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 🤞🏽🤞🏽

Oh my goodness! So much cuteness! That's a very proud mama! I hope they all have big milk bellies and mama is getting much-needed rest. Love these kinds of threads 😍

I understand the importance of neutering, the overflowing rescue centres, etc, but could we not have had just ONE nice, cheery thread about sweet kittens?

Why must we spoil a nice moment for someone who isn't dumping the kittens in a shelter, isn't breeding her poor cat to exhaustion and isn't responsible for the huge numbers of cats in rescue centres?

Yes, there's a conversation to be had on those subjects, but right now we are looking at a clutch of cute newborns who all have homes to go to.

My own dear old mog died recently and this post made me smile. I'm sorry some people can't let you share your lovely moment, OP, without drowning it in the MN bucket of disapproval.

Thank you for the overwhelmingly lovely posts.

I will ensure that I take lots of pics and give regular updates.

Not at all. Quite the opposite in fact. Pregnancy, kittenbirth and remaining entire carry health risks over and above getting spayed. (Doesn't mean it's never ok to choose to have a litter responsibly with good homes ready etc but it's absolutely not a reason in itself to breed from a cat)

ETA congratulations @Kittenwatch they're gorgeous.

Gorgeous kitties! Thanks for the photos.

It’s a shame that experience working in cat rescue, and understandable concerns about the fate of unwanted cats, spoils your ability to enjoy the wonder and excitement of kittens!

Because, knowing all that, still…. Kittens! Adorable new born kittens!

It’s a shame vet fees are so high, or we could all have as many as we want/the cats want to share with!

OP, I misread your statement about talking it over with your vet. It looks a lot like you discussed this with your vet and your cat. Which was considerate of you!

Of course you’ve done wrong - you’ve deliberately bred from a moggy for no other reason than you wanted to.

And this is why we can't have nice things on this site anymore. Another thread has been derailed from its original intent by a load of aggressive posters intent on slamming the OP. We all get that there is a problem with unwanted cats and kittens. But that obviously isn't the case here. The OP has been very clear that this is a planned decision that has been thought through with the welfare of mum and kittens in mind. A bit of kindly advice around the need to spay mum quickly now is one thing, but constant hectoring about the wrongness of the situation s completely another.

They're all absolutely sweet. Mumcat has done a good job and so have you @Kittenwatch , staying with her the whole time .

My parents kept a kitten in the 80s, a boy, and he went on to make his mum’s life hell, always trying to bully her and drive her off. Her life was never the same.

What a miserable person you must be. Trust the nicest MN thread to turn to sanctimonious judgement few pages in.

Congratulations OP. the kittens are gorgeous. I'm hoping to get another cat (kitten) soon but looking for one privately as shelters don't want to rehome kittens to families with kids/existing cats.

We're not being horrible, OP. I'm glad the kittens are cute and you have found homes for them, but breeding your cat is irresponsible and does put her at higher risk of reproductive health problems now that she's been through multiple heats and birth. Higher risk of uterine cancer and pyometra among them. Why would you risk that for your cat, just for cute kittens that your friends could have got from shelters?

Also, if you are adopting them out, don't do it until the kittens are all spayed/neutered and ideally fully vaccinated as well. Yes, that will be expensive but that's your responsibility when you have a litter. It's likely that at least one of the friends won't do this and this prevents suffering and further irresponsible breeding. So much suffering is caused by animals not being fixed, I know your kittens are gorgeous but you need to think about the wider picture and what you've put the poor little mama through, when she could have been having a nice playful life.

The difficulty is someone may come across this thread and decide to let their cat have a litter of kittens because they see these kittens and think they’re cute, or they then buy kittens from gumtree or wherever else, without realising doing so is hugely irresponsible. If the thread is left to run with only positive feedback and gushing “oh wow so cute” comments that’s irresponsible and promotes ignorance. People need to be discussing these things, not pretending they’re not an issue for the sake of not offending someone.

always the way isn't it. You try and find a cheery thread but it doesn't take long for it to crash and burn. 🙄

OP, I'm glad your cat had, what appears to be, a healthy bunch of kittens! We lost our cat 2 months ago, he was beautiful and I miss him dreadfully so seeing your pictures has brightened my day.
Thank you 😍

Honestly, so many kittens already in rescue. It's sad

Almost all black cats have a few white hairs somewhere that I expect you will find as they grow.

When I was little we had a mother and son pair and the son would help tend kittens. People seemed to come from miles around to dump their pregnant cats on us, hearing we would care for them, they were not siblings of the son.

Sorry but you have done something wrong in deliberately adding more cats to a world that doesnt look after the ones it has already.

It can take a few years for the animosity to fully develop unfortunately. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try it, but perhaps keep one of those potential adopters as a reserve. I've found male kittens get on better with their mums long term, I've only ever seen it between female-female pairs.

I'm sure you know this but do rehome in pairs or into homes who already have a cat! Single kittens can be sad, and not learn manners.

They're very sweet and I look forward to updates!

I struggle to believe any vet would think breeding more black and white moggies was anything other than a terrible and selfish idea. They are already the most overlooked in rescue.

With respect that is such a condescending attitude. I very much doubt that a thread on Mumsnet is going to influence some random to let their cat breed and it's even more unlikely that a load of hectoring is going to put them off! Ultimately people tend to do what they want to do and all this is achieving is turning yet another thread into a bun fight.

But they're not going to a rescue!

IT’S NOT OP’s FAULT OTHER PEOPLE BREED IRRESPONSIBLY.

She has homes for the kittens.

I’ve just realised we’re on AIBU.

The one board where apparently bun fights are obligatory.

But she won't be able to guarantee what happens to them. Likely at least sone will be irresponsibly bred from unless she pays to have them all neutered before they are rehomed. The people taking her kittens should have gone to a reputable rescue to get one and helped reduce the current crisis instead of adding to it.

There is no benefit to the cat the OP has bred from in this situation.

It's really sad we can't enjoy things on MN before they are ruined! Happens ALL the time now.

The kittens are beautiful and I hope your DS is delighted.