#maraly the kitten's kittens

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Hello fren :D. How are the baby kittens doing? Well, them and their moms (and that one uncle just chilling lol) also how are you? Have a good day! ( I hope you don't mind me always saying that lol, it's sort of a habit xD)

Hi! Sorry for the kitten update delay, it's been busy around here, especially since the baby babies are finally getting big enough to do, well, anything. xD

Maraly's kittens are two weeks old! They're getting so big and fluffy, they can hear and their eyes are all open now! They have started clumsily trying to play with each other, clean themselves, and toddle around. They're absolutely precious and they look like baby Ewoks.

^That is Gray, the firstborn and, apparently, first at everything! She (pretty sure it's a girl) was not only the first kitten born, but the first to open her eyes and (along with her sibling, Four) the first to start toddling! She also might be the first kitten to genuinely start to like me. xD

And this^ is one of the little black ones. All Maraly's babies are over 11 ounces now! Gray, as of today, was 12!

Leeli's babies are also doing well, though we've had to keep a closer eye on them. The littler ones sometimes struggle to gain weight with their three bigger, fightsy siblings! I've been taking away the three biggest ones when I weigh them and putting them on a blanket and/or heating pad outside Leeli's box (still in her pen, she can hear them and see them if she sits up) and letting the three smaller ones eat alone for a bit before putting the bigger three back to help them.

Leeli's babies have started to open their eyes too! This is one of the little ones, it's hard to tell them apart (sometimes the only way to do it is by their weight) but I think this is the runt!

^those three are from last week when Leeli's were littler, but they're so stinkin' cute I couldn't not include them. <3

Maraly and Leeli are doing well! They are very good, VERY attentive mamas! Maraly RUNS to check on either litter of babies if she hears them cry and has started the classic mama cat thing of snatching the baby back and carrying it to safety if she feels it's in distress. Which can be difficult when I'm weighing the babies. xD Leeli somehow looks better after giving birth to and feeding six kittens than she did on the streets, which is a testament to the care and love we've been giving her.

(skip next paragraph if you're sensitive to animal death)

Leeli did have a seventh kitten that was stillborn. It was not born alive, because it had never moved from the fetal position. Leeli took SUCH good care of it, not only had it been thoroughly cleaned, but my mom said that when she found it in the morning the kitten was tucked in with the others and it was warm. So it was simply not meant to make it.

*end skip*

OH and KALMAR! Kalmar is neutered now!!!! So he shall stay the sweetest, happiest little guy. He was traumatized by going to the vet for a few days, but he's recovered from that and he's back to being his happy, purry self. <3

Alright, well, that's enough for now, I think. Here's a picture of Leeli and her littles snuggling from the other night:

And I hope you have a good day too!

[wings-dings-and-iggyfings]

Hey all! So if you didn't see it yesterday there is a new Wingfeather trailer for season 2! It's pretty epic!

There's also a new season 2 poster in their shop, and since it has Peet on it I bought it immediately even though I really don't have extra money to spend this week. xD It also has what I think is the first official/finished look at Maraly?!? (the character, not my kitten) As well as the Fork Factory, Claxton Weaver and the Overseer. 👀👀

https://shop.angel.com/pages/wingfeather

Season 2 covers the first half of book 2 and is releasing sometime this year!

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Ahhh yes, this would 100% be me. xD

Your daily dose of cat memes

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

I love having newborn kittens again because it's like:

Maraly: *moves one inch*

*chorus of distressed and indignant kitten squeaks*

my heart: *explodes from cuteness*

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

me, a few months ago: huh, my special interest/hyperfixation on cats isn't as strong as it used to be, interesting.

me, after we've suddenly acquired 14 kittens: *wants to spend every possible second of her time with the kittens* *keeps experiences time blindness while hanging out with the kittens* *the 4-9 day old kittens can't even do much of anything but all I want to do is be with them 27/7*

me: .... nevermind, it's back

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

If you count Maraly, Leeli and Kalmar + all eleven new kittens, we now have 14 kittens, which is enough to equal the Company of Thorin Oakenshield and this is so funny to me.

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

or you could have. multiple gargoyles.

I'm not planning on getting a cat, but if I did get a cat I'd probably name it Gargoyle

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

One year ago today...

Maraly had her kittens! Happy birthday to Ellie, Inkheart, Sabine, Prince and Roxie!

A wee Ellie! (the firstborn)

how tiny is a newborn kitten? well...

VERY tiny 🥹💜🐈‍⬛

Maraly and her five littles! They're all much bigger than her now! 🥹(also you can see Ellie's spots in this picture!)

Proud mama Maraly. 💜

And some more ~recent~ pictures of the bbys

Ellie! (and Meggie) and yes that's Ellie's paw sticking out- bby got BIG! :D

One of the black babies with their big brother/uncle Gimli. 💜

All three black kittens! Inkheart is in the back, Sabine is front right and Prince is front left! (don't ask me to identify them in any other pictures, I can't, but boy kitty faces look different from girls and I can see Sabine's little white hairs on her chest, those are the only reasons I know xD)

I don't know where my more current pictures of Roxie are, I think maybe my mom has them, but Roxie is also doing great, never doubt it!

Happy birthday my not-so-little littles! 💜🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Kitten update!

So Maraly's kittens are now four weeks (1 month) old and Leeli's are now 3 weeks old! And you know what that means...

NAMES! :D

I know some of you wanted me to give them Wingfeather names to go with the mamas, but the problem with that is... we can't keep 11 kittens. Even I, who am the epitome of a crazy cat lady with the softest heart for kittens ever, know that this is not feasible. We already had four cats before this, and we're keeping the three original rescues. We can't have 18 cats again, especially if 16 are inside our house! And it's going to be very hard for me to give the babies up as it is and giving them names of characters (or other cats I've had) I love will just make this harder. Also, my mom came home one day like, "so I think we should name the kittens after Inkheart characters" and who am I to disagree I love the Inkheart series. That being said there is one special baby kitten with a Wingfeather name but I'll get to her later.

Maraly's babies names!

So this is Elinor (Ellie), formerly known as Gray! She is the eldest kitten, Maraly's firstborn, and she acts like it! She is the biggest and most advanced in skills. My mom said the other day (and I agree) that she acts more like a 6 week old than a 4 week old (and she weighs 1.2 pounds! That's about a FOURTH of Maraly's body weight!). She leads the charge in most accomplishments (except eating, interestingly enough, she was the third to start eating wet food) being able to run, hop, climb, play with balls, use the litterbox and attempt to escape their playpen before all the rest of her siblings! And she is the SWEETEST little darling- loves to cuddle and looks at you with the most adoring eyes. We don't know who she's meant to help, but she is an awfully special kitten and God definitely has a plan for her.

This is Roxanne (Roxie), formerly known as Four as she was the fourth of Maraly's kittens born. She is right behind her sister Ellie in all physical accomplishments, though she was the last kitten to start eating wet food (I JUST got her to start YESTERDAY!). She is a BUSY little thing, always running and adventuring somewhere! She wants to go everywhere and see everything. She's also very sweet, though less cuddly and she likes to try and climb my legs. xD

Maraly's three black babies are nigh impossible to distinguish in pictures so here's just some cute pictures of the three of them.

The biggest black kitten's name is Inkheart, as she is black and easiest to see markings on in the right light (since Inkheart is the name of a book markings=words, I thought it was fun and my mom insisted we name a kitten Inkheart so xD). She was the first to start eating solid food (wet AND dry food!). She screamed a LOT at me when she was younger but now she likes to climb on my lap and cuddle (or bite me, y'know, depends on the mood xD).

The second biggest kitten is named Sabine, formerly known as white spot. My dad named this one after a character in the Star Wars show Rebels since we've been watching it and we all think she's cool. She was the second kitten to start eating wet food and she ALSO likes to climb on my lap and attack and/or cuddle with me. xD

The littlest black kitten is Maraly's one and only boy, named The Black Prince (Prince) and formerly known as white tip, since he has a few white hairs on the very tip of his tail and it's how I've been distinguishing him since he was a newborn. xD He's an awfully cute little bugger, and fiesty, very playful.

All three of Maraly's black babies frequently play together and get up to trouble together. For instance, today they were trying to climb on top of their play tent WHILE their baby cousins were sleeping in it! They also often gang up on Maraly to nurse from her. xD Two of them (Prince and Sabine, I think) have been claimed by a girl who works at a local bakery my mom often stops at, so they will be able to continue to cause trouble together even after they leave us!

Since tumblr only lets me put ten pictures in a post and this is already quite long I'm going to put the names of Leeli's babies in another post (hopefully soon). In the meantime, here's a few more pictures:

*I'll make a man out of you playing in the background*

Meeting uncle Kalmar! (he was so sweet and nice to her! didn't hiss or growl and I think he gave her a kiss here <3)

This kitten is illegally cute *flips table*

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Been doing research on charcoal Bengals tonight and I am fighting the urge to message all the breeder pages I'm finding like "hey yeah, so I have nine charcoal kittens right now, yeah, this little snow bengal I personally rescued off the streets had a litter of six perfect lil charcoals and her charcoal sister I also rescued had a baby charcoal in her litter too. yeah I got them for free they were on the streets. yeah you heard me right. Seven. Charcoal. Kittens. They have no lineage because I got their mamas off the streets but hypothetically what could they be worth?" and then send like 40 pictures

also I'm starting to wonder if Maraly's three black kittens are melanistic? which means they have the same traits as a black leopard/panther, where they appear all black except in certain light where you can see their spots. Because they HAVE markings, they're just super light and hard to see. I had a melanistic Bengal named Diamond back in the day, she was gorgeous and she had BEAUTIFUL kittens and I also gotta check pictures of one of her kittens sometime because I'm wondering now if he was actually a charcoal and we just didn't know at the time (his mama was black and his father was a silver and APPARENTLY silver charcoals exist).

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

This baby looks just like my cat Diamond did at that age! Diamond was a melanistic Bengal, and like black leopards/panthers they are black with black spots. This little baby's spots likely disappeared as it got older and darker- but the spots are still there! You just can only see them in the right light. Very beautiful little baby!

(If you're curious, the difference between melanistic Bengal cats and charcoal Bengal cats- which are what my babies are- it's that charcoals have white "glasses" or a "Zorro" mask around their eyes and a black "cape" along their backs that melanistics don't have. But! a Bengal cat MUST have a melanistic gene to make a charcoal kitten, so they're very closely related! Maraly did have three melanistic kittens and they are all very beautiful.)

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Small (literally) kitten update!

Maraly's babies are doing GREAT so far! They are now four days old (well, as of roughly 4pm-7pm today) and Maraly is taking SUCH good care of them. We started weighing them yesterday and three of them already weigh over six ounces and the two smaller ones (which I'm... 60% sure are girls) are at 5.85 and 5.95 ounces respectively. That doesn't sound like a lot but when they're born kittens only weigh a couple ounces! These are hefty lil babies! They have big round bellies and are already much bigger than when they were just born. They seem just as healthy as if Maraly had lived with us her whole life instead of being on the streets for half her pregnancy. <3

Leeli has STILL not had her kittens. My entire family is BOGGLED. I stayed home with her today while my parents went to one of my cousin's weddings in case she had them since Maraly needed/appreciated my help when she had hers, and I didn't want Leeli to be all alone if she had babies today. It's 3pm and so far she's been nesting (looking for a spot) a lot but no labor so who knows, we sure don't apparently.

Maraly's babies are noisy little buggers, already complaining when their mama cleans them. They also hiss (they were hissing when they weren't twenty four hours old yet they definitely have mama's genes xD) and purr a tiny bit! The hissing is hysterical because what are you going to do to me you blind, deaf, toothless fluffy jellybean? Cute me to death? (I say that like a joke but whenever I think about how cute little kittens are my heart nearly explodes)

Leeli is VERY curious about the babies and likes to check in on them. Maraly is varying degrees of open to this depending on the moment. Both girls have a LOT of hormones kicking right now and it makes them grumpy sometimes.

Alright, well, this is already longer than I planned so have some cute kitten pictures!

A pile of indistinguishable black kittens with a tiny white-marked head on top and an inexplicable little gray one stuck in the middle xD

Leeli investigating

"My goodness what are these little squeaking fluffy things? I have the strange urge to look after them..."

And the cutest picture to date I've gotten of Maraly and a baby:

Maraly and Gray, her firstborn! Gray was a mere one day old here, and you can see how truly tiny a newborn kitten is! (especially because Maraly is still so small herself)

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Exciting kitten update!

So I have been writing up kitten bios about each baby and my mom's been posting them on facebook to try and get them set to go to homes after we have them spayed/neutered. We have kept in touch with a few people who got our Bengals back in the day when we were a business and one of them is this very nice lady who got my sweet silver Bengal boy who I called Silverstream and she renamed Romeo because he was such a sweet lover boy. She was one of the first people I thought of who might want a kitten when we found out Maraly and Leeli were pregnant because she adored Silver-Romeo so much. She used to send me pictures and cards and presents in the mail because she was so grateful I'd taken care of her sweet boy! (I was like 10-11 at the time)

Anyway, she commented on Dustfinger's bio today saying she was really seriously considering getting him, even though she hadn't planned to get anymore Bengals... but she KNOWS how sweet our cats are and she knows they're loved and cared for and we are practically giving these cats away considering what a breeder with papers could charge for these babies (we're charging an adoption fee to cover spay/neuters and shots, $250 per kitten. If we had lineages and were still breeders we could charge $2,500 for these babies, easy.)

She messaged my mom tonight and said she wants Dustfinger! :D :D I'm so excited!! Because she LOVES Bengals and she took such good care of my boy Silverstream after she got him and I know she'll send updates and pictures! And I'm so happy because I have just fallen in love with all the babies and I'm gonna miss them terribly and Dustfinger really stole my heart with how sweet he's turned out. He started out so fightsy and terrified, and then as soon as his eyes and ears opened up he turned into the SWEETEST little guy and I'm ;-; :D :D so happy he's going to someone who will love and cherish him.

We do have three other kittens reserved- Maraly's three black babies (Inkheart, Sabine and Prince) are going to the same home! Their new mama got to meet them when they got their shots and she was planning to only get Prince and Sabine but when she met Inkheart... she couldn't split them up. She's a sweet girl who works at a local bakery my mom gets us scones from and she has a cat named Gimli already so I automatically like her more just from that. xD So we'll get to hear about those three babies' antics too!

^The older babies from when they went to get their shots a couple weeks ago. Leeli's babies get their shots tomorrow!

Bonus: Ellie's reaction to discovering a Car Window

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

KITTEN UPDATE

Oh my word it's been so long, okay I don't have much time but here's a quick(?) update:

Four kittens are now at their new homes! We delivered them last week during the holidays because that's when everyone had time off. Inkheart, Sabine and Prince went to the same home with a nice girl about my age who works at a local bakery my mom gets us bread and scones from. They seem to be settling in quite well and getting used to their new kitty and doggy siblings.

Dustfinger went to our one repeat customer, who roughly 16 years ago got another kitten I was very attached to, Silverstream! She loved him so much she named him Romeo but he and his Bengal brother are gone now and she didn't plan to ever get another... And then she saw Dustfinger's pictures and decided she did, in fact, need another Bengal. We delivered him halfway between our houses on New Year's Eve since no one had to work that day or the next! This lady got us a reservation at a very nice Italian restaurant and made an arrangement with the owner so we could bring Dustfinger inside with us! We had a lovely time and Dustfinger was a little angel, just crying softly a little when he started to get tired. We even made a connection with a manager at the restaurant who might also want one of our kittens! Dustfinger is doing amazing, he slept on his new mama's lap the whole way home and has been tearing around their house, being a little snugglebug and befriending their older cat ever since!

We lost our appointments to get the babies and mamas spayed/neutered all at once so we're doing them a few at a time at a different place now (the first one just suddenly stopped doing the low cost spay/neuters, we don't know why). Farid, and Sabine or Inkheart (depending on if their new mama can tell them apart and which one she sends- it's supposed to be Sabine but they're both black girls who look a lot alike xD) are getting done tomorrow. Dustfinger and Prince both got neutered before they went to their new homes which was fantastic! And thankfully my mom never cancelled Leeli and Maraly's original appointments this month so they'll be getting spayed on January 24th I think? Which is good because they are cranky from being in heat all the time.

Kalmar is doing amazing! He is my dad's cat now and my dad is having a great time with him, even taking him out on walks on nice days! (yes some cats go on walks on a harness and leash just like dogs do, we've had a number of Bengals who liked to do that)

There is one more major thing that has happened but I'm gonna give it its own post, so for now I will just say it is a good thing and it makes me very happy.

^ft. 3 of the kittens who are now gone and Ellie!

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Leeli has FINALLY had her kittens!

There are at least* six. All are TINY wiggly charcoal kittens. Yep, all of them, six tiny black kittens with their white mama, they're an interracial family. xD

All of them seem to be healthy and Leeli is doing well! She started having them at about 7am and kept on until about 10:45ish. Never in my WILDEST dreams did I think she would have more than two live kittens after what she'd been through, and now she has six adorable little fluffy jellybeans curled up next to her, all alive and nursing and squeaky.

*she might still have one more to go, I feel another kittenish lump in her. Maraly waited two hours between her 4th and 5th kittens though, and this happens sometimes, so I'm not worried.

Maraly helped me midwife! I had her locked up at first, because she was upsetting Leeli, but I finally let her out while Leeli was distracted with kitten 3 and Maraly EAGERLY helped with the last three babies. She jumped right in and helped clean them!

The kittens are already purring and I- 😭💜💜

There are two extra small ones, but I think those are 5 and 6 so they should start to bulk up soon.

Leeli chose a nice box with a blanket in it for her nest (we specifically made it for the girls so I'm glad one of them used it) and it's right in our living room. She let me be right there and help her just like Maraly did, and she was also grateful I was there. I had to take off work today to be here, but it was very, very worth it.

Pictures of Leeli's tiny black babies (they look more Bengal-y than most of Maraly's, apparently the genes are strong) and Maraly being helpful

The first wee charcoal

*Maraly's brain* CLEAN THE BABY CLEAN THE BABY!

Maraly: this baby will be clean and that is THREAT

so many tiny babies ;-; <3 <3

truly an itty bitty kitty <3 <3

Once again, kittens won't have names until they're at least a month old and we know they'll all make it! I'll try and keep you updated on both litters (11 kittens!! it's like in ye olden days of my childhood! xD)

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Rescue Bengal Kitten update (warning for discussions of possible animal death)

I'm feeling very much like the guy who pulled over on the side of the road to rescue one kitten standing there and ended up rescuing fifteen.

We have been forced to accept that Leeli and Maraly are pregnant. Which is. upsetting, because I really don't think they're more than six months old. Like, I need to stress that as much as I want teeny tiny newborn babies to raise again I didn't want the KITTENS I rescued to be pregnant. But, unfortunately, my mom and I agree that they definitely are. Current likely theory is that when they went into heat at around 4 months (which is APPARENTLY the earliest cats can get pregnant) their former owners couldn't deal with the yowling (if you have never heard a cat in heat count yourself blessed) and instead of getting them spayed they threw them out on the streets. And the girls subsequently got pregnant.

I also have to stress that we don't know if their kittens will be born alive or survive after they're born. Maraly and Leeli (especially Leeli) were STARVING when I found them, and depending on how long they've been pregnant the unborn kittens might not have had enough nutrients to survive....

BUT if I hadn't gone and saved these kittens Maraly and Leeli would have died after they had kittens AND their kittens would have died. Guaranteed. So at least now the little girls should make it through okay and hopefully some of the kittens make it. I am already fully dedicated to doing EVERYTHING in my power to keep as many kittens alive as possible.

Uh, however this also means we'll have to care for an unknown amount of kittens soon which we weren't planning for. We've never really had a surplus of money but goshdarnit if I have to use 98% of my paycheck (the other 2% is for gas) for the whole year to pay for their food, litter and spaying and neutering I WILL do it. They don't call me a crazy cat lady for nothing.

Anyway, sorry for a more serious post about my new babies, but we could really use some prayers here. My mom especially is having a hard time wrapping her head around it. Part of me wants to be excited but I'm also sad that Maraly and Leeli don't get to be KITTENS like they should. ... but this does mean I might get to raise some kittens from newborns and my GOSH have I missed teeny tiny babies ;-;

Here's a happy, sleepy Maraly

tl;dr- my rescued kittens are pregnant and Idk how to feel about it please pray for us