Here kitty, kitty...

Our cat, Ying, had kittens on May 2nd. I mentioned in my last post that she would have them any day and I think it happened the very next day.

Since we school at home, this was a great experience for the kids. 

I wasn't sure whether Ying would hide to have her kittens or if she would have them in the separate garage that she and our other 2 cats stay in. 

On that Monday morning she was wanting to find a place in the house since we let all 3 of our cats come in here and there so we can spend a little time with them. She was upstairs in the girls' room and went and laid down in one of Braaten's drawers that are underneath her bed. I was tempted to let her have them there because I wanted them to be safe and warm. I thought about that for a moment or two longer and realized that wasn't a good plan at all. Eww. 

I picked her up out of there and went downstairs with her to the laundry room. I emptied a basket, put a blanket down, and set her in there. She jumped right out, followed me back into the kitchen, and then made a beeline to Braaten's cozy little clothes drawer beneath her bed. 

We all knew then that IT WAS TIME. 

I scrambled downstairs back into the laundry room. Before we went in there, I handed her over to Melanie. Just as Melanie was making her comfortable in her arms, Ying's water broke. Mel was grossed out, and I quickly escorted her to the garage where I put a blanket down. I hoped she would have her babies there. 

An hour passed and we checked in on her. There was no sign of new kitties, but she found the blanket. It didn't take long and by 9:40 am she had 4 kittens. The kids were able to witness the 5th being born and I didn't see any of it. I was treating a patient down in my office. Bummer!

Here is our happy little mommy. My guess was that she would have 3 kittens because she was carrying so small and some of the others guessed 4. she fooled us all and had 5. Bless her little self. 

We have another cat named Lily that is expecting and due to have her first litter at the end of this month. So far we have homes for 3 of Ying's babes and will have to find more for Lily's in the summer. We would like to keep a kitten from each litter, but obviously we'll have to take our 3 adult cats to the vet so that the kitty population is maintained around here.

Did I mention that we also hatched 2 baby chicks and have 13 more eggs in our incubator?

It sure has been exciting around here!