Either it's mean or it's arbitrary, and either way, it gives me the heebie-jeebies.
The kittens all died in the night. The mother cat didn't really know what she was doing, and she bred way too young. There way too many of them to begin with for a new mother--of 6, 3 died on birth, leaving 3 that were thumb-sized and way too small and underdeveloped. The last one made it halfway to the vet. I guess they never had much of a chance, but still, I am sad for their passing and struck with grief. What is the point, that comic-strip character Calvin once asked, in putting such sweet little creatures here only to take them away so soon, so early?