I know some of you are going to think I'm an idiot, and I am (hanging my head in shame). It's been a bad year for money & I didn't get YahYah fixed after her 1st batch of kittens (http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/850039/), so she had another batch 4 weeks ago.
Nor did I get her caged before she had them. I tried! I really did, but I missed it by a few hours. I felt her front teats start to fill & I got the cage ready for her evening meal, but she didn't come. The next morning she showed up still wet from birthing, and mid-birthing, to boot! lol She didn't drop the last 1 or 2 until later that day. She had them under the house again, so I haven't been able to find them.
Then yesterday, 2 of her kittens showed up on the deck with her hovering over them. I was incredulous, wondering how the heck they'd gotten up there when they can barely see or walk yet. I picked them up and put them in a box, then caught a 3rd one myself. My brother got under the house & could see there were 3 more, but couldn't catch them.
About 45 mins later I walked out on the deck again, and here were 2 more, with YahYah hovering over them again. I started suspecting at that point that she was bringing them up on purpose, then a little while later I actually saw her bring the last one up - or I thought it was the last one.
I had to run an errand and was wondering while I was in the car why she hadn't had a tortoiseshell kitten, when, lo & behold, when I got home, #7 was on the deck - a Torty.
So here we have it - 2 Blacks, 2 Grays, 2 Yellows, and 1 Torty
Now, why in the world would she bring me her babies??? She was such a good, long-term mom to her first batch, I don't understand this. She doesn't seem to want to nurse them anymore, although she cleans them when I put them by her. Her teats are very full & hardening at this point, but she still won't stand still for them to nurse.
I've started weaning them - 3 are eating kitten chow gruel (very watery), but I had to stimulate them for them to pee this afternoon. It's time for another feeding now, and hopefully they'll all eat.
PS - These are all being given away, so I'm actually a little glad she brought them to me now. The 2 grays are spoken for already.
