When I went to bed Tuesday night, I slept fitfully. I woke up around 2:30, went into the kitten room to check on Margeaux.
She was like “What?”
And the kittens were like “What?”
I figured she really and truly wasn’t going to have her kittens any time soon, so I went back to bed and fell sound asleep. I woke up a few minutes after 5, stretched, turned over, and almost went back to sleep. Then I thought I should check on Margeaux, just to be sure.
And there they were. I thought at first that there were 5, but then looked closer and found that there were 6.
Vigorous, squirmy, healthy kittens. Yay!
The bedding – as you can see – was pretty saturated with blood and other birthing goo, so when I walked into the room with a plate of canned food and Margeaux shot out of the crate to eat, I took advantage and changed out the bedding.
(Usually the bedding would include an adorable baby blanket, but it’s fairly warm in that room, and baby blankets aren’t exactly cooling, so I’m using washable bed pads for now.)
Basket full.
Francois came to check things out.
I had moved 5 of the 6 back to the crate, and Jacques came over to take a look.
Pile o’ cute.
Amelie looks like a GIANT.
::thlurrrp::
Milk bar, open for business.
Margeaux is a very relaxed mother – she spends plenty of time in the crate with the kittens, but doesn’t hesitate to come out and just hang out with Katriane and the other kittens. Katriane has been very sweet – she climbed into the crate at one point yesterday and gave Margeaux a bath. She’s not interested in the kittens, but she’s sweet to Margeaux.
The kittens HAVE NOT BEEN NAMED. They HAVE NOT BEEN SEXED. That will not happen for AT LEAST A WEEK. They have, however, been marked so that I can keep track of their weights. Meet them now…
The kitten known as Yellow weighs 3.4 ounces.
The kitten known as Gray (because with 2 gray kittens, I only needed to mark one of them) weighs 3.3 ounces.
The kitten known as Blue weighs 3.3 ounces.
The kitten known as Pink weighs 3.6 ounces.
The kitten known as Green weighs 3.4 ounces.
And the kitten known as Brown weighs 3.7 ounces.
Average birth weight for kittens is 3-4 ounces, so these kittens are well within normal range.
I’ll be weighing these guys twice (maybe more) every day to keep an eye on their weight and be sure they’re gaining as they should be. I don’t expect any problems, but if I need to supplement with kitten formula, I’m happy to do so. Except for a brief visit from Antoine yesterday, I haven’t seen any big kittens actually in the crate. Antoine climbed in and curled up in a corner to nap, then went along his way. He gave the little ones a quick sniff, but that was it. None of them have tried to go into the crate and nurse at all. I worried more than a little before this, because I remember how rambunctious the older Olympian kittens were last year, and Deanzilla would often run into the crate and run right over the kittens – but the older kittens were only 4 weeks older than the younger ones. These guys are 9 weeks old, and a little more leery (and a little more careful) than they were.
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Something appears to have annoyed Khal.
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Previously
2018: I am not sure I have it in me to do this every 3 days.
2017: Roux put on her Ears of Annoyance and said “No, seriously. Lady, make it stop.”
2016: We are here at Crooked Acres, where we’ve secretly replaced a kitten with this Squirrel Monkey in a kitten suit. Let’s see if anyone can tell the difference!
2015: Sugarbutt.
2014: Jake was all, “Where’d they COME from?!”
2013: “Oh. I didn’t know YOU were up there.”
2012: “I put on my Stranger Danger floof, and I arched up and I gave the STRANGER a look so he’d know not to mess with me.”
2011: That’s quite the little pile of kittens, no?
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: I adore this picture, because it looks like Zoe is airborne, that the purple thing is the rug and she’s in a mid-air Matrix move.
2007: Break my heart, why dontcha?
2006: No entry.
2005: I swear, Oy bounces around so bright-eyed and full of energy that it’s hard to get him to stand still.
Congrats to Margeaux! She sounds like she’s going to be a great mom. The strong, silent type. 😉
Oh, this is such wonderful news!! Welcome little babies, and well done Margeaux!
The kittens look HUGE next to the babies. Crazy.
They are beautiful! My early favorite is Brown!!!
Hello, Khal, you hunk of burning love.
Good Lord! Those little ping pong ball heads have killed me dead.
that second picture of the older kittens is great all… “look lady iz early – you go away now”
I knew Margeaux would be a good mama! And it looks like Katriane is going to be a good auntie — taking care of Margeaux so Margeaux can take care of the babies.,
This is so exciting!! So many babies! Glad all went well for the birthin’… what a fine bunch of cuties.
I have learned a lot watching your groups of babies this year. I had no idea a dad would help raise babies, for example, or that batches of kittens and their two different mothers/aunts would work. I always thought the mother and her babies would be totally separate from other cats. Maybe it’s the babies that make this work? I have had from 2-4 cats in my house over the years and it’s been rare when even 2 of them would get along.
I love the skinny little tails of the newborns (I was going to say rat-like, but decided not to :)) And that in the “Milk bar open for business” picture, it looks like one of the gray kittens is having an issue with his/her GPS. How common is it to get pictures of the babies without at least one having an “unhand me immediately, stinky human!” moment?
Khal is such a magnificent cat!
Can I come over and play with the kittens?