Cat Lady Award

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While working on a little Guide for Farmville, a very popular Facebook game or 'app' as they refer to them, I won an Award for brushing my virtual Cat a specific number of times. Any act performed with respect to an Animal in Farmville, whether it is that of collecting Eggs from a Chicken, Calming a Bull or Brushing a Cat or Llama, is 'harvesting'.

In any case, having received the Award, I felt it might be appropriate to post it here, as I quickly have become a 'Cat Lady' in reality, with Beauty's incredible fertility...

Beauty's Mothering Instincts with a Fox

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It annoys me when toys are marketed as pet-specific and especially in the case of a group of toys called Skinneeez. They are plush toys without any stuffing, making them flat and lightweight. They are advertised as toys for dogs, but when I first clapped eyes on a flat plush fox hanging from a peg in the local market, I knew that my cats would love it. In fact, it is their favourite toy and has been carried about by cats of every age and size, from the patriarch Ashleigh to the Tiny Babies. It is twice the size of a Tiny Baby and yet I have seen them dragging it about in their teeth.

The Fox has two squeakers, one in his head and one in his tail but this aspect of the toy must be more attractive to Dogs as my cats never have squeezed the toy in the manner required to make it squeak. They do enjoy it immensely when I produce a solo performance from the Fox by squeezing it and waving it in the air.

This brief tale, however, is not about the Fox as a toy but about my sweet Beauty, who has been struggling to regain her strength after having two litters of Kittens within the space of five months.

About a month ago, when the Tiny Babies were only a month old, she became too weak to nurse them, so I took over the task, using KMR and Cat Milk. It was exhausting but very satisfying as the little babies began to view me as a mother, and to look up to me literally when I entered, their tiny little heart-shaped faces both trusting and demanding, clamouring loudly for food until I met their needs.

Within the last week, however, Beauty has regained enough strength apparently to WANT to nurse her babies again. They have moved on, however, at this point, to water and dry food, although I continue to supplement their meals with a bit of Cat Milk and KMR. Most of the time, I give that to Beauty now.

In any case, Beauty would call to them with that wonderfully poignant mother's voice and wait for them to come to her. Sometimes they all would respond. Sometimes, only one or two would respond. Annoyingly, the Puttikins were as likely to respond as the tiny kittens! More than once, I had to scold a Puttkin, now far larger than his mother, for nursing contentedly at poor Beauty's breast. I understand that it is comforting BUT...

Yesterday, though, I was witness to a rather heart-wrenching event. Beauty began to call out to her babies, but they all ignored her, as they were quite involved with their own version of the World Cup. She then found the Fox and, taking it in her mouth gently as though it were a kitten, she bore it off to the little cat carrier that I transformed into a nursery when the kittens were newborns. She then lay with it inside the carrier, grooming it and talking to it, making those throaty little maternal sounds that she makes when her real kittens are nursing. It was very touching, rather bizarre and kind of sad. I never saw anything like it before, although I have been midwife and caretaker (shan't use the word 'owner') to many queens in the past. Poor darling Beauty. She loves being a mother but I cannot allow it to occur again. It would kill her and possibly kill me as well!

P.S. I highly recommend the Fox Skinneeez as a gift for any Cat, but must warn that they are not inexpensive. Nonetheless, they are extremely durable and ours has lasted through more abuse than any other cat toy in the house. Toys with stuffing tend to break open at some point, losing bits of their innards. Where cats are concerned, they often devour the bits that come out of the 'animal' and then bring it up later. This is not pleasant for any one. The Skinneeez toys obviously are a solution to this problem as they have no stuffing.

Eve of the Winter Solstice

It may be vicarious motherhood, but I feel entitled, as I am the titular head of my feline family and I am their 'breadwinner'. I am their maidservant as well, cleaning the litter boxes, feeding them and making certain that they have fresh, clean water daily, sweeping the floor and removing lint from their blankets. None of these tasks is much fun, but they all are satisfying in a way as they contribute to the contentment and wellbeing of my Cats.

The real joy is participating emotionally in Beauty's motherhood. This morning, when I fetched the Cats' breakfast for them, Little Attila in the kitten bed actually noticed me. I am fairly certain that he saw me and knew me, although I cannot force any confirmation of this from the little creature. He is very alert and conscious of his surroundings, far more than the others at this point.

He does not cry when I hold him, but explores the sights, sounds and smells of his new environment, then takes a little nap without ever showing any sign of insecurity. None of the others can do this yet. They cry almost instantly for their Mother if I pick them up.

Now that her children have the power of sight and are no longer quite as helpless as when newborns, Beauty has assumed a new pose when she joins them. I think of it as the 'Goddess Pose' as it is very regal, yet still allowing her children access to her Milk.

Saturday's Progress Report

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Perhaps no one even reads these posts but I really am keeping it as my own journal at this point. I often regret that I do not have photographs of other Cats I loved in the past... so now I am trying to keep a good written and photographic record of the biggest Event in the lives of Ash and Beauty. Although I have experienced feline deliveries before, it nonetheless always is exciting and very satisfying when the entire business goes well. At the moment, every one appears healthy. The little Flame kitten, who was last to be born and smallest initially, now is overtaking the others by leaps and bounds and it is one of the White Kittens who has become the tiniest and most delicate. The other three are so greedy that the littlest one is pushed aside. He or she is not starving by any means, but I will try to compensate a little if I must, even if I must push another kitten aside on his/her behalf once or twice.

In a year or so, I hope it will be amusing to look at these photographs of the little creatures when they were less than a week old. Obviously, I cannot keep the kittens (except one perhaps?) but I hope to place them with feline fanciers who will keep in touch with me. I try to contact the woman who owns the parents of Beauty and Ashleigh from time to time to let her know that her 'babies' are thriving.

One of the photograph displayed here is of Beauty grooming the tiniest kitten. All of them protest bitterly when she keeps them from their incessant quest for milk but she makes certain that they stay clean and it definitely helps their immature digestive systems if the Mum helps out in this fashion.

Happiness at Last

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Some women were born for Motherhood... and one can say the same of some Cats. I could tell that Beauty, despite her terrible ordeal in September,longed to have kittens of her own. Separated too soon from her own mother, I suspect (which was NOT my doing), she often reverts to a kitten's longing for closeness and warmth.

Now she has her own four little bundles of warmth, mewing out their need for her, cuddling up to her, demanding sustenance and comfort, which she is thrilled to provide. She goes out of her way to assume a position that will suit all of the little ones. When she leaves the kitten box, she always is alert for the smallest cry... and will race back to her babies instantly, even when she is hungry herself.

In the face of personal disapppointment today in my own life, it gave me great comfort to return home to the sight of Beauty with her four little darlings. They are endlessly amusing, even at the tender age of two days. They squabble and fight for position, despite the fact that she has plentiful milk. They roll about, losing their balance, flailing blindly for recovery, heedless of logic, turning the wrong way often, then complaining loudly when they cannot find what they seek. Their little blind wrestling matches are hilarious. While smiling at their antics, however, I am reminded of the poor little kittens in September who never were given the energy nor the basic physical maturity to survive.

There are those who believe in reincarnation, that the souls of those who die in infancy were not ready for birth, but return when they are. I would like to believe that or at least believe that some particle of the spirit of those tiny blighted beings could share in the comfort and joy of their siblings now.

Warriors in an amazing series about Cats and one of the most wonderful aspects of the books was the spiritual component. The idea that Cats had a religion and an Otherworld where the dead watched over the living, to guard and guide their Clanmates must be very attractive to any cat lover. If there is no consciousness in death, at least they are at peace, but I would like to believe that they can experience, even if vicariously, a little of the joy that life holds. All they knew was the agony...

I am fairly certain now that the fourth kitten in the new litter shares Beauty's markings and will be a lovely Flame... the other three are purest white now but I imagine that they will develop into Bluepoints like their father. It is extraordinary how much they have grown in a single day. It gives me such joy to see that their little tummies are plump always, that when they cry, it is the rather spoiled, half-hearted mew of an infant deprived of instant gratification perhaps, but nothing more serious or lasting than that.

I am so proud of Beauty. She is one of the best mothers I ever have known. The kittens are first in her eyes. Although her appetite remains huge, which delights me, she still looks to the kittens before she satisfies her own urges. May they all prosper now!

Ash still is a bit left out of the family circle, sadly. He prowls about, sitting disconsolately where he can see his little progeny but he is not involved at all in their little routines. Poor boy! He has become even more affectionate towards me than usual. I try to remember NOT to neglect him even for a moment, but I'd like to see him become close to the kittens. No doubt when their eyes open and they begin to play, he will be in seventh heaven. Still a kitten himself at heart, he loves to play.