Controversial Kittens

My cat had kittens! It would have been better if we had avoided it and I will have her spayed (and already have good homes lined up for two of her litter), but it is impossible to not be caught up in the adorable awesomeness that is a litter of brand new kittens. Also just silly to not recognize the great enrichment it is for the kids, watching her birth and fielding the endless conversation it's inspired. Yes, I know the cat population is overloaded and that a bunch of you who blew up my formspring in reference to this will probably be seeing red*. This is why I didn't want to deal with updating about her pregnancy as we waited for the day. But I have to share the pictures.

Despite my having a large box full of baby blankets under a table (SO DEN LIKE) in a private closet room, I still awoke yesterday to Grant saying, "Tina! Tina...your cat is in labor...in our bed..." Sure enough she chose on top of him as the place to have her kittens. He got up, leaving his blanket behind for her...she really loves Grant best, which is hilarious as he is NOT a cat person and she thinks she can win him over through acts like leaving a dead mouse in his shoe as a gift. And pushing kittens out on him as he sleeps.



Sac starting to bulge out...this is not going to get super graphic so don't be afraid.




This really cracks me up. She was making OW noises and I'm sorry, this face is hilarious.


The first two came out almost on top of each other.

And I had some delusion at first that I might need to "help", which she quickly remedied. Yes, as usual the animal kingdom affirms for me that birth intervention is largely hooey.











And, hours later.


















There are 7 all together. We thought eight for awhile but it was a miscount - you can't ever really see them all at once as they are generally underneath her in a heap. Part of me is worried that she will have some kind of post-birth problem or one or more of the kittens won't nurse well but I'm squelching it and hoping that doesn't come back to reinforce my bizarre fear cycle with the medical industry when catastrophe strikes.

*for those of you who missed it, Peter was an adopted rescue cat that came to us neutered, but Chrysanthemum was bought from a breeder who begged us to hold off on spaying her until she was a year old (or AT LEAST AT LEAST 9 months) because "it's a major operation for a girl". I agreed, not realizing that she would be in heat several times over by the time that time came, and once she was finally old enough our financial situation had changed. Anyway, I figured we'd do it when we could as she was an exclusively indoor cat, but cats (apparently) get REALLY determined to get out when they're in heat, and she managed a couple of times.