Mischief and Mayhem's Five Babies

Mischief and Mayhem�s Kitten Diary

29th June 2003
At about 11.30pm I went upstairs to find Mischief, she has been huge for the last two weeks and we are expecting the kittens to arrive at any time. She was lying in the centre of our bed and started to purr as soon as she saw me. I lay down next to her and she snuggled up close and stretched out to have her tummy tickled, this is something she has loved since we brought her to live with us at approximately eight weeks old. Soon I could feel her tummy tighten � contractions, she�s in labour at last!

Andrew joined us and then went to fetch a bin bag and a towel, we covered the duvet as it was obvious that Mischief was going nowhere. She had decided that the kittens were to be born right there between Andrew and I, where she sleeps at night if she is in a cuddly mood. I couldn�t believe that Mischief was so calm, she lay there purring and contented, obviously happy that soon she�d have her babies, the hot days have been exhausting her. With just the occasional squeak as she pushed, the first kitten was born at 12.04am a little dark bundle, she washed it thoroughly, then chewed through the cord dangling the poor baby in midair squealing it�s head off! Job done she settled down to feed it. Once washed we could see that it was dark and light grey stripes like Mayhem but with Mischief�s white chin, bib, tummy and paws with tiny pink toes! Soooo Cute.

Kitten 2 was born at 12.17am. This one is grey stripes all over, a miniature Mayhem!
Kitten 3 arrived at 12.44am giving Mischief a little rest after the first two. Mayhem appeared to see what was occurring just before it was born and gently helped to clean it. Another Mayhem look alike with Mayhem�s very noticeable whiskers, but with a little grey/pink nose.
Kitten 4 was born at 1.26am. Another striped Mayhem replica except for the pink in it�s grey/pink nose. We will have trouble identifying who is who now, kittens 3 and 4 look like twins and 2 is the same other than the all grey nose!!
Kitten 5 appeared at 1.49am. This one is similar to kitten 1 with a white bib and paws, pink toes, but the whole tummy area is white with occasional grey markings and the chin is grey. They are all unbelievably cute!!

Andrew has video recorded some of the births see photo�s below. We will take pix every couple of days to monitor their progress. Mischief seems very content although exhausted, not surprising after having such a large first litter. Mayhem has been so sweet too, helping her wash the last three as they were born and washing and comforting her between kittens. He is now lying top to toe with Mischief with the kittens settled and feeding between them, while Mayhem washes Mischief�s feet. About 3.30am when we were sure there were no more kittens due we moved Mischief and kittens into the laundry basket she enjoys sleeping in {we had thought that she�d have the kittens there}. Sleepily we remade our bed and climbed in, what a wonderful birthday present for me. Mischief is still feeding and Mayhem is sitting about two feet away guarding his wife and babies.