Starlight in Delivery

Happy Easter and Christos Anesti! to those who celebrated Pascha this past weekend.

I mentioned that we had brought Starlight home from the park with us to have her kittens.  Well she is delivering them now as I write!  What a lovely start to Bright Week. 

How are we going to handle another cat and kittens?  Well, we are not really sure.  I guess we are taking the Field of Dreams stand that "If you build it, they will come." 

Starilight is lodging in what was Bette's Master Bedroom (and I am happy to say, as an aside, that Bette is getting along so much better with the other cats in the house - which is not to say that it hasn't been trying - it has just taken time - the older the cat, the longer it takes).

She has chosen the closet cupboard for her delivery:

I just wish we had done the same with Strike, brought her home with us, because she is not faring well at the park at the moment.  Strike recently delivered her kittens as well, though we have not yet seen them, but her health has deteriorated, and I don't know that they survived, because it seems to me her milk has dried up - I don't know for sure though.  She is not even a year old, and I have read that a cat under one year old may have a hard time with birthing kittens, with the kittens possibly being deformed or stillborn.  I have also read that new mothers will give their last bit of energy to the kittens, no matter the queen's state of health

The truth is I have always spayed and neutered my pets as soon as they were old enough, so I honestly don't have any experience with kitten or puppy birth save once as a child.  I feel a little inadequate, and I wish I had done more reading before all this happened. 

Space is what we need, and it wouldn't be a problem - and people who are willing to open up their hearts and their homes and offer protection and love to these cats.  I know it is easy to turn a blind eye; out of sight is indeed out of mind.  But their suffering is real - and like the fallen trees in the forest that still make a sound when no one is around to hear, these cats still hurt when no one is there to see it.  Let's see if I can fit another cliche in - it's a jungle out there - for them, especially. 

Strike at the park about a week ago; her health and well being has deteriorated

There are moments, when being with the cats at the park is like paradise - but most of the time their lives are frought with dangers.  We can spay them, neuter them, feed them - but as long as they are out on the streets we cannot protect them from cars, insensitive people, dogs, and other cats, and let me just say, cats can be cruel to one another - and it is the sweetest, meekest, and often most people-friendy and trusting cats that suffer the most attack and harrassment, and are the least able to defend themselves - like Blabby at the moment, who has slowly been pushed out of the park.  All of them live in fear.