Minnie appeared in the backyard one day by the shed and at first, I thought she was just a fat teenager cat, then realized she was a young (and possible the runt of her litter) pregnant cat (probably for her first time, so she was either 1 - 2 years old would be my guess).
This is her below, the first day I noticed her
She was timid at first but took only about two days to trust me enough to come inside - and am I glad she did. It didn't take long for her to give birth! I think it was a few weeks but with some cats, it takes that long or longer to trust enough to enter the house - if ever, for others!
She came in and I prepared a box (which she didn't use of course) but she did find a comfy spot in my nightstand on the lower opened level. So, I placed the blanket which I had put in the box inside the bottom of my nightstand for her which I'd like to think she enjoyed.
I was so happy to have been present when she finally gave birth! I even got some photos of one kitten "being" delivered! I won't post the photo (unless there is demand for it) but you can actually see the little guy still in his sack!
Here is a photo of Minnie after the delivery had ended (tired but content mama!)
I placed a second blanket (the yellow one at the top right of the page) over my nightstand to give them some privacy and help ensure none of the kittens strayed too far away from the litter. When I would check on them, Minnie could often be found cuddling her young as in the photo below - so adorable!
Whenever I would show up and the babies would be feeding, I would ask her "Are the monsters hungry?" because of how aggressive the litter was at getting fed! haha I'm (and I'm sure she was) happy she only had 4 kittens and there were enough nipples for each of them!
In the photo above, the family moved into my spare bedroom and got their own kittyland quarters complete with many soft blankies for the babies to roll around on and two cart board box homes!
Now to introduce the babies!! We will go in order of birth, starting with the oldest and first born Hemi! He is named so because he and his brother Ernie are both polydactyl kitties and as Ernest Hemingway had a polydactyl cat (and about half of the cats at the Hemingway Museum are known to be polydactyl and very possible decedents of Ernest's own polydactyl cat) I had decided to name these two little guys after him - Hemi and Ernie.
Here is the first born, Hemi! Below he is 1 week old,
Below Hemi is 2 weeks old,
Below Hemi is 3 weeks old,
Below Hemi is 4 weeks old,
The second born was Bob, below he is 1 week old,
(the name a cat gets when the husband is asked to name one! lol)
Below Bob is 2 weeks old,
Below Bob is 3 weeks old,
Below Bob is 4 weeks old and being playful with his basket,
And below you can see Bob was my lap kitten, he would spend so many minutes running around my legs by hooking his claws into my pants and running while lying on his side, round and round me until he got pooped and decided to climb up and take a short break in my lap!
The third born is Luna! Below she is 1 week old,
(She and Bob are very similar and I confused them at first but Bob has a darker coat and Miss Luna has an orange patch of fur above her left eye)
Luna's 2 week old photo is missing because she was too shy to come and see me and I didn't want to force her - good things come to those who wait!
Below Luna is 3 weeks old,
Below Luna is 4 weeks old,
And last, but not least, here is Ernie, the fourth and final sibling! He was always the first one out of their kitty home to great me every morning. He was by far the most curious but also cautious, checking everything out before play could commence!
Below Ernie is 1 week old,
Below Ernie is 2 weeks old,
(look at his cute extra toes!!)
Below Ernie is 3 weeks old,
Below Ernie is 4 weeks old,
In the above photo you can clearly see his extra toes 😊
Below Ernie is still feeding from Mama at 4 weeks (he loves milk and she loves being a mom, clearly!)
Below are a series of photos taken when the kittens were 4 weeks old, enjoy!
It all began with Luna going inside the box (Bob and Ernie watching, as Hemi watches Bob)
Then Ernie went in for the kill, to which Bob returned on him.
Luna and Hemi catch each other's attention as their brothers duke it out!
So, Ernie turned his attention onto Bob (big mistake!)
Ernie the Victor!
Below Luna peaking
Below Hemi on the left and Luna on the right
Below Hemi on the right again and Luna chewing the box getting frisky!
Below Ernie says "Excuse me, I'm grooming!"
But Hemi wants to play, Ernie!! 😊
Below From Left to Right: Ernie, Hemi, Luna
After that, we had found homes for the bunch. It was extremely sad to see them go (I was absolutely heart-broken) but was also unable to keep them as the house was already at its max cat capacity (not to mention, financially it would have been impossible). I still think about these guys and hope they are all loving their forever homes and that their owners know how truly special they all are! They were amazing kitties, kitties I wish I could have kept!! ❤
xo
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