Kittens!!

Well, our "spayed" cat had kittens last week!!

Yep, one yellow, and five black.

Last Thursday night, I went downstairs to change before t-ball practice, and Ben also went downstairs to change out of his work clothes, and we heard this tiny meowing sound. We went to the "nest" we had made for Xena and looked inside, but no kittens. We finally found Xena and three kittens underneath our bed, on the hard, laminate wood flooring. And it's COLD down in the basement. That floor is dang cold. We retrieved the three and put them in their nest, then put a heating pad underneath the towel, to warm the poor things up. They were freezing. I was so scared that they would die. We also put the space heater at the entrance to the nest, with warm air blowing into it. Xena would NOT come out from under the bed, so Ben had to gently pull her out by her hind leg and stick her in the nest.

I had to get to t-ball practice, and Ben stayed home. He would check on Xena every now and then. While driving to t-ball, I frantically called Beads to ask about animal births. She had a little book with information on birthing different animals (her dog had puppies about a year and a half ago), so she let me know how long between each kitten, and what to expect. And then I called Ben and relayed the info.

Heavenly Father is amazing. That's what this whole thing has taught me. Xena knew exactly what to do. She ate every placenta after every kitten came out. (Ew.) The kittens knew exactly where to find the milk they needed. She knows to eat their poop while she's breast-feeding them. (Ew.) She knows to lick them to stimulate their pooping reflex. (Ew.) Unbelievable. Ben watched her eat one placenta and had to leave. I'm glad humans don't eat placentas. Oh, wait, some do. (Again, ew.)

I felt really badly for Xena when she was all done, because those kittens breast-fed for like 24 hours straight. She was exhausted from birthing six of them, and all they did was whine and cry and crawl all over her. It reminds me a lot of my experience with each of my newborns. It takes them awhile to get into a schedule and to stop feeding off of me every second of the day.

This week has been hilarious, because Xena keeps trying to move the kittens. I've heard that this is normal - some instinct to protect the kittens from the dangers of the world. But there are no dangers in our house. Our kids aren't allowed to hold them unless we're there with them, and we only let them hold them for about five minutes per day:

On Sunday, Ben went into the storage room to get something, and Xena moved all six kittens underneath our stairs, in this dirty old place where part of the wall had been ripped out. I had to crawl in there in my church clothes and retrieve the kittens, putting them back into their nest. Five minutes later, I caught Xena trying to bring one upstairs. I'm pretty sure she was trying to hide the kittens in Micah's room, a favorite spot for her. Monday, she hid the kittens under our bed again, four different times. They were scream-mewing -- they hate it under there, because it's freezing. So I had to get them out. I couldn't reach some of them, so I had to use the broom and kind of sweep them out. She hasn't moved them since Monday, thank goodness. What a silly girl.

It's been a week now, and they have grown so much already:

The yellow one is the biggest whiner. And the biggest kitten. All she wants to do is eat. Lexi says we should call her Cheese, like, "Do you want some cheese with that whine?" Hahaha.

From what we can tell, all six kittens are girls. I may be wrong there, but I've been examining them and it sure looks like they're all girls. And my friend, Rachel, who raises pigs and kills her own chickens, says they're all girls. If she says so, I believe her.

Ben wants to keep a kitten, which is fine with me. We can keep one. Not six. Much to Dylan's chagrin. We'll have to see which one we prefer, when their little personalities become more apparent. I might need to buy some little collars to help me identify them, because they look so much alike. Except for Cheese. :)

And yes, I did call the Humane Society, about a week before the kittens were born. They kindly offered to pay for any complications in the birthing that might need a veterinarian's help. They said they will adopt out any kittens that we can't find homes for, and then they will spay the kittens and Xena (for reals this time). They felt horrible. I guess when they acquired Xena, they took her to the vet, and the vet examined her and said that she had been fixed. The vet also said the same of a dog, apparently, and then the dog went into heat. Hahaha!

The Humane Society also brought over a whopping bag of kitten food. The kittens will be weaned between 3 and 5 weeks, so that's when we'll introduce food to them. That's also when Xena will stop eating their poop. That's when it's going to get stinky. Ugh. I hate, hate, hate the smell of cat poop. I'm going to have to get some kind of little gate contraption to keep them contained, once they start moving around a lot. Right now, they kind of crawl/scoot around. It's pretty stinking cute.

They don't necessarily love being cuddled. They're always like, "Dude, give me back to my mom. Now." Xena is really kind about letting people hold her kittens. We've had many, many visitors of the kid persuasion pay us a visit, and she's been very cool with it.

Four of the six have started opening their eyes. I don't know if they can see much - it's like they're cross-eyed, but opposite. Their pupils go toward the outsides of their eyes. And their eyes are blue, for now:

That was the only decent picture I could get. They will not hold still. I think I can usually identify the little one above, because she has lots of white hairs on her arms, and she is very calm. She's my favorite, so far.

Sooooooo... if you want a kitten, you just let me know! I can give them away when they're eight weeks old. If you want to get them fixed, the Humane Society fixes them for about half the price of any veterinarian - $70. Lex said her friend might want one, Nat might want one, and Ben's boss might want one. And then we want one. So at least two are up for grabs. Would anyone like to take Cheese off our hands??? Hahaha! Just kidding. She has calmed down a lot the last couple of days. They really are all so cute.