Middle of the night kitten surprise

It was 3 am when Peter woke me up.  He initially thought he may have wet the bed but immediately turned his concern to what he thought was a mouse on his pillow.  He came to my bedside requesting that I get the mouse out of his bed and help him change his bedding.  I asked him if the mouse was dead or alive and when he answered alive, I kicked Paul and told him that was going to have to be his job.  

Less than a minute later Paul was back and announced it was not a mouse but a baby kitten and there was now two of them.  Peter and I jumped up with excitement!  Of all the children Crystal loves Peter the most so of course she would choose his bed for giving birth.  

As we were collecting towels we heard another scream from Crystal and by the time we were up at the top bunk where Peter sleeps there was another kitten.  I was sure this being her first litter that that was going to be it and we could go back to sleep.  Peter couldn't sleep, he kept insisting that Crystal needed him and with the next cat scream he was back at her side and witnessed the birth of kitten #4.  I decided that was definitely enough kittens and was satisfied enough to sleep.

By morning it was announced that 6 kittens were counted! I am happy to report Crystal is a natural mother and was successfully feeding and licking them all.

I immediately emailed a friend who has hosted many batches of kittens.  She reassured me that there was really nothing to do except not move the kittens.  The mother cat may find that threatening and then hide them somewhere very difficult for us to find.  

The problem was they were nested on the top bunk and we worried about them falling down.  So we simply picked the towel up and placed it in a box on the top bunk hoping that would be safe enough.  Not too many mornings later though we woke up to a panic when two of the kittens were missing.  Luckily the boys keep a very untidy room and the kittens were spotted in an open drawer beneath the bunkbed in a heap of clothes.  They were fine.

It was time to move the kittens and take delight in handling them so very gently.  Crystal has accepted the new nesting spot in the corner of the boys room and the boys are gaining patience in allowing open visiting hours to the girls.  

Now for the rest of the story.  Crystal and Luvee were both scheduled to get fixed earlier in the spring.  On the appointed day Luvee was no where to be found.  I rescheduled the appointment for two weeks later but still no Luvee.  Luvee was Maryanna's cat and totally heart broken she convinced me that Crystal should have at least one batch of kittens so I cancelled the appointment.  I know it may not make sense, but I followed my gut on this one and there was a whispering that it would be okay.  And so soon after losing our barn cat Pickles it is with both comfort and joy that we welcome these kittens.  

The night after Pickles was buried I had a dream about losing one of the baby chicks and having to bury it.  Then the dream continued with discussion of Crystal having kittens and how sure I was there were only going to be three kittens. In the dream the kids were arguing with me, insisting that there were going to be six.  First thing in the morning I shared the dream with my children (editing out the part about the death of a chick), and the discussion of baby kittens did offer comfort.

So the night of May 22 William noticed one of the chicks was not moving much.  Our experienced poultry neighbor suggested warming it with a hair dryer.  We did that and it drank a little water.  William kept the chick close to him but before the night was through it had drifted peacefully from its little body.  William brought it to me in tears and said "do something mom, help me!"  Oh how I wish I held the magic that they think I do. We buried it just the two of us and William found a private spot to process the loss.  

Later that evening I woke up at 12 am to the noise of coyotes that seemed closer than they should be.  There was no hint of the guard dog Polar 's barking so I nudged Paul and convinced him we had to go check on all the animals.  Polar woke up as soon as he heard us walking and we were reassured that rest of the animals were secure in their pens.  As we were walking back in I noticed Crystal was acting funny and I worried about her and the coyotes so I brought her in to sleep with Peter.  Little did I know she really was going to  give birth to six little kittens that same night.

So now the question is what are we going to do with all these kitties?!  We have decided that there are enough mice and loving arms around here that we can keep two, Peter has already decided he wants to keep kitten #1 and name it "Mousie".  The rest will be available to good homes which the kids are already praying for.

And my take away from this whole experience is to gain more confidence in my gut feelings, pay attention closer attention to my dreams and realize the significance of integrating animals into the lives of my children.