Belle

Question
Norman,   Just thought I'd give you an update on Belle.  She finally had her kittens on Sunday afternoon.  She had a total of 7, but only 4 survived.  She had been acting a bit strange Sun morn, so I continuously checked in on her.  Around 1:30 - 2pm, I found her in her kittening box and saw 2 kittens in with her.  Sadly, neither of them was alive.  I don't know if they were stillborn or if they passed after birth.  I took them out of the box and gave them to my husband to dispose of and when I returned to her she had given birth to another one - this one was alive and well.  I sat with her for the rest of the birth - she seemed to need me there!  The 4th kiten came, but she made no attempt to care for it, so I cut open the sac and wiped its face off with a towel, but I must not have been quick enough because I couldn't get it to breath.  So when the next 2 came along, I intervened immediately and they survived!  I thought she was finished when no more came for 30-45 minutes so I left her alone to clean the kittens & take care of the umbilical cords.  A while later my husband came in and told me their was a fourth live kitten!  The kittens are now almost 2 days old and doing very well.  Belle has been a very attentive mom, although she seems to be craving attention from me even more so than when she was pregnant.  I check in on her quite often throughout the day and she wants to be stroked and cuddled.  I haven't allowed any of my children to touch the kittens, but Belle doesn't mind them sitting with her and petting her.  Of course I haven't allowed my 16 mo old near her or the kittens yet!  The one thing that amazes me is that of all 7 kittens, not one of them bears any resemblance to any male cat in my neighborhood!  All of them look exactly like Belle - she is a black, gray & tan tabby with stripes along her back & spots on her belly - each one of the kittens have her same coloring!  We are having a difficult time telling them apart!  We know that 3 are females and 1 is male, and the male has a brown "W" on his head, and one female is darker in color than the others, but two are almost identical! Anyway, thanks again for all your help.  I am very grateful for the info and for this site.  Had I not found it, I wouldn't have known what to do to save the 2 kittens that needed intervention and I'm certain they wouldn't have survived!

Answer
Alyce,

Thank you so much for the update!!!!!

It sounds as if you and Belle did great.  4 out of 7 is not a bad ratio when it is a first time.  I am so glad it went fairly well.

If Belle will let you, handling the kittens will help to socialize them to humans.  Usually after about 3 days, most queens settle down and are a bit more nonchalant about letting humans handle the kittens.

Congratulations and may you and your family enjoy raising the kittens.

Happy regards... Norm.