We’ve had more sadness around here for our kitties. Lobo’s been gone for just over a month, and we were really hoping that he’d managed to get one or both of the girls pregnant before we lost him.
I discovered he was successful by looking down at Cheetara in the middle of Atti’s therapy and seeing a paw and a tail on it’s way out. I started trying to get Cheetara comfortable but she wouldn’t stay still. Every other cat I’ve ever heard of goes off somewhere privately to have their litter, but Cheetara refused to be anywhere without me, even wandering around the house with the baby mid-delivery. I think she must have known something was wrong and wanted my comfort.
Seeing the paw and tail was a bad sign. The baby was breach, so it didn’t make it, and it was the only member of the litter. We called the baby Snarf (children of the 80’s will get that one), let her take a few deep sniffs of the little body, and when her animal instinct to eat it kicked in, we took the little guy away for a proper disposal.
In the week since then, Cheetara has never left my side. She’ll climb into my lap when I’m on the sewing machine, she’ll sit at my feet when I’m on the toilet, and at night she wants to sleep so close to me I wouldn’t be surprised to wake up with fur in my mouth. Jem has suddenly started showing a lot more tenderness towards her, nuzzling up together like they haven’t since they were kittens. I know that I shouldn’t ascribe human emotions to an animal, but if I didn’t know better I’d swear she was grieving her losses.