New Life at the Farm

(photo of Girlie on Tuesday morning, rather rotund)

Mrs. Fuzzy needs a night out. I'm exhausted!

This is what I got done on the farm today: I put my clothes on and toasted a muffin.

Otherwise, I was on Sick Room duty making sure Girlie Girl, who has a terrible cold, ate and drank adequately. On Monday she saw the doc who gave her a pile of medicines. Girlie acted strange all night... lying at my head purring to wake the dead... pacing... And this morning she seemed really uncomfortable but she let me make her eat a couple ounces of canned food and we held our noses over the vaporizer until she let me know she was "done with me." Girlie is just about the most tractable cat you could ever hope to have. Good thing too...

Because a normal cat would have shred me to bits for helping with her delivery. Miss Girlie, though, was a gentle patient. The first kitten took a breath about noon; it took about seven hours from what seemed like the first pains until we were certain there weren't going to be more babies. I understand that sucks for humans... she had five whilst being whacked with the flu, and no painkillers. Poor thing was too exhausted to do more than push them out so it fell to myself and Nurse Worryworte to clean them up and get them settled onto a cozy little teat.

Turns out I'm pretty good at restraining a snappy mama with one hand while helping with the last push and then grabbing the baby and getting it breathing. Nurse Worryworte (aka Mr. Fuzzy) is excellent at purchasing sardines and milk substitute and the world's best helper for getting a kitten onto a nipple.

You may snigger now.

I won't go into detail about getting Girlie to eat "something nutritious" afterwords except to say I had to hold my nose but we do have her fed, hydrated, and snoring away quite happily. The five little babies, four gingersnaps and a black tortie, are doing their kitten thing... making cute mewing sounds and already bullying for the best teat. I think at least four will be longhairs like their mama.

DATELINE: Wednesday Morning...

One of those gingersnaps has already ventured outside the nesting box at least twice during the dark hours of night. Boy are we in trouble in a few weeks! Miss Girlie Girl is up and eating like she's never seen food before. She takes little breaks to love on us. She looks to be half the size of twenty four hours ago.

All is well again at Stratheden Farm.