New Kittens
Wilma, Willa and (Wil)Burtie
Wilma almost didn't make it. By 8 pm last night I was calling the vet. She's stopped her labor, was listless and not interested in little Burtie. The vet said it wasn't uncommon for cats to take 24 hours to have their kittens. So we waited. Neither Ed nor I got much sleep last night as we were both up and down checking on her. She was in and out of her box, leaving Burtie crying and cold. Very un-Mama catlike. So at precisely 8:04 am this morning, I called the vet and said, "It's fast approaching 24 hours and I think one's stuck." They had me come right in.
So off I went, Wilma's birthing box and Burtie on the seat, Wilma in the cat carrier on the floor. At the vet's office they hustled me into a room and checked Wilma. I greeted the vet with, "What do you think? Give her a shot of Pitocin?" I'd had Pitocin for 5 minutes while in the process of giving birth to Justin. It was all I needed. He took all of 1 hour and 45 minutes to be born. One of the nurses had warned me not to have a third child, because it was a sure thing the kid would be born on the kitchen floor. One labor pain and, whoops, there it is. Anyway, it was a joke, or so I thought.
The Doc and I agreed: two more kittens in Wilma that weren't coming out. After an x-ray that showed our guess was right–there were two kittens and one was sideways– and there was no anatomical reason for the kittens not making it out, the doctor came in with … you guessed it: Animal pitocin.
It didn't work for Wilma the way it did with me. She labored. One hour, then two. The baby would come halfway out, then retreat. The doctor finally gave her an assist, by reaching in and helping to guide the kitten out as Wilma pushed. The feet came first. That was the problem. Breech birth. After that the rest of the little white and orange tabby girl made her way into the world. She'll be long haired, and her name is Willa.
At that point I bundled them all up and headed home. We got here just as Wilma gave birth to the last kitten, dead, unfortunately but not surprising given that we'd past that crucial 24 hour mark and hour before. So, there are two and now Wilma is laying happily in her box nursing her babies. She has that look of contentment on her face that all new mothers get.
I guess we're just supposed to be a golden-haired cat family over here. Here's hoping the kittens turn out to be less house cats than their mother is!
