Well the cat is well and truly out of the bag.
More accurately, the kittens are out of the bag. Even more accurately, they're out of the cat.
Yes that's right, the Seated Perspective household is once again home to the sound of tiny paws (or will be when the little blighters find their feet). This is of course a wonderful, happy, event, but one that can lead to some interesting times... Especially for a wheelchair user.
Plus Some
Long term sufferers, I mean, um, readers, of this blog may remember our recent house move as detailed here, here, and of course, here. You may also recall (as detailed in that last link), that we lost one of our cats during the move. Now the wanderer did in fact return, slightly reluctantly and with the assistance of a humane cat trap let to us by the Cat's Protection charity (big thank you to them). The thing is that, unbeknownst to us, she did not come back alone.
It would appear that our missing moggy had, whilst patrolling the neighbourhood gardens, been courted by one or more suitors, the mucky madam; and that that (those) union(s) were, to coin a phrase, blessed. This was not something that was immediately apparent but, as the weeks rolled by, we had to put aside suspicions of Sunny (The cat's name) just putting on a few pounds though her ongoing flagrant theft of our other cats food, and face the fact that her growing paunch was, in fact, due to kittens. When we saw her burgeoning bump start to move... well that was quite firmly that.
Keeping Mum
It's fair to say that the last couple of weeks have not been pleasant for Sunny. Her increasing girth and the ever increasing activity of the kittens in her tum, which looked like it might have included some kind of martial arts training, meant that she cut an increasingly sorry figure. Fortunately, this discomfort reached its crescendo just this last Tuesday when we were privileged to witness the birth of four healthy ikkle feline babies.
Since then, Sunny has proven to be a wonderful mum, staying firmly put with the kittens for the first couple of days, but now taking the risk of leaving them to their own devices to feed, rest and, um, do the necessary. The kittens themselves are growing, as kittens tend to do, and getting more and more boisterous with each passing day, which brings me back to the upcoming eventfulness.
Speaking From Expurrrience
Sunny's little brood is our second such batch of kittens. The first was produced about three years ago, courtesy of our other cat Maggie, and Sunny was actually a part of that brood. This means that, at the moment, there are three generations of cat living at Seated Perspective Towers. It also means that I have previous experience with the little nippers.
Being only a few days old, they are, of course, confined to quarters, blind and helpless; unable to leave the birthing box we set up for Sunny . I know, however, that within a week or so they will start to become more mobile. They will become more courageous, perhaps a little more playful, and will, quite naturally, want to explore their new environment; and all four are likely to head off in their own little directions. This is the time when I need to be at my most vigilant.
Flat Cats
I think I ran over three out of the four kittens when Maggie had her babies. Not by design you understand. I'm not some kind of psychotic kitten flattener. The truth of the matter is, that if history is anything to go by, kittens have a tendency to sneak up on me, getting closer and closer to the wheelchair, possibly curious as to what this giant dread machine is (And we know what curiosity did, don't we?) This leads to me setting off after some pit stop or other, or possibly more likely, reversing back out of some doorway only to hear the chilling sound of a high pitched squeak followed immediately by a feeling of overwhelming guilt.
via GIPHY
Cat Scans
I know, I know. I'm a horrible man. A terrible, kitten squashing, heel of a man. Luckily kittens seem to be quite resilient and these little accidents have yet to result in any injuries (that would be a cat-astrophe) but a repeat of these collisions would obviously be less than ideal . All I can do is promise to do my best to avoid a repeat with our newest arrivals. I possibly need some kind of low level reversing mirror, or kitten early warning system, fitted to my 'chair in order to facilitate this.
Now, experience is the best teacher, or so they say, and Sunny, who may well have been one of my previous victims, has learnt a healthy respect for the 'chair. It's still one of her favourite places to sleep (once I'm in bed) but she is careful to keep a measured distance from the wheels. Hopefully she can pass this on to her kids and when they leave us for their new forever homes it will be with all limbs attached, a lack of tyre tracks, and an absence of limps. Whether it will be with a healthy distrust of moving, wheeled things, well, we'll see.
Until next time...
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