When I was four years old, our cat, Boots, a beautiful long haired angora, gave birth. This was my first experience. I watched with great fascination as Boots let out kitten after kitten, eating each sac and placenta, cleaning and tending to it until the next kitten would come. It was a profound experience for a small girl.
Then, something happened. One of the kittens did not move. It was still born. Dead. I was devastated. I ran into our garage and sobbed and sobbed over it. A few minutes later, my Dad came in with a white cloth diaper holding the kitten which was now alive and breathing and crying. He had resuscitated it. It was like magic to me. A miracle, even though I didn't know what that was at the time. Come to think of it, I guess that makes my Dad the original kitten whisperer. Anyway, I was elated.
Boots had three litters in all. It was obvious that she had the same boyfriend out there somewhere because although Boots had 5 toes on each foot, all of her kittens had 6. I loved those tiny feet so much! It is why I breed Polydactyl cats today.
The kittens were gorgeous, with long fur that had grown before we found them homes. I would spend hours and hours with them every chance I had. They played with each other, they played with me, they crawled up my body leaving kitten scratches all over my body, but I didn't care. The joy of being with them was far greater than unnoticed scratches.
We eventually found loving homes for them, and I was sad to see them go.
Thus began my journey into the world of cats and kittens. As I grew older, I became a magnet to them, and sometimes they became magnets to me. I have great stories to share with you. And I will soon. But for now, I thought I would share my first cat/kitten adventure with you.
My last thought for this blog post is to tell you that for many years after that first experience, I didn't want to have babies. I wanted to have litters of kittens. And I was serious about it! ;)
My first litter.
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