The night from Sunday to Monday, June 29. In the evening Masseeka wolfed down her supper and acted completely normal. Mom noticed a bit of discharge from her privacy, but that can appear a couple of days before giving birth. Also normally mama-to-be would lose appetite. Not in this case!

 

In the middle of the night I heard a loud scream - my room is directly above kitties'. I thought about waking up my mom, but she was so deep asleep, I decided not to disturb her. The scream didn't repeat. I figured maybe a raccoon said hi through the window and scared Masseeka.

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Early morning mom found 6 tails in the playpen: one big fluffy one serving as a blanket and 5 tiny ones! So our estimate (4 or 5 kittens, based on Masseka's belly size) was correct!

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We had to switch the box for a bigger one, partly because the towel needed to be changed, and partly because the old one was slightly too small for 5 kittens. 

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It's a fun gang! Two are black-an-white ("cow pattern"), two are grey or brown tabbies with cute white markings (noses, socks), and the tiny little one is a calico who is literally half size of her siblings: on Day 2 we used a kitchen scale, four kittens were 105 -115 grams, and the little calico was only 55! It also seemed to struggle with finding the nipples, so we tried to help it by blocking it's siblings away from one (hey, they had 7 more!) so they would not interfere. It ate pretty well a couple times on the first day. But on the second day it didn't want to latch all morning. At 11 am we panicked and ran for kitten formula. It's not as good as mother's milk for many reasons, so we were not sure, but then something magical happened.

 

We used a q-tip dipped in formula to give the little calico a taste, and dabbed mother's nipple with it. And the kitten found it! It was such a joy to see it latching and drinking. We exhaled but keep an eye on it, blocking siblings as needed. All good.

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Not so good: Masseeka is not excellent at cleaning 5 little butts. It's important because baby kittens cannot pee or poop by themselves! Normally mama cat would help with her tongue, but our teen-mama was not doing it regularly. A cotton ball and a bit of warm water do the job! 

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Update: Mid-September, and they are all growing up well. The calico is still the smallest of the gang, but within the normal weight, only closer to the bottom while her brothers (other 4 are all boys) are at the top. Her and one of the black-and-white seem to be long-haired like their mom.

 

They are all very playful and mischievous, but at the same time tidy and neat. No potty accidents! They all do their business either in their own litterbox or sneak into "adults" one (different litter). Do they make mess? Occasionally they may dig so thoroughly that some litter will fly out of the litterbox. They may track some on their fur. They may run through the waterbowl while playing. They tear paper tags from furniture to pieces and bite cardboard boxes and toys. But that would be it! Uncle Ryzyk tought them well, and they groom themselves and each other a lot after food. So cute!

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You can find more photos and videos in my blogposts, under the tag "kittens".

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