Our little family is growing

Back in February, I noticed that Mauricio was getting a bit chubby...no surprise as he eats as much as Paquito. In early March I could no longer ignore the fact that he was not a boy but a little girl that kept on getting bigger around the middle.

Much to my dismay Bonnie Mae also showed signs of being pregnant. Unfortunately due to the Corona Virus pandemic, the border with Mexico has been closed to non-essential travel. The last time I checked getting a cat fixed in Del Rio costs $220.00 while in Ciudad Acuña depending on the exchange rate it runs between $65.00 to $75.00 USD plus shots to be able to return to the USA.  So my little girls had Covid-19 kittens :-(

In preparation, I washed all the linens I had inside of the cardboard box...that was inside of a heavy-duty container...to keep it from getting wet and to insulate it against the strong winds.  On Saturday, March 13th Mauricio's kittens were born. She had them under the kitchen as it was a late addition and had to be elevated as my parent's house is at the bottom of a hill.

This past Friday, March 26th Mauricio whose name I will soon have to change brought her kittens out and placed them in the cucha she has shared all these months with Bonnie Mae.  I was able to take two pictures before she came running to make sure I did not harm them.

The pictures make her two-week-old litter look big but they really aren't it is just that I zoomed in to try to count them and I believe there are four of them.

It makes me wonder if they communicate between themselves and both knew that Bonnie Mae would soon give birth and Mauricio decided to free the space under the kitchen so her sister could deliver her kittens in a more protected environment?

This morning when I went to feed them I noticed that she was back to being skinny. As I was getting my chores done I saw Bonnie Mae with a black cat in her mouth going under the kitchen but he looked too big to have just been born.

That is when I went to check their cucha and saw tiny kittens one which stood out since he was light orange and that some of Mauricio's brood were missing...

They are only two weeks old and the cucha is high up on an old table so they had to have been moved by their respective mothers.

It wasn't until I downloaded the pictures to my computer this evening and made them bigger that I noticed that the old flannel pajamas, the green fleece blanket, and the cardboard box itself seemed to be covered with blood.  I suppose Bonnie Mae gave birth to her babies in her cucha.

I had to run errands and when I came back I found Mauricio nursing the little orange kitten as well as another little one and one of her own kids. Why was she nursing her sister's kittens?

So Bonnie Mae had her brood on Saturday, March 27th two weeks after Mauricio gave birth to hers on March 13, 2021.

Thank you for visiting Walter's World.

Cat Humor

March 2021 Cat Update

I have not made a post since February 2021 though a lot has taken place in the interim. I was only able to bring in Nico and Paquito during the arctic blast since the kitchen is located in the back part of the house and I can close the door to prevent them from coming to the main house as my mother is allergic to pet hair and dander.

On the two coldest days I brought them to my bedroom but they were not happy in particular Paquito who whines loudly when he can't get his way. He would wake me and Nico up at 5:30 a.m. like he was an alarm clock or something. I could not let him outside as there were 10 inches of snow on the ground and he is not used to that plus he could freeze his little paws.

My camera died about three years ago and I have been relying on my cellphone to take pictures and recently the pictures have gotten progressively worse. I need to purchase another phone but I have not had the time to research what is on the market and the ones that I see advertised are not exactly budget-friendly.

Most of the pictures I took of this once-in-a-lifetime snow event that broke records for the area came out terrible including the ones of the cats. 

I could not bring in Bonnie Mae and Mauricio as they are younger than Nico and Paquito and they do not like each other as they are always getting bullied by them. I made sure I insulated their cucha and that they had plenty of blankets and old winter clothes to stay comfy.

I do not like to leave food out but it was so cold I left plenty on top of the old washing machine so Katie (Bonnie Mae and Mauricio's mother) and Blanca (Nico and Paquito's mama) as well as the other strays could have something to eat as everything was covered in snow.

I think it is safe to say that much like us humans the cats were happy to see the white stuff melt away.

These were taken after the second snow event when the sun finally came out and they were happy to be back in their element.

We had a problem with the new cat beds. It seems Nico decided he liked Paquito's bed better than the one I purchased for him. 

Paquito was left with no choice but to sleep on the other bed. I am surprised he relented without a fight!

Nico saying...try to move me if you can :-)

Thank you for visiting Walter's World.

Cat Humor