The weekend of Valentine’s Day was a bit of a bittersweet one here at KyTy Kittens.
We have been slightly-less-than-patiently awaiting the arrival of Hester’s litter, as she was the largest of our four pregnant ladies, we were just certain that she was carrying around quite the brood. Saturday evening she appeared to be going into labor, but unfortunately not a smooth one. Kiley was forced to hand birth the first kitten, who was quite the whopper (born almost the same size as Cecilia’s five-day-old girls). Hester immediately cleaned up her little boy, and her contractions ceased. We monitored for the rest of the night, and by Sunday morning there was still only one. We called the vet emergency number, but were told that as long as she was not actively trying to have babies, there was really no reason for an emergency visit.
We tried a number of home-spun recipes to help, but none seemed to have any effect. After another baby-less night, Kiley took Hester into the vet’s office for an x-ray and consultation. It was determined that a Caesarian section would be required to remove the rest of the litter, but that the prognosis was not good. She was running a fever which, though fairly low, can be an indication of infection. We said a prayer and let the doctors take her into surgery.
Needless to say, the day of waiting was quite stressful, and when all was said and done the Vet gave the news: she was only carrying one other kitten (also larger than average) but he hadn’t made it. However, momma was doing well, her womb was healthy, and he saw no reason for her not to get pregnant again in the future. She is home now and resting comfortably, and the boy seems to be thriving. We are sad to lose the one, but we are grateful that Hester and baby boy are doing well.
[php]global $picID, $picCaption, $picTitle, $picAlign, $picUrl, $picSize, $picAlt, $picAdj, $picLightBox; $picID=”618″; $picCaption=””; $picTitle=””; $picAlign=”right”; $picUrl=”http://kytykittens.com/wp-content/uploads/wpid-IMG_20140217_173511.jpg”; $picSize=”large”; $picAlt=”wpid-IMG_20140217_173511.jpg”; $picAdj=”0″; $picLightBox=”true”; autoWrapImg();[/php] We plan to give her a long period of rest, and give her body PLENTY of time to recuperate before even considering giving her another go at kittens. And in the meantime, we will just continue to love on her like the beautiful beast that she is. Thanks to all of our Facebook friends who saw the updates and kept happy thoughts and prayers going for us.
We are truly blessed to have such a supportive community. We will focus not on the sadness of loss, but the joy of new life. There are 12 healthy, happy, and hearty little ones being expertly tended and cared for by the four ladies who birthed them. And for that we are monstrously excited. Please check out the currently available kittens, and be watching for more postings as the younger litters begin to open their eyes and get “ready for their closeup”! 🙂