Cat Life tip #2 - Nobody cares like you do

We're getting close to the big day.  What is it like to have a pregnant cat?  Do we want a pregnant cat?  Are we ready?

Marlee's take:

Pregnant? All I could think to myself was, are we going to go from a zero-cat household to a nine-cat household in the matter of weeks; what if we can’t find homes for the kittens, would we have to keep them all?

So, what is a lady to do -- what I always do, of course… rush to social media to ask for help! Thankfully, after posting in some local mom’s groups and on Nextdoor it seemed that there was quite a bit of interest out there for kittens.  This was the reassurance I needed; we can do this! This is going to be fun! What could go wrong!?

Suddenly, I remembered the advice given to me by the vet. She had suggested that I read up a little on how to “assist” Winnie during her birth and after; hmm… this sounds like it could get messy. Turns out, as a first-time mama, Winnie may not know exactly what to do and might need a little nudge in the right direction.

Winnie should know to break the sack after each kitten comes out, but if she doesn’t, we should be on standby to help.  She should chew off the umbilical cord, but if she doesn’t, we should be prepared to step in to sever it. She should clean off each kitten immediately following their birth, but if she doesn’t, we should have towels nearby. After all the kittens are born, they should crawl over to mama to begin nursing, but if they don’t we will want to be prepared with a bottle and supplemental formula to make sure each is getting their fair share. As Winnie, only has 8 nipples it may be hard for her to produce enough milk. And they eat every hour for the first few weeks of their lives - this could end up being just as exhausting as when Charlotte was a newborn. 😪

This whole process can take days, especially considering the estimated size of her litter. A typical litter contains 4-6 kittens, and we are expecting 8-ish! Winnie is going to be tired, but I’m super excited about it! Let’s be honest, I am just glad it's not me about to give birth to eight living beings. Phew!

Jim's take:

Winnie and I are currently having a contest to see who can gain more weight during the pandemic.  I'm currently winning, but this girl is enormous.  She's so big she can barely jump up on the couch and can no longer fit in the window sill.  She also has much better prospects at losing the weight.

You know that feeling of peace, calm and acceptance when something totally unexpected happens to you and it's suddenly the best thing ever something you never knew you wanted?  Winnie's pregnancy is not that.  I don't ever recall having a wish list with "pregnant cat" on it.  I might have though.  I don't remember everything I've ever wanted (except Legos that is).

Despite that, I'm totally ready for this.  I built a "cat birthing house" following some random website recommendations.  I spent an entire Sunday constructing and painting it.  It's lined with plastic, filled with shredded paper and covered with a bassinet mattress cover.  It has a hinge on the top that swings open so that it's private with easy access.  It's literally some of the best crafting I've ever done.  That's honestly not saying much; this might be my first craft project since high school, but it's still pretty good.  Aaaaaand... I seem to be the only one interested in it.  Marlee was supposed to decorate it with Charlotte.  Hasn't happened.  Winnie is supposed to be nesting in it and she won't even get in it unless I bribe her.  So instead of a decorated cat cuddle house that everyone fawns over, I have a big gray box in the middle of my office that completely blocks the bathroom.  This is going really well.  I'm guessing she's probably going to give birth in Francie's (the dog) crate.  Which honestly is my best shot at getting someone to use the box I built, because then Francie would probably like it since she won't have another option.

I'm not concerned about the birth, although I probably should be.  I have seen a human be born and I'm told when the cat gives birth that no one is going to ask me something silly like "Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?"  I'm kinda concerned about having eight freaking kittens in my house.  Oh wait, I just realized I now have eight times the vet bills...  Okay, I'm officially freaking out which is the exact opposite of calm acceptance.

Officially, my biggest concern is getting rid of the kittens.  I know that's terrible.  It's totally terrible.  Sad Face.  Anyway, I should probably be concerned about other things.  Winnie is pretty great, but even if it's eight times Winnie, that's a bit much.  Simple math means that I will have nine cats which would officially make Marlee a cat lady.  Under state law, she would be forced to get rid of me, board up the windows and wear a nightgown at all times.  I have to be honest, the nightgown look doesn't suit her.  I'm hoping there are lots of good people in the world (well at least eight) that are willing to help prevent Marlee from being a cat lady.

Pictures of the box below in hopes that someone will appreciate my masterpiece.