Day 1/12/20/56 The Kittens Have Arrived!

We usually go to bed pretty early around here but last night we were up late because Mom was watching a new TV show.  Around midnight Fiona started acting differently.  She is always very, very quiet and she started to meow constantly.  Not a meow like she was in pain, just a regular meow.  But since she's only ever meowed about 5 times before, 5 times in a minute was a big change.  Mom thought Fiona was getting ready to have her babies.  Fiona (and Valentine) kept going into the spare bedroom and going into a kennel that Mom has in there (Mom's note: YAY!).  Mom definitely knew something was up and started to get ready.  It was late so I was pretty much settled in bed.  Sierra has been sleeping in the kennel; sometimes with the door open, sometimes closed.  Depends on whether she keeps coming out to bug the cats.  Mom decided it was a closed door night.  Soon Valentine was getting a bit too interested in checking out Fiona's butt.  I'm a world class butt sniffer so this seems normal to me, but Mom said it wasn't an appropriate time.  Anyway, we all got kicked out of the spare bedroom.  I could tell you what we all did for the next few hours (most of it was Valentine and I standing guard outside the bedroom door with Valentine trying to knock it down at regular intervals) but I hear it was much more interesting on the other side of the door.  Because of this I'm going to let Mom write the remainder of the blog today.

Fiona was most definitely getting ready to have her kittens.  I could see her belly starting to contract.  However, any time I would attempt to leave the room she wanted to go with me.  So much for cats wanting to go to a quiet place where no one is around to have kittens.  As a matter of fact, she would have been more than happy to have the kittens beside me on the bed.  I really preferred that this wasn't her chosen spot.  She kept moving from the kennel to the blankets in the closet.  She kept going under the blanket in the closet and seemed unsettled.  I checked on her and there was a kitten!  So very cool as this is the first time I've seen a cat have kittens.  I'm glad Fiona wanted me around so that I could take it all and snap some pictures.  Fiona did a good job of cleaning off the kitten and while her breathing seemed laboured, she was crying.

I was surprised at how big this kitten was...but not having seen newborn kittens before I didn't have anything to compare her too.  I did notice that a few things looked strange; her rear legs, paws, and left ear.








Fiona moved a bit and out popped a second kitten and then immediately a third.  Poor kitten #1 was left on it's own a bit away.  I figured Fiona would bring her over, as she was still crying, once she finished having the other two.  Unfortunately that didn't happen.  I called McKnight Vet to see what I should do as I wasn't sure how long I should wait to see if Fiona would take care of her before I intervened.  I moved her closer to Fiona but she still wasn't suckling.  Her breathing still seemed off, laboured but shallower at times and she had mostly stopped crying.  I called McKnight again.  They suggested wrapping her in blankets warmed in the dryer and some gentle rubbing to stimulate her and help loosen any liquid she still might have in her lungs.  I checked her mouth and pallet both of which looked good.  Her color was good but she was still very 'off' compared to the other two kittens.  The other kittens were crawling around and not once had this poor little girl attempted anything close to moving on her own.  After she was wrapped in blankets for about 20 mins I tried to get her to suckle.  No luck.  During this time I obviously had to leave the room a few times.  Every time I would leave the room Fiona would leave the kittens and want to come with me.  She'd be at the door, banging away with her kittens being left alone.  Another call to McKnight and we were going to give it a bit more time to see if she would come around and suckle or else I'd take her to the Vet.  One of the reasons for waiting was the fear if Fiona was left alone she wouldn't care for her kittens.   After another half hour the kitten had made no change.  Since McKnight is at the other end of the city from me it was decided I should go to Fish Creek.  I called them, told them the situation and they said I should bring everyone in so that they could see if, once they helped the kittens breathing, they could get her to suckle.  Off we went.  As soon as they looked at the kitten they could see the deformities on her rear legs and front paws.  After a bit of investigate it was determined that it was highly unlikely she would be able to use her back legs.  She'd end up only being able to drag her rear legs around.  Her breathing had improved, but she wasn't suckling.  And she still hadn't made any attempt to move herself or crawl.  The Vet didn't think she would likely live and if she did, her quality of life would be extremely poor.  The hard decision to euthanize her was made.  I cried like I'd had her for years.

Nearing the end of the visit Fiona seemed to be getting stressed.  Who could blame her?  While she'd pretty much given up on the sick kitten hours before, she wasn't very impressed with having her other two kittens taken out of the kennel.  She was starting to pant and become agitated.  We came home and I got Fiona and the kittens settle back onto the spare bedroom.  I called my Mom and had another little cry.  When I was done I could hear Fiona banging on the door.  Time to go convince to stay with her kittens.  I opened the door and she went back to her kittens, but there, right inside the door was a newborn kitten!!  Fiona wasn't coming to take care of it and my heart sunk...again.  I scooped it up and put it by her.  She immediately started to clean it and it was crying and squirming, just like the two healthy kittens.  Whew, this one was going to be OK!  Soon after that she had another kitten.  I guess this was the reason for the panting at the Vet's office. I wasn't expecting 3 kittens in a matter of 20 mins, a three hour break and then 2 more.  At this point I really hoped she was done as I'd had enough excitement for one night.  Thankfully that was it for kittens....five in total, 4 that are healthy and doing great!

Here's the tired Momma and her little babies.  They're all dark and therefore hard to make out but there are two that are tabby and two that are almost entirely solid black.













Fiona seems to be staying put with the kittens now.  She does like it when I go and check on her and give her some ear rubs.  She starts to purr loudly right away and I have to tell her not the leave the kittens when I leave as I don't think she wants me to go.  The kittens are already very spunky.  They howl like you wouldn't believe when they can't find a nipple...and there's one that can be right beside one and can't find it.  I've seen them fight with one another, pushing each other out of the way.  There's going to be some fun times ahead in my house...right after I get a good night's sleep!