Friday the 13th--Bad Luck? Nah!

Because after a full day of Ellie walking around, scooting her butt on every floor, bleeding all over the place, and having to be "locked" in a closet, she finally queened!!!

Ellie's messy towel.

I know, it sounds harsh.  She had seemed to pick a spot in my closet.  It was dark, and she was pretty satisfied with it, it seemed.  However, she would not stay there.  Not. At. All.  She sat in the closet until I walked away and then she would follow me.  She bled on the couch, she bled on the floor.  I called every vet under the sun, because I was worried.  It was a long day.  Finally, I went and put her back in the closet and sat with her.  When I went to bed, I was hoping she would stay, because I was in the same room and it was dark.  HA!  She got up and went to lay (and bleed) on my daughter's bed.  I found her at 2:00 in the morning, purring away happily, fluids leaking everywhere, and not a kitten to be seen.  This was why I put her in the closet and "locked" the door--I was hoping to contain the mess and get her to concentrate!

You just can't appreciate how tiny they are until you hold one in your hand!

This morning, around 6 o'clock, I got up and let Ellie out.  She flew out of the closet with a bulge in her rear which could only be a head.  I got her to stop in the doorway of our room.  I think if I didn't, I would have been chasing her down the hall.  I got a towel under her, and then Ellie gave birth to the first of five kittens.  Unfortunately, it was huge and spent too long in the canal.  It was stillborn, which wasn't surprising because she had been leaking all the little one's fluids all over the house all day long.  It was a shame.  However, after the big one was out the rest came easily.  The next two were born almost at the same time.  The next came a little after that, and then the last a little after that.

So five in total, but only four live.  She is an attentive mama, and is going out of her way to make them comfortable, even if she's uncomfortable.  I am so proud of her.

Finally in the box we'd prepared for her to queen in.  She never used it, but it works now!

Ellie's birth is the first birth we've had on the farm that didn't involve an egg hatching.  Happily, my kids got to see almost all of it.  What did they think?  In the words of my son, "It doesn't smell very good".  Oh well.  At least they got the experience, right?  Congratulations, Ellie!