Yesterday was soooo funny... Kiera, my pregant foster mom has been in her room from ther day we got her. I have no idea when she's due but you could tell she's had enough of this solitary confinement. She does not get along with my other cats so for everyone's safety, she has stayed in her room though I visit often.
Yesterday, a kitten from the other foster family (Chanel's family) sneaked in the door while I was going in to check on her. Normally, she hisses at any cat - kitten or adult - if she sees any. Not yesterday ! She snifed him all up, licked him, "talked" to him as though she was the mother. I let the other kittens in and she did the same thing. She even nursed one briefly before I separated them (keep the precious colostrum for HER babies, whenever they get here). When I sent the kittens back with their mom and shut Kiera's door, she cried ! So I let them all back in, she washed all of them, called to them... It was so cute: maternal instinct ! We call her "Auntie Kiera" now. Chanel, the real mom is not overly enthused by the idea of a surrogate mom and watches carefully.
Every now and then, Kiera would jump into her birthing box and pant for a while then jump back out and "mother" the babies. I assume she'll have her litter soon though her temperature is back up to 101.6 (it was at 99.5 for the last 48 hours) and she shows no signs of labor. I can still squeeze milk from her nipples (and evidently, so can Chanel's kittens !) so I know were getting close...
Now if I only knew how close...
Julie
Yesterday, a kitten from the other foster family (Chanel's family) sneaked in the door while I was going in to check on her. Normally, she hisses at any cat - kitten or adult - if she sees any. Not yesterday ! She snifed him all up, licked him, "talked" to him as though she was the mother. I let the other kittens in and she did the same thing. She even nursed one briefly before I separated them (keep the precious colostrum for HER babies, whenever they get here). When I sent the kittens back with their mom and shut Kiera's door, she cried ! So I let them all back in, she washed all of them, called to them... It was so cute: maternal instinct ! We call her "Auntie Kiera" now. Chanel, the real mom is not overly enthused by the idea of a surrogate mom and watches carefully.
Every now and then, Kiera would jump into her birthing box and pant for a while then jump back out and "mother" the babies. I assume she'll have her litter soon though her temperature is back up to 101.6 (it was at 99.5 for the last 48 hours) and she shows no signs of labor. I can still squeeze milk from her nipples (and evidently, so can Chanel's kittens !) so I know were getting close...
Now if I only knew how close...
Julie