Panic ensued when we were several days beyond the magic day of sixty-five, and nothing had happened. I was sure Jazzlynn had faked me out—she was not really pregnant, but had actually swallowed a volleyball. Finally, on Day 69, the miracle happened, but not in the beautiful little pink nursery I had prepped for her and her coming kindle. I was reading in bed, with Jazzy snuggled against my leg. The next thing I knew, I heard mewling and my leg was wet—the birthing had begun! I quickly took care of the little one and put it in a makeshift incubator (microwave warmer in a small, sanitized litter box, covered with a hand-towel) and then moved Jazzy to her nursery. She was having none of it, and quickly moved back to the bed. This back-and-forth process continued until each of her four babies were born in our bed.
According to the textbooks, advice and admonitions from everyone and everything, planning ahead was supposed to be the primary step in the birthing process, and although this had occurred, kitty mommies have a mind and will of their own. Consulting the many cat folks in the CFA and breed Facebook groups, I collected nearly a ream of advice and stories on just where the best place was for a cat to have her babies. The stories ranged from strict rules of the process to whimsical fantasies of what SHOULD have happened but did not.
Dot-Dot-Dot Cattery, owned by Roger and Nancy Brown of Elkhorn, Nebraska, has a system that works well: a tall cage with no shelf is prepared for their Ocicat mommies. The cage has triangle-shaped “breaks” for mom to get away from her kids for a little time out. As the kits age, the shelves become larger and higher. Nancy shared a quick statement of her most unusual delivery—the site was the cat tree—but did not go into detail.
This story is from the April 2020 edition of Cat Talk.
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This story is from the April 2020 edition of Cat Talk.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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Library Cats felis cattus bibliotheca
Introduction - The Middle Ages, sometimes referred to as “The Dark Ages,” spanned approximately one thousand years, between 479 AD and 1450 AD. This time period is not generally considered to have been friendly to anyone, human nor animal, but it was especially hostile toward felines. Ignorance of knowledge and science was rampant among the majority of the population, with the ability to read limited to clerics and the wealthy. Myths, legends, and galliard songs spread widely throughout Europe as people migrated from place to place, searching for food and a safe habitat. Fear of the unknown and the unexplainable, particularly of witches and their cat familiars, was spread not only by the stories and songs, but by the Popes themselves. Without touching on the atrocities of medieval times, let us just say it was not the best time to be a cat.
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