The usual Q&A/linkfest Friday will be pushed off ’til tomorrow (and combined with the weekly roundup, with some extra pictures added), because I wanted to get Lucy’s birth story (even though there’s not a lot to it, since she shot those babies out so fast) down while it’s fresh in my mind.
So, nothing about Wednesday morning indicated to me that I’d be seeing any babies. Lucy greeted me at the door first thing and told me in no uncertain terms that her linen needed freshening, her face needed feeding, and her litter box needed scooping. She gulped down the food I brought her, and then I sat with her, gave her some love, and took some flattering pictures.
It is entirely possible that she gave up and birthed those babies so I’d stop taking pictures of her from this angle.
“You not impressing me much, lady.”
I mean, come on. Look at that! It was a belly of beauty.
“My eyes is up here, lady.”
She ate three cans of food before noon, which made me decide that the babies were at least a couple of days off. We had some bonding time, and after I’d given her lots and lots of love (and was covered in fur, because my LORD has that girl been shedding like crazy), I went off to do something important. Okay, I went off to take a nap. One of the things I envy about Connie‘s kitten room is that she has a couch in there. I’ve been saying forever that we need something like that in ours, but the room is really too small for a full-sized couch. I used to nap on the floor of the kitten room, but I have grown elderly and my back will only put up with that for so long. So now I nap on Fred’s bed when I feel the afternoon calls for a nap. Which – did I mention elderly? – is most afternoons.
After, I was checking my email, and Kathie had sent me a link to my Alien Belly video, which had been posted on MSN.com. I was just responding to her email when I thought “Huh. I forgot to look in on Mama before I came downstairs.” It had been about an hour and a half since I’d last checked on her, and I kind of had a feeling, so I went and did so.
She was in the back of the crate, she had the wide eyes of “What is going onnnnnnnnnnn?!”, and she was having contractions. I ran back downstairs, got my phone and camera, and ran back up. I’d been back in the room for about five minutes when she cried, turned in circles in the back of the crate, and I could hear the kitten being born.
The first kitten was born at 4:53. She got the kitten a little cleaned up, and contractions started almost immediately. From what I could tell, the kitten looked dark.
The second kitten – one of the orange or buff ones – was born at 5:01.
She had a little bit of a break, and the third – an orange or buff – was born at 5:29.
#4 – another dark one – was born at 5:41.
She got a decent break, and then #5 – orange or buff – was born at 6:23.
#6 – a dark one – was born at 6:48.
We thought maybe she was done, but after about half an hour she started having contractions again. Finally, at 7:57 the last – an orange or buff – was born.
So it was a quick and drama-free delivery. That’s the way I like it! I wish that she hadn’t dug a nest in the very back of the crate to give birth – made it hard to take decent pictures, and HELLO, LUCY, it’s all about ME! – but she did it her way, and she’s certainly the boss when it comes to that.
She and the babies are all doing great. She got a little behind in the cleaning of them yesterday (haha, “a little behind”! I crack me up! (“Crack!” HA HA, AM 12 YEARS OLD)), but she caught up. The babies all have nice round bellies and are getting enough to eat and no problems latching on. I was able to weigh 4 of them yesterday morning before she’d had enough of me and grabbed a little screamer off the scale and carried it back into the crate while giving me a baleful look. They all weighed between 3 1/2 and 4 1/4 ounces, which is about average. They all look to be right around the same size – none of them particularly large or small, though of course that might change in the future.
Do you SEE those stripey little legs?!
The two buff kittens appear to be different shades, so hopefully I’ll be able to tell them apart. One of the orange is completely orange, and the other is orange and white.
The wee Ruth-alike.
Orange face and orange butt (and buff butt too, for that matter.)
Baby tuxie! (Paging Bonnie and Marc!)
Dark tabby.
Hello, little one.
Such a good mama.
So like I said, we’ll get ’em looked over this weekend to see what we’ve got for girls and boys, and get pictures of each of their faces so that we can name and officially introduce them on Monday. There will be posts on Saturday AND Sunday, so be there or be square (or, y’know, just be aware on Monday that there were posts over the weekend!)
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And, of course, babies’ first video. Belly up to the milk bar, kids!
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Oh, Suggie. It is quite the rough life you’ve got going on there, isn’t it?
Doesn’t he have beautiful eyes?
Yep. It’s a rough, rough life.
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Previously
2014: Permanent Resident Throwback Thursday.
2013: Arnold is becoming quite the fluffmuffin.
2012: “You’re not touching my babies, are you? I KEEL YOU.”
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: Someone said last week that Beulah looks like she’s in a space ship when she sits in the middle of the ball-track toy. She certainly does!
2008: No entry.
2007: “Oh, I’m not getting involved in this one!”
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.