Who wants to wait whilst my kittens are born!

[Kittenwatch]

My girl is having her kittens! First one is here squeaking and healthy!

Second is imminent.

I think she’ll have 4 🤞🏽🤞🏽

Do I write fiction? What an idiotic comment, that is a common situation. There aren't 1000s of severly abusive people in every town filling rescue centres, many abandoned cats come from homes that meant well for their cute kitten but didn't plan for 20 years of their life properly. OP has said she is getting this cat spayed, yes. But she has also said she is keeping a kitten. This wasn't an accidental litter, it was intentional. If she thinks this is best for her cat, why wouldn't it be for the kitten? It is a myth that cats choose a healthy male, they do not tend to choose at all. The males make the choices. Cat reproduction is a brutal and painful process for the female cat. Many kittens die due to inherited diseases, I've seen it plenty of times. The only thing OP mentioned about the male is that she felt it was a shame it wasn't a ginger tom. She certainly wasn't choosing one that had been screened for diseases or genetic tested.

Morning floof!

All are gaining weight appropriately and mum is doing a fab job ❤️

😮😮. They look so different in the space of just a day! I don’t think there is anything lovelier than little kittens. I bet your son can’t keep away from them!

When I got my boys and took them to the vets for checks have etc the vet said in cases like this, the female cat ( officially called a queen I believe) chooses a partner to breed with and will choose a fit and healthy Tom.

Ha ha ha! Your vet may well have been saying that to reassure you, but no the queen doesn't size up the local toms and choose one, like a teenager at a party.

What actually happens is as soon as they are ready, every tom in the neighbourhood gathers and waits for them - anyone who's had a queen ready to mate in the house can vouch for the yowling from the queen, and all the yelling from multiple toms hanging about the house trying to get to her. When the queen goes out they all charge after her and the one who gets in first has sex. But that doesn't stop the others particularly, cats are one of the few mammals who can have offspring from different fathers in the same litter & that isn't uncommon. So at least one or 2 more have a good old try. Queens have been chased for miles by the pack of toms, and are so tired that they couldn't fight off an unwelcome suitor if they tried.

So yes it will be a fit and health tom who breeds (or maybe 2 toms), but that's not the choice of the queen, it's who catches her. And she doesn't go out because she wants to breed & have kittens particularly, it's because this is all hormone driven and that system takes over to the detriment of any thinking.

And I’ve just noticed the tiny paw in the third photo 🥰

Meant to say - in this particular case @Kittenwatch HAS done the right thing. As she was determined to breed from her cat, she took advice from the vet and very carefully selected the tom. She didn't just let her cat out to be caught by the local strays, and for that I do applaud her.

OP I massively admire your humour in the face of the keyboard warriors. Well done to you, your kitties are gorgeous and it's very obvious you had given this a lot of thought and safety for your lovely girl, keep the photo's coming they are gorgeous xx

Oh my goodness! They're so gorgeous! Very pleased to know mama and babies are doing well xx

Oh I bet their ears wiggle when they're feeding! xx

So much cuteness!

They have brought us so much joy.

My son has named ‘his’ and wants us to teach him how to care for him/her. He’s hesitant to handle them, just a soft finger stroke on each when mum isn’t feeding.

Heading to work now and will be inundated with visitors who want pics ❤️

To be clear, I am not here to be a keyboard warrior. OP is here to share the happy and rewarding process of breeding from her cat on the internet. This encourages irresponsible owners to do the same and creates unwanted animals and those encouraging her reinforce the idea that this is a safe practice for cats. The reality is many cats bred in this way don't make it past a year old and many mother cats bred from die.

Can you start your own protest thread and stop running this lovely one, please?

Which one did he choose?

Have to say happy nursing mum may be a bit of an overstatement! In the picture the OP shared she looks like WTF - who are these furry goblins sucking the life out of me 😂

@Puppylucky I’m just remembering my cat, I suppose. She went off the kits eventually but initially she was very enthusiastic! So intently focused on them, rounding them up and keeping them in line.

Oh for heavens sake now you are just fantasising about the OP and her potential future behaviour. Go outside and touch some grass - or stroke a cat - and calm down!

I wish this post had gone straight into the Litter Tray. There would have been way less indulgent ‘awww go mamma cat’ posts to encourage OP in the idea she has done an amazing thing.

Well, in the minds of many, your opinion has certainly gone into the litter tray. If you don't mind me saying.

What evidence is there that the tom was ‘very carefully selected’? OP gives the impression she knew someone with an unneutered tom and chucked them in a room together. I doubt she paid for the service so knew their health background etc. I’m saying I doubt she paid as she doesn’t seem to be intending to pay for the kittens’ spaying and vaccinations.

And responsible pet owner or 'animal lover' would be happy with these disclaimers added to this thread. It is an advertisement for breeding.

Agreed, someone further up the thread suggested she post in the Litter Tray section instead but I think she would get an even harsher reception.

No one says she’s done an amazing thing! Not one post (that I have noticed) has said, ‘Well done, OP. What a great idea!’.

All have said it’s lovely to see photos of kittens. The vast majority of us will never get to do it for all the right reasons shared on here. So we live vicariously through someone who has. Not encouraging her. Just sharing her enjoyment in the only way we’ll be able to.

I notice no one has jumped on the PP who actually is a cat breeder.

@YorkshireGoldDrinkerI can’t say your opinions rank highly to me, no.

For the love of all things unholy....

That's a bit like saying that a new human Mum should apologise for bringing "uneccessary" children into the world and open herself up for castigated and judgement because there are unwanted children out there she could have adopted 🙄

Also reminiscent of pro-lifers who only care about babies when they're in the womb.

We get it, we really do. What disturbs me the most about the world we live in is the desire to judge, castigate and demoralise inherent in so many.

It's why, overall, I prefer cats to most humans.

OP the family looks healthy and content, and so cute x Thank you for the pictures 😻

I'd imagine if there were 100s of abandoned children in every town and most children were abandoned by their parents once they get out of the cute baby stage many people would feel that way. Thankfully most people care for their children better than they do animals.