#maraly's genes are STRONG with her babies

[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]

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)