We have definitely had some big lessons this year. For example, we found out a pretty major one: apparently, cats are extremely fertile. Whoa, who knew? haha

It’s a long story, so I’ll give you the short version. We rescued a kitten that someone found in their truck ENGINE when they got to work last year. Not sure where the kitten crawled in at, the kitten needed a home. We were the home!

That was last November. February of this year brought another cat that needed a home. My friend’s kids found her under a farm house and brought her to my door. My husband and Little Bit connected to her instantly. (The cats eventually worked out their differences. Ha.)

We had the second cat about a week when I got this nagging suspicion that she was pregnant. No one believed me. March 31, my hunch was proven correct, when 4 kittens were born.

Our November kitten didn’t like the babies, so we put her outside. Then, when the new baby kittens were almost weaned, we started letting their mother go outside during the day. We had planned to get her spayed when her kittens were weaned and were counting the days.

Welllll….. that’s where the lessons kicked in. Our November kitten got pregnant and so did the mother cat. The November kitten was around 5 months old when she got pregnant! Again, who knew? I had no idea they could be so young. Also, we had been told that in order to spay the mother cat, the kittens had to be completely weaned…

Fast forward, we have had 3 litters of kittens since March. I kept all the litters inside until they were weaned since we live in the country where there are stray dogs, coyotes, and things. Now, all the kittens are big enough to be outside and they love it. Daily, they play in the yard and climb trees and things. I try to take them for walks in the back pasture often, too. At night, I put them and the dogs in the garage because it’s winter and cold outside.

It has been an adventure to say the least. It’s easy to go from extreme joy to a bit of overwhelm at the thought of keeping everybody well and well fed. Why not give some away, you might ask. We have tried. Lesson number 1,111,111, nobody seems to want cats. But, that’s a story for another day.

Luckily, I love babies. Actually, my cousin and I have talked about how I have always wanted lotssssss of babies. Like 5 or more. But, evidently I did not SPECIFY human babies. Ha ha.

None the less, we have many animal babies running around outside right now, and fur on them or not, I am thankful.

Seems like, with joy sometimes comes loss. That last picture is Stevie. On my birthday a couple weeks ago,, she disappeared. I looked for her a week and cried for days. She was only 15 weeks old. It happens sometimes, in the country, with animals. I’ve also lost ducks, chickens, and another cat, to what? I’m not sure. But, I miss them just the same.

So, here’s to adventures in kittens. A heart opening and warming experience for sure!