Babies!

jlutgendorf

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Hey Everyone,
Well we have babies! She delivered last night.
I asked my fiance' to take some more pictures of her yesterday because she was huge and I'm trying to keep a visual diary of the whole process.
Well he comes out and says he thinks the babies are on their way because he noticed a wet spot on the futton near where she was laying and it looked like mucus (i'm guessing her mucus plug) was starting to show in her vagina.
So we looked her over and she hadn't eaten the wet food I'd just put out for her (very unusual, she eats like a horse) and she wasn't "talking" to us like she always does.
We were actually running late for a dance recital of a friend and because she wasn't in hard labor yet and because I most likely would have kept bugging her, we left to see the recital. We were gone for about 3 hours and the first thing we hear when we get home is babies fussing at mom!

We went in to see 4 little newly wet babies all squirming around. A few were crying because they were having a hard time getting to a nipple. So very carefully (to not upset Chalupa and get bit/scratched) I reached down to move them into a better position.

She was great about it. She didn't get upset, she even repositioned herself so we could place the babies in better spots. And she just purred and purred the whole time.
After we got her better situated with some more towels (you can see she pushed them away in the photo) and a warm rice sock, I called my mom to tell her the happy news. After being on the phone with her awhile, I went in to check on everyone again and see if the little kitten I thought might be grey, actually was.
Well, while looking at everyone again I became confused. I was seeing two grey kittens, when I was sure that there was only one before. Then I realized one of the grey ones was wetter than the others and she had actually just given birth to the fifth kitten!
We visited them this morning and Chalupa is back to her chatty self. She came out to see us and eat a can of wet food and use the litter box. While she was doing that, we took away the birth towels and placed a kitty bed with walls in their place (she gave birth on the floor in a small space between two items of furniture) so that the babies could be up off the floor and not be able to crawl away.
So we have 5 lovely babies. Two are all black like mom, one is a tuxedo kitty and the other two are grey with slightly darker tabby stripes. One of the grey ones also has a few white socks.
And, because I saw a thread asking about tail criks a bit ago, Chalupa has a small, but visible tail crik at the very end of her tail, and it seems that at least two of her babies have the exact same crik in the same spot at mom. So I'm guessing that hers is a genetic defect then and not the result of an accident.






So, any advice for us now that the babies are here? Chalupa seems to be doing a great job and I'm so proud of her.
Thanks to everyone's advice on here!
oh, one question I do have, when can Chalupa be spayed? It would be good to set up an appointment for her now.
Well, thanks for reading through this long post, I hope everyone enjoys the pictures, there will be more soon!
Thanks,
~Julia
 

lorelei

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Julia~

The babies are gorgeous.... This is so good. I'm not and expert in kitten care, even though I rescued Matilde when she was less than a week old (after Hurricane Katrina). There's a website www.kitten-rescue.com, where I got all the pointers on how to care for the little one. I'm sure that other more experienced people here will give you a lot of good advice. Keep us posted with the progress of these angels.
 

kathylou

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Aww, I love baby pictures. They are so tiny!

I don't know anything special you do with kittens, except give them and mom a quiet safe place to be a family. My mom cats always did all the work.

About getting her spayed, I would guess after the kittens are 8-10 weeks old, but your vet would know for sure.

Great pics!
 

tnr1

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oh, one question I do have, when can Chalupa be spayed?
You can set up her spay appt. for when the kittens have been weaned..around 8 weeks to 10 weeks.

Katie
 

stormy

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Awww, the babies are so sweet!!

Congrats to the new mama and you!
 

missymotus

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congrats they are adorable. Make sure you give momma all the food she wants as nursing takes a lot out of her.
 

semiferal

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Cuteness!

She can be spayed at any time but 10 weeks from now would be an ideal time to have Mom and the litter spayed/neutered.
 

zabby27

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Congratulations!!!! What cute little guys! I'm very very very happy the labour went so well, that's awesome. The old expression "to give birth like a cat" sure is true in this case!!
At this point, mommy will look after them so for the next few weeks, your job is to make sure they're all comfy and doing well and that's about it. Your role will come in in a few weeks when it's time to wean the kits. So for now, sit back and enjoy this little miracle!
 
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jlutgendorf

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Thanks everyone for the well wishes.
Mum and bubs are doing great. I'm so amazed at what a competent mum she is. She just seems to know how to do everything! She keeps the so clean and warm. I was really worried that she wouldn't be a good mum because she was so young or because this might be her first litter, but she seems to be doing great.
I'm talking with several rescues around town trying to figure out a good way to spay and neuter everyone when the time is right, or at least get a schedule down so we can do a few at time (better for our budget!)
I do have a question about the kittens though. Mum is a short hair and I would say the babies all have short hair (though I don't know if you can tell at this age yet) but one has almost curly hair. I gave it a closer look last night at it actually has these bands of shorter hair and then a band of longer hair. From a distance it makes the hair look wavy or curly. Could this mean this little guy may have longer hair?
I'm going to be making them a website to keep all their photos online, so I'll post a link to that as soon as it's ready.
Thanks again for everyone's help!

~Julia
 

kathylou

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Is it a tabby that has the long and short hair? My Spock has black and grey stripes. The black and grey furs are different textures.
 

babyharley

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The babies are so sweet and tiny!!


Enjoy them, I can't wait to see more pictures!!
 
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