What the hell?

Drama --> Over

Thank god.

Ok, so there are 2 orange. A pile of mixed something. And I think just 1 black kitten.

Bumpy areas:

• first kitten not getting entirely licked clean (on the end)
  
• second kitten stepping all over first kitten all the time (even though I trying to help kitten number one find nutrition)
  
• kitten number one not seeing finding by smell any nipple, even though there's ample supply
  
• kitten number three taking many many pushes to come out (even though we could see a large part of the sack protruding already)

uh.

The 'we' would be Mama Cat and Irene.

oy. I was worried, so I called the folks at Kitty Kind...who of course don't go to sleep until really late in the wee hours. I only called twice, and felt much better after the third kitten finally came out.

Puursephone finally got the gist of things, and would clean nibble off the umbilical cord. For a while though I had the gold ole' floss out with sanitized cuticle scissors. Instinct finally kicked in when I picked up #2 to start tying away. "Waaaaa" "waaaaaah". Mama reached over the side of the box and picked up the loudie by the scruff, and I kind of threw the amniotic sack over. (it ain't pretty)

Mid way through #4 the boxed looked way too small. I'd been meaning to open up the AC box, but didn't expect her to go into labor so quickly. The water broke, and man the first one just popped out. I was like,"What -is- that?" (this is scrawy orange #1) So anyway, I assembled the bigger box and placed sheets in it. I then, and you can imagine the spectacle, gently placed the smaller box inside the much bigger box. Once done, I cut the sides down of the first box. What a difference in the next birth. So much more room to push the kittens to the side while pushing. And it was much easier to remove towels/sheets as they got wet. Which reminds me, I need to stop at the thrift store and pick up more soft liners for the box. I covered the top of the box with my living room throw.

Now, if I lift up a corner to peek, Mama opens an eye but I can see the pile of feeding mini mini kitties. They look little wet furry aliens when they come, almost squeak their first cry, and then "mew".

AW.

So the online research says they can be handled more often once their eyes are open in 5 to 10 days. When should I set out the crumpets for visitors?

posted by irene @ 11/04/2004 05:11:00 AM