Our very first litter born here was Kara’s. We got her on April 16, 2008. She looked like this:
The evening of the very next day – April 17th, a Thursday – she had four little ones.
You can read her birthin’ story here.
Our next pregnant cat was Mary Margaret, immediately nicknamed Maggie. She came to us on March 11, 2011. She looked like this:
THREE weeks later, on April 2nd – a Saturday – she went into labor and had six kittens.
You can read her birthin’ story here.
Next up was Emmy. We got her on February 17, 2012 (she was one of a group of about 40 cats abandoned at a house in the country, and was feral.) She looked like this:
13 days later – March 1st, a Thursday – she ended up having four kittens:
You can read her birthin’ story here.
Next came Catherine (who immediately became Kate). She came to us on February 24, 2013. She looked like this:
When she’d been with us for 3 1/2 weeks, Kate gave us the Royals on March 19th, a Tuesday. She had five wee kittens.
You can read her birthin’ story right here.
Next was the loontastic Khaleesi. We got her on April 14, 2013. She looked like this:
For some reason, I never did get a picture of Fred holding her up to show her belly, which is a bummer. I imagine, since I still had Kate in the other foster room, I was busy and just didn’t think to do it.
Two and a half weeks later, on May 1st (Wednesday), she had four little Dragons, and adopted the little orphan Norbert.
You can read her birthin’ story here.
Next up was Lucille Ball (Lucy), who came to us on March 19, 2015.
Here she is when we got her (left) and nearly two weeks later (right).
Nearly two weeks later, she FINALLY had her kittens, on Wednesday, April 1st. In a quick and relatively easy delivery, she birthed 7 kittens. You can read her birthin’ story here.
Next was Nola, who came to us on March 22, 2017.
Here she is a few days after we got her:
12 days after I brought her home – on April 3rd, a Monday – she had her kittens in the early hours of the morning, four of them. You can read her birth story here.
Next up was Mercury, who came to us on August 7, 2017. This is what she looked like:
She was with us for only two days before I walked into the foster room on August 9th – a Wednesday – to find she’d given birth to 6 kittens in the early hours of the morning. You can read her birth story here.
Our next mama was Katia, who came to us on February 19, 2018. This is what she looked like:
She was with us for six days when I walked into the foster room to find that she’d given birth to four kittens in the early hours of Sunday, February 25th. She had four kittens. You can read her story (there’s not much to it) here.
Our next mama was Kristi, who came to us on February 20, 2018. This is what she looked like:
She was so big when we got her that we expected her to birth those babies at any moment. But (as is so often the case!) she held on to them for far longer than we thought she would. When we were on the verge of taking her to the vet to make sure she was okay – literally, the morning of the day we were going to take her – on March 19, 2018, she gave birth, 27 days after we got her. She had six kittens, and you can read her story here.
Caroline came to us on January 17, 2019. The shelter she was pulled from predicted that she’d have her kittens within a week, but it wasn’t until she’d been with us for 27 days that she had her kittens, on February 13, 2019. This is how her belly grew:
She’s such a small girl that it made her belly seem even bigger. She was on the verge of popping, we figured, when she went into labor a little after 7 am. I left to clean cages at Petsmart, and while I was gone she had her first two kittens. Between about 8:30 and 10:30, she gave birth to five healthy little brown tabbies. You can read her story here.
Margeaux came to us on May 28, 2019 with three kittens we thought were hers. As it turned out they weren’t, but it wasn’t for a few more weeks that we realized she was actually pregnant! This is what she looked like about 10 days before her kittens were born.
She had her kittens (two gray tabbies, 4 brown tabbies) in the early hours of July 10, 2019 – read her story here. She and Katriane did a fabulous job of co-mothering those kittens!
Isabella came to us on January 30, 2020. She seemed pretty pregnant, but as is always the way, she made us wait longer than we thought we should have to.
A few days before she had her kittens.
13 days after we got her, she had her kittens (2 gray kittens, 3 black) in the early hours of February 11, 2020. Read her birthing story here.
Canasta came to us on January 10, 2021. She seemed pretty pregnant, but you know how that goes.
The day before she had her kittens.
It was a staggering FORTY SEVEN DAYS – February 26, 2021 – before Canasta gave birth to 6 chunky kittens. Read her birth story here.
Mimosa came to us on January 27, 2022. She had an ultrasound the day we got her, and the vet said that she was at least 30 days pregnant. She did look pregnant to me, and I predicted she’d have her kittens at some point between February 19 and 28th. (She had them on March 2nd.) This is what she looked like a couple of days before she had her kittens.
She waited a total of 34 days before she had her kittens on March 2nd. She had the first one around 5:30 am, and had a total of 5. Read her birth story here.
Daisy came to us on February 22, 2023. She had an x-ray the day we got her, and at least 3 kittens showed up (which meant she was 40 – 45 days along). I did the math and predicted that the latest she’d have her kittens would be March 19th. This is what she looked like a couple of days before she had her kittens.
She waited a total of 24 days before she had her kittens on March 18th. She had the first one at 8:26 pm, her last at 10:33, and had a total of 4. Read her birth story here.
Crumpet came to us on January 24, 2024. This is what she looked like 4 days before she had her kittens.
She waited a total of 12 days before she had 5 kittens in the very early hours of February 5th. I believe she had them between midnight and 3 am. Read her birth story here.
Meander came to us on April 14, 2024, already heavily pregnant. This is what she looked like:
Three days later – on April 17th – she gave birth to six kittens between 5 and 7 am. Read her birth story here.
So, in summation:
Kara – waited approximately 30 hours – birthed 4 kittens. Gave birth in the early evening.
Maggie – waited 22 days – birthed 6 kittens. Gave birth mid-morning (around 9).
Emmy – waited 13 days – birthed 4 kittens. Gave birth in the very early morning 2-3 am, or around then).
Kate – waited 23 days – birthed 5 kittens. Gave birth in the morning (first kitten born at 6:20).
Khaleesi – waited 17 days – birthed 4 kittens, adopted 1. Gave birth in the evening (5 pm).
Lucy – waited 13 days – birthed 7 kittens, eventually adopted 1. Gave birth in the evening (5 pm).
Nola – waited 12 days – birthed 4 kittens. Gave birth in the morning (6:00-ish).
Mercury – waited 2 days – birthed 6 kittens (one of whom, Kepler, passed away at one day old.) Gave birth in the very early morning (some time after midnight).
Katia – waited 6 days – birthed 4 kittens. Gave birth in mid-morning (10:00 or so).
Kristi – waited 27 days – birthed 6 kittens. Gave birth in the morning (between 6 and 9 am).
Caroline – waited 27 days – birthed 5 kittens. Gave birth mid-morning (between 8:30 and 10:30).
Margeaux – waited 43 days – birthed 6 kittens. Gave birth very early morning (between 2:30 and 5 am.)
Isabella – waited 13 days – birthed 5 kittens. Gave birth very early morning (3:00ish.)
Canasta – waited 47 days – birthed 6 kittens. Gave birth in the morning (first kitten born at 6:07.)
Mimosa – waited 34 days – birthed 5 kittens. Gave birth in the morning (first kitten born around 5:30 am.)
Daisy – waited 24 days – birthed 4 kittens. Gave birth in the evening (first kitten born at 8:26 pm.)
Crumpet – waited 12 days – birthed 5 kittens. Gave birth in the very early morning (between midnight and 3 am.)
Meander – waited 3 days – birthed 6 kittens. Gave birth in the morning (between 5 and 7 am).
See it here in spreadsheet/table form.
This page would not be complete if I didn’t include the mama kitties we had who didn’t give birth here, but who came to us with their young kittens.
May 2005 – Mia and her kittens Peanut, Flossie, Edgar, Oy, and Snoopy.
October 2006 – Maxi’s kittens Fezzik, Inigo, Westley, and Princess Buttercup.
December 2006 – Catie and her kittens Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Seamus. (They were with us for such a short amount of time that I never did get a picture of all four kittens with their mother.)
January 2007 – Fantine and her kittens Cosette, Eponine, and Javert.
June 2012 – Brandywine and her kittens Caspian, Sungold, Mr. Stripey, Wellington, and Dingwall Scotty.
September 2013 – Livia and her kittens Adriana, Carmela, Melfi, Meadow, Paulie Walnuts, Silvio, and Tony.
March 2016 – Regina Phalange and her kittens Art Vandelay, Bert Macklin, Chanandler Bong, Ken Adams, Princess Consuela, and Susie.
September 2018 – Ryder and her kittens Axle, Cam, Clutch, Cruise, Dynamo, Fender, Gauge, Pulley and Solenoid. (LoJack and Tank joined the litter once Ryder had gone to another foster.)
June 2019 – Katriane came to us with three kittens – Francois, Madeline & Antoine – and took on the care and nurturing of the three kittens we’d gotten with Margeaux (and then discovered that Margeaux wasn’t their mother) – Amelie, Esmee and Jacques. And when Margeaux had her own kittens, Katriane pitched in and helped out with them as well. Give that girl an MVP award!
April 2020 – Bunny came to us with 4 kittens of her own, and then took on the care (mostly) of two more kittens.
July 2020 – Alexandra came to us with 3 kittens of her own, 2 orphaned kittens, and 2 kittens who were brother and sister. The next day we added in Anne (who sadly passed away after a few days) and a few days after that we added in one more orphaned kitten who had been rescued from a riverbank.
July 2021 – Molly Marinara came to me with 5 kittens of her own and 1 add-in, all around 6 weeks old. After a few days, we added one more kitten – Hannah Hollandaise – who Molly finally accepted and cared for.
October 2021 – Maddy Magnesium and her 6 kittens came to me after being trapped near the Facebook Data Center in Huntsville. Maddy decided pretty quickly that she was tired of being a mama, so she went to Michelle’s house after she’d been with us for about a week, and the kittens stayed here with us until they were old enough and adopted out.
June 2022 – The Outlander Clan – Jocasta came to us with 5 of her own kittens: Angus, Jamie, Jenny, Lord John Grey, and Marsali as well as Lizzie, who was believed to be Jocasta’s niece. While waiting for room to open up in our foster room, Jocasta and her kittens stayed with another foster, and Ian, Fergus, Roger and Brianna were with them as well. Since they all got along well (and the add-ins received some mothering from Jocasta), they joined us as well. Yes, that adds up to 10 kittens, and Jocasta handled them beautifully.
August 2022 – Los Gatos Hermanos – Kim Wexler came to us with 5 of her own kittens (Francesca, Gustavo, Ignacia, Lalo and Saul), who were only 4 days old. A few days later we added orphan Mike to the bunch, and Kim accepted him immediately and cared for him as though he’d always been hers.
July 2023 – the Trekklings – Uhura came to us with her 6 kittens (Riker, Janeway, Kes, Kirk, Spock and Troi), who were 5 days old. Unfortunately just a few days later, Riker took a sudden downturn and passed away. The rest of the kittens thrived and grew into healthy kittens.
October 2023 – The Magnolias2023 – M’Lynn and her only kitten Shelby came to us when Shelby was 3 weeks old (but the size of a 1 week old). M’Lynn had had a litter of 6 kittens, but her milk dried up and unfortunately the lady who had them didn’t realize it in time. After a couple of weeks, since Shelby needed age-appropriate playmates, we added Drum, Ouiser and Clairee to the mix. It took a few days, but M’Lynn ultimately accepted the three new kittens as her own, and mothered them.
This list would feel incomplete if I didn’t at least mention our fakers, who came to me under false pretenses – I was told they were pregnant, and they WERE NOT.
Maura, in 2010. She came to us on March 15, and I wrote about the fact that she was a fakeypants on April 6th, so it took us 22 days to come around to the realization that we’d been hoodwinked.
Lilybet, in 2013. She came to us on February 4, and I posted about how we’d been bamboozled by her on February 19th, so it took two weeks to get that confirmation, despite the fact that she never even LOOKED pregnant and was a pretty small cat.
Kokomo, in January 2016. She was at a VET CLINIC and they determined that she was PREGNANT, and of course I’m going to believe the pros, right? Well, after 3 weeks of hanging out in the foster room and eating large amounts of baby food, she went into heat. I whisked her off for an ultrasound, which showed zero babies, and had her spayed the same day. I posted about her fakery here.
Willa, in December 2016. I was told she was hugely pregnant and likely to give birth at any second. Due to the fact that she reallly didn’t seem pregnant to me, I didn’t say anything at first about the possibility that she might be pregnant – but then I confessed that it was possible, and we were going to wait and see. Two days later she went into heat, and I whisked her off for spaying.
Natalia, in January of 2020. I was told she was “definitely” pregnant, but she didn’t look the slightest bit pregnant to me. And not only was she not pregnant – she had already been spayed! She was only with me about a total of 9 days before she was adopted.
Moira Rose, in late December 2020/early January 2021. She came to us looking pretty round, but three weeks went by and finally I said “Hey. She’s not getting bigger. What’s going on?” What was going on was that she wasn’t pregnant. She was with us for just over 3 weeks total.
Ivy, in December 2021. She came to us looking very slightly roundish, gained almost a pound in her first five days, and then didn’t gain any weight after that. At the 1 1/2 week mark, I said “I’m not convinced she’s pregnant,” and she went for an ultrasound wherein we discovered that, in fact, she was not!
Wisteria, in January 2022. She came to us from an animal control facility a couple of hours away. The employees thought she was pregnant, and she was transported to Forgotten Felines with several other cats from the same location. She didn’t look pregnant to me (she was tiny) and while we’d intended to wait and see what happened (and let her relax a little), she developed an upper respiratory infection and needed a vet visit. While there, we had her checked for a possible pregnancy and the vet determined that she wasn’t pregnant (we were a little sad – how gorgeous would her babies have been! – but mostly glad that at her tiny size and young age (about 10 months old), she’d never have to go through that. (This is the first time we’ve had two fakers in a row!)
Brioche, in January 2023. She came to us from a rural town where she’d been living in and around an abandoned trailer. She had a little bit of roundness to her belly, so we thought she might be pregnant, but nearly as soon as I got her home, she went into heat and was quickly spayed. She was about 10 months old.
The first two pictures are not showing. All I see is the rotten little box with an X in it that tells me that I have bee DENIED!
Try refreshing – for some reason, I had those pictures hosted elsewhere, but it should be fixed now. I hate that box with the X in it!
Love it!!!!!
this made me laugh
Mary Margaret looks like she’s trying out a new dance move!