River's Kittens

They're here!

You may remember River, the pregnant kitty cat we rescued from a park in Brownwood, TX at the end of May. When we took her to the vet for shots, he said those kittens would be coming "any day"!

So we waited...

...and watched...

...and waited...

...and watched...

...and waited...

...

...until FINALLY, on Thursday, June 25th (after Chris & I cancelled a weekend trip to celebrate our anniversary... STILL waiting...), River began to show signs that she might deliver her kittens!

She ignored my best-laid plans for her to deliver in a cozy box all set up in our bathroom, and found her own spot under a chair in the corner of the master bedroom. We managed to put some towels and a box back there for her before everything started happening.

Chris comforts River as she hides in the corner

 Throughout June, I was posting pictures and videos of our pregnant kitty cat waddling around or having encounters with Skywalker, and she cultivated quite a fan club! MANY people asked about her every day, and begged me to keep them updated or even to video the kittens being born! 

When we were thinking delivery was imminent, around 9:00 Thursday night, we set up a tripod with my cell phone and started streaming a live feed of River behind the chair. It was tricky to get a decent view without disturbing her with too much light, but as Audrey and I lay on our stomachs, quietly watching, River started panting and kind of pacing in circles. Then I saw the first kitten in its little amniotic sac starting to protrude from her! Right at that moment, she got extra nervous about the light and tried to change locations. She was heading for under our bed, but I was able to redirect her a couple of times until finally she gave birth to the first kitten. Audrey and I were in awe! Chris was sitting in the living room watching the livestream on his phone, and Noah, oblivious, was playing video games. I sent Audrey to get Chris since River seemed stressed, so he came in and shooed us away. Noah realized what was happening so the three of us went upstairs to my computer to watch the Facebook video live along with close to sixty other people watching!

It was so exciting to watch everything unfold, and hilarious to read all the comments as everyone watched and waited. Many of them didn't know each other but the interactions were so fun. Also, I've never watched an animal (or person, really) give birth--it was truly incredible. River was such a pro--she had her baby, then cleaned it up and let it start nursing as she started to push out the next one. 

As the night progressed, everyone watching live on Facebook started taking guesses as to how many kittens she would have. After four it seemed that things stopped for awhile, and people started to think that might be all. But soon, it picked back up again! Close to midnight, there were six kittens born. Audrey was about to pass out so I sent her to bed but Noah and I watched the seventh and final kitten delivered just after midnight. What an awesome experience!

This photo was taken after the last kitten was born. River was so exhausted but a happy, purring mama!

Chris and I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 a.m. and I was up early the next day, too excited to sleep in.

River had two buff colored kitties, a gray/white spotted one, what appears to be a gray tabby with white socks, and three more gray ones that we believe are dilute tortoiseshells like her. 

She is THE BEST mommy kitty. She nurses them while purring contentedly, often rolling over more to allow all of them to latch.

Often, the kittens will fight over the same teat--and they are pretty violent!

When all of the kittens have been nursing for awhile, they fall asleep in a big furry pile and River can sneak away to eat, drink, use the litter box, and lay on our bed for some alone time.

The two buff kittens look identical and fight aggressively. We're pretty sure they're both boys, and they certainly act like brothers!

River cleans the kittens up when they've been sleeping awhile and it's time to wake up and nurse again.

The precious dilute tortie whose face you see is the one Mamie has her eye on!

We have a long list of people asking to adopt a kitten, so all of them will have homes when they're old enough. What a blessing! 

River couldn't have picked a better time to come into our lives. The kids' social experiences are limited because of the coronavirus precautions we take, so having a litter of kittens to watch, pet, play with, and raise this summer is just what we needed. They should be ready for their new homes right before school starts again!

I was able to download the video from Facebook but I'll need to edit it and hopefully post it at some point!