The first photo is of Firefly visiting the new babies. She sat outside the crate for half an hour and just stared at them in wonder!
This is a photo I took of me feeding one of the babies at 4am this morning. I give kittens formula as soon as they are born. It helps the mother out and raises their blood sugar which is a good thing. Kittens with low blood sugar are apathetic about nursing. Kittens are so fragile when they are born and I like to give them as much help as I can. The recipe for kitten formula is on this blog - an earlier post in January 2010.
After each kitten is born, I cut the cord and dry the baby off. I put the babies all together in a small basket with a heating pad and polar fleece so Milan can concentrate on the next delivery.
Here is the proud mommy with her brood. She stayed in her crate from midnight until 7am this morning. I lifted her out and carried her down the hall so she could get a bit of exercise. She made a 'bee line' back to my bedroom, jumped up on my bed and went right back in the crate with them.
This photo was taken at 7am (when Milan was down the hall for 30 seconds). They are so sweet.
They will stay on my bed in the crate with a heating pad for almost a month. Then they will graduate to a Prego playpen with more room for playing and for litter training.
