push it out, kitty!

a month ago a little kitty showed up on our back deck, looking kinda scraggly, but very sweet. we fell in love with her pretty quickly & i wrote my first story about her then. http://laughingmyabsoff.blogspot.com/2010/04/stray-kitty.html

here she is moments before the first contraction.

today i went outside around 2 to take her a bowl of food. i usually don't feed her at that time of day or out front, but for some reason, today i did. of course brooke followed me out there & we were just enjoying some fresh air & sweet kitty snuggles when i looked at twink & noticed that her back legs kept stretching out and her belly was tightening rhythmically. i wondered if i was seeing a contraction, but she was so calm & just stayed beside me so i thought maybe she was having a braxton hicks, kitty style; i didn't think much of it. about 5 minutes later it happened again & this time when it was done, she got up & walked toward the birthing box that we'd made for her a few weeks ago. as she was walking away, i saw something dark & slimey sticking out of her girly parts & brooke & i got ridiculously excited. i took the top off the birth box  & she jumped right in as if she knew exactly what it was for. previously she'd never wanted to go near it, but today was the big day and she seemed to be glad to use it.

i ran in the house to squeal at chris & brooke scrambled into the playhouse beside the box so that she'd have front row seats for the birthing show. it was pretty intense, especially with the first one because we didn't know what to expect & we didn't know if twinkle would know what to do since she's not much more than a baby herself.


i took excessive quantities of pictures of the whole process & i will now proceed to share some of them with all of you. please be aware that some of them are rather icky, so have your hankies & smelling salts ready if you've got a weak stomach. 


here's the first one, right after she licked all the gooeyness off of its body. she still hadn't gobbled up the umbilical cord yet, but that event was just moments away.

poor momma was already tired and panting after the first one. i'd never seen a cat pant before.

this little guy is named hector. brooke tried out blacky, stripes, squeaker and a few others before settling on hector. sounds manly, doesn't it?

twinkle doesn't mind us handling her babies at all. she only starts to look nervous if the one we're holding starts squeaking loudly.

i love how the babies instinctively know that momma twink is a safe, comfortable being. i love how they nuzzle right into her body & she purrs, even in the midst of labor.

i liked how they each arrived in their own individual wrappers. no after birth to mess with or wait for. everything blobbed out all at once & mom ate it & then it was ready for a boob.

the gray one is nim. she's brooke's favorite.

there was one kitten born each hour for 4 hours & poor little twinkle looked so exhausted & weak that we held some food & water in there for her and she gratefully partook of our kindness.

they're so juicy when they're fresh! i wonder how long until momma cat gnaws off the remants of their umbilical cords.

momma twink was worn out!

and with 4 mouths to feed and 16 paws clamoring around your body constantly, you'd be wiped out too.

this face is too sweet for words. and to think that i get to hold it & pet it every day for the next 6 weeks is just awesome!

this one's lucky. s/he was named that because that round of birthing only lasted 45 min rather than an hour.

their feet and claws are so cute!

this is tumble, the third wee one.

and here's nim, brooke's favorite baby. and this is probably the reason that she likes nim the best...