Mother Cat
Today, at 3:30AM Gabby had her first kitten. She had just broken her water with a pop and a second later I see this dark bundle of fur under her. I freaked out, ran to Mom's room and woke her up in a state of panic because Gabby was giving birth. Eventually she reassured me and so I sat and watched over Gabby in her box as she gave birth to the other three kittens.
I have to say, to witness the birth of my baby's babies is......astounding. When she started giving birth I started crying from the sheer joy of it. I couldn't believe how beautiful and small they were. I had never, ever had a cat that was pregnant. The kittens are so fragile, but so cute! Once their fur fluffed out their coloring showed through. Only one of them is black, and she is the only female of the group. This kitten in particular I love because I had to break her birth sac for Gabby.
I ended up tying off the umbilical cords of all four kittens and snipping them. Then having the oh so wonderful task of throwing the placentas away. Nasty, nasty stuff. I thought I would have gagged at the sight of it, but actually I was pretty calm. I was only concerned about Gabby and making sure her and the kittens were safe and healthy.
Gabby surprised me by how caring a mother she is. Gabby did everything right, and there was actually very little blood. Immediately she cleaned up her kittens and made sure they started drinking milk right away. She isn't alarmed when I reach in to touch her kittens with a small rag to inspect them. Even when I was tying the umbilical cord off she just pushed her head into my hand to watch the kitten.
Right now mommy Gabby is in her box with said kittens currently purring and content. Whenever I check up on her the kittens are either feeding or sleeping. They're very active and it's hilarious to watch them squirming all over each other. XD
I have to say, to witness the birth of my baby's babies is......astounding. When she started giving birth I started crying from the sheer joy of it. I couldn't believe how beautiful and small they were. I had never, ever had a cat that was pregnant. The kittens are so fragile, but so cute! Once their fur fluffed out their coloring showed through. Only one of them is black, and she is the only female of the group. This kitten in particular I love because I had to break her birth sac for Gabby.
I ended up tying off the umbilical cords of all four kittens and snipping them. Then having the oh so wonderful task of throwing the placentas away. Nasty, nasty stuff. I thought I would have gagged at the sight of it, but actually I was pretty calm. I was only concerned about Gabby and making sure her and the kittens were safe and healthy.
Gabby surprised me by how caring a mother she is. Gabby did everything right, and there was actually very little blood. Immediately she cleaned up her kittens and made sure they started drinking milk right away. She isn't alarmed when I reach in to touch her kittens with a small rag to inspect them. Even when I was tying the umbilical cord off she just pushed her head into my hand to watch the kitten.
Right now mommy Gabby is in her box with said kittens currently purring and content. Whenever I check up on her the kittens are either feeding or sleeping. They're very active and it's hilarious to watch them squirming all over each other. XD