At 6am Desiree came to my bed and laid beside me. She was panting and kept adjusting positions. Shortly after contractions started and at 7am the first kitten was born. She instantly severed the cord and the kitten started to cry and she brought him/her up to nurse. So adorable! After this kitten was cleaned and nursing, I woke my daughter to come sit with me and watch. Shortly before 8am she started to contract again and at 8:15am baby #2 was born. At 9am we had baby #3, 9:30am she had baby #4 and at 10:15am I thought she was delivering the last kitten's placenta and out came kitten #5 with both of the final two placentas!
She was so young and so tiny to have that many kittens. She did not cut the cords for any of the other kittens after the first. Just before noon they were all tangled up together and I couldn't determine which placenta belonged to which kitten because they were so intertwined. One of them had a cord around it's neck and others had them wrapped around their arms or legs and Desiree was too exhausted to do any more. So, I decided to tie them all off and cut them one by one. After each one, I would untangle the cord and wrap the placenta in a paper towel and then wrap the kitten in a warm towel.
After they were all separated, I put them to her stomach and they all nursed and slept for a few hours. Then she got up and ate a big meal and laid back down with them and cleaned them some more while they nursed. I came in and checked on them at supper time and a couple of them had their first bowel movements. She ate another meal and then I moved everyone to the nesting box and they have been in there together for the last two hours.
It's been an amazing day to say the least! I believe she had one tabby, one black, one tuxedo and two calicos or torties, I can't really tell with those two yet. Here are a couple of pics!!! I plan to take pics of them each Wednesday to track their growth!
She was so young and so tiny to have that many kittens. She did not cut the cords for any of the other kittens after the first. Just before noon they were all tangled up together and I couldn't determine which placenta belonged to which kitten because they were so intertwined. One of them had a cord around it's neck and others had them wrapped around their arms or legs and Desiree was too exhausted to do any more. So, I decided to tie them all off and cut them one by one. After each one, I would untangle the cord and wrap the placenta in a paper towel and then wrap the kitten in a warm towel.
After they were all separated, I put them to her stomach and they all nursed and slept for a few hours. Then she got up and ate a big meal and laid back down with them and cleaned them some more while they nursed. I came in and checked on them at supper time and a couple of them had their first bowel movements. She ate another meal and then I moved everyone to the nesting box and they have been in there together for the last two hours.
It's been an amazing day to say the least! I believe she had one tabby, one black, one tuxedo and two calicos or torties, I can't really tell with those two yet. Here are a couple of pics!!! I plan to take pics of them each Wednesday to track their growth!
