Happy Birthday Babies

On Memorial Day Monday, our mama kitty Dahlia certainly gave us an day worth remembering. She had been crabby throughout the morning and began to show signs on "defending her nest" from invaders. She charged the door whenever it was opened. Jumped out at Charlie once and drew blood from my leg in an attempt to get past me to get him again. I knew we were close, but as it was a holiday I ducked out to get a few things done (or at least I thought I would get a few things done...)

I took a quick shower, peeked through the glass door, and saw a panting kitty in the box. Little Dahlia always jumps out and comes to beg attention. She didn't. She looked at me and then looked down at the inside of the box. So I crept inside to see what was happening...

"Look what I did!"

Kitten Number One made its entrance without an audience at roughly 12:40 p.m. For about 35 minutes, Kitten Number One was an only kitten. 

Kitten Number One may have preferred life this way. But only childhood was not to be...

For at 1:15 pm, we saw Kitten Number Two arrive. And then Kitten Number Three showed up about eight minutes later at 1:23 pm. 

And we squeed. We really really squeed.

Dahlia took another long break at this point. I was positive yet again that we were out of kittens. After all, the vet had said two or three kittens and we already had three. But then more contractions started and...

Kitten Number Four made an appearance at 2:17 pm, followed twenty minutes later by Kitten Number Five.

Mama Dahlia was so exhausted by this point that she decided to take a little nap... with two kittens still attached to their sacs and their umbilical cords. She woke up after her power nap and went back to the business of cleaning kittens while they nursed.

She is proving herself already to be an excellent mama. She is still a bit nervous and protective about noises near the door, but otherwise she is quite relaxed and willing to let me handle them. She let me hold them and kiss them and weigh them (all between 3.8 and 4.0 ounces) and even check underneath their tails. I have an idea of the boy to girl ratio of this litter, but I'm waiting a couple of days to release the results just to make sure. Their names have been selected, but subject to change (in case I goofed on the original tail-check). I even got the chance to take a few quick pictures. So without further ado, I am very pleased to introduce...

Kitten Number One

(who is much lighter gray now than in this picture)

Kitten Number Two

(who looks to be the heir to the Siamese genetic lottery)

Kitten Number Three

(another gray who is now a very light gray)

Kitten Number Four

(tiny black kitten who always looks a bit "mussed")

and

Kitten Number Five

(another black kitten... look at that teeny tiny tail!)

I (thankfully) have already found ways to tell Kitten Number One from Kitten Number Three. One has a teeny tiny white tip on its teeny tiny tail. There's also a couple clues to tell Kitten Number Four from Kitten Number Five. Five has a teeny white spot on its chest along with lighter legs. Or is that Four? (KIDDING! It's Five!)

They are also giving off a few personality signs. One and Four are more relaxed and quite willing to just roll with whatever is happening around them. Two is bossy and take charge. Three is the dramatic child who has already given off "Baby's First Hiss". As you can imagine, Two and Three have already engaged in several teeny tiny slap fights over a preferred nipple. Five seems to be more of an adventurer and climbs over Mount Mama (or Mount Siblings) whenever necessary or even possible.

Mama Dahlia has wolfed down two small cans of wet food since early evening and appears to be settling in for the night with her brood. The adventure is just beginning. Stay tuned.