A Stressful Night

The birth of the first kittens was something I was living in great anticipation for. Cats are pregnant for less than 3 months, so not long really, but I felt as though Fudge was pregnant for years! She is a very slight cat, so it was very obvious that she was pregnant, especially when she had been laying on her side and got up but her tummy stayed suspended in midair for a few minutes!

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She used to lie at the side of me and I would put my hand on her tummy and feel the babies moving. It was almost as exciting as if I had been having a baby!

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One night, about 2am, I was awoken with what sounded like a loud alarm clock from downstairs. I then realised it was an animal of some kind and thought the cats had brought something in with them. I crept downstairs very carefully in case it was a rather vocal mouse (I know!! But I was half asleep!), and there was Fudge at the bottom of the stairs walking backwards and forwards, and Scribble stood over something licking it. It was the “something” that was making the noise.

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I shooed Scribble away and realised it was a kitten. Fudge was totally disinterested in her baby and Scribble had taken on the "uncle-ly" duties of cleaning it up. It was obviously distressed and Fudge was just walking around purring, so I got a clean towel and picked the poor creature up and started rubbing it. I was in shock and had tears streaming down my face as I thought it was going to die. Then Fudge started to give birth to another baby, so I encouraged her towards the big box with sheets in that I had ready for her. She ignored it and just continued to walk around the room while giving birth. I put the first baby in the box and waited. The second baby dropped out and Fudge walked away without a second glance.

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I picked this baby up and rubbed it with the towel. It was about 3am and I finally started to think logically and came to the decision that there was no way I could care for these babies myself and that if Fudge wasn’t going to look after them I would have to let nature take its course. So I put the kittens into the box, shut Fudge in the dining room with them and went up to bed to cry my eyes out.

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I lasted an hour, then came back down. There was Fudge in the box with 3, and later 4, beautiful kittens, all feeding. She was looking at me with a calm face, lots of purrs and a look of “see, I knew what I was doing, you stresshead!”

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