by mockingster

Created on: March 04, 2009

Throughout my entire life as far as I can remember we have had some cat or another. We never went out and got or bought a cat - kittens seemed to have had a strange way of finding us. They would find their way in and we would invariably end up adopting them.

I can remember this particular cat who walked into our garden about 14 years ago a rather young female cat who seemed to be terrified of people. At that time I don't believe we had any other cat with us at home. We tried chasing her away but even though she was terrified she thought that our house was a good house to settle down in. Thus she became part of the family. I tried hard to go close to her by trying to bribe her with food but she would not permit me to. We had not given her a name so she was known as Puss'.

One fine day and for a couple of days more, Puss was visited by a large number of males and the end result was a pregnancy. During her pregnancy she seemed to somehow have become more tolerant of me and I could actually pet her now.

In the meantime I knew her delivery day was coming close, so I prepared a wooden box for her with a towel and encouraged her to get into that box. She seemed to have understood what I wanted her to do. She would go and lie down in that box that was prepared for her most of the time.

One evening my mother and I had to go out and my father was at home alone. When I came back that night my father told me the good news.
There were four little kittens like four little rats. My father had been with her the entire delivery, stroking her and comforting her.
She seemed more relaxed now than on any other day. As I came home that day I gave her some milk I had to hold the bowl up to her whilst she drank as she refused to leave her kittens. She was a very good mother she nursed her kittens for a long time. Today Fatso, one of Puss's kittens who is now twelve years old is still with us.

To anyone whose cat is having kittens the best you could do is get a wooden box or a strong cardboard box and keep it in a quiet place in your home, as it is essential that the mother is comfortable during the birth process. This box should be lined with an old towel which should be destroyed after the birth of the kittens. This should however be replaced with another clean towel to provide adequate warmth for the new born kittens.

There is not a great deal you need to do actually unless there have been complications with the birth.

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