# Well, I'm practically a grandma! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 24, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336 "2010-06-24T10:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/1 "2010-06-24T10:06:36Z")
About two months ago, we adopted a local stray cat. I have a friend who has friends at the SPCA who says she can get the cat fixed for me for under $40.00. Great! I had an appointment for next week. Now? No can do. This cat I adopted (Harley) _has_ to be under a year old. Therefore, imagine my shock when, a couple of nights ago (as I was watching TV in the living room), I heard sounds of distress from Harley. I went into the kitchen to see what could be wrong with her. Now, I’ve only had boy cats before, and didn’t grow up around cats at all (my Mom hated them). My older cat, Ponch, is a good hunter and I’ve often seen him ‘playing’ with something he’s caught, be it a mouse or a sparrow. So when I went into the kitchen and saw Harley apparently playing with _something_ that was tiny, black, wet, and rat-like, I seriously _did not know_ what was going on! (Yes, go ahead and laugh; everyone else has!) So I woke my sister. She came out, took one look and said “Damn. She wasn’t even very big!” Then I understood.:smack: The tiny black rat-like thing was a new-born kitten, and Harley wasn’t _playing_ with it, she was licking the sac off of it! On my sister’s advice, I got a box, lined it with an old towel, and put Harley and her kitten in the box. She was clearly still in labor, breathing very hard, licking her lips a lot, etc. We probably sat for an hour and watched her, but she seemed to want to be left alone, so we went into the living room. By the time I went to bed, there still wasn’t another kitten yet, but when I got up the next morning, there was a second one. I’m kind of glad there weren’t more. Harley seems to be a pretty good Mamma given her young age. She will get out of the box to eat, and for me to give her a few skritches, and to use the litter pan, then it’s right back in the box. The biggest problem I’ve had is that she keeps _laying_ on one of the kittens. Somehow, it’s always the same kitten that she lays on. And just now, I heard distressed mewling behind me, and assumed Harley was laying on her kitten again. But when I turned around, one of the babies had managed to get _out_ of the box but couldn’t manage to get back in! I know we can’t keep these babies; that would give us _four_ cats, in addition to the three snakes, two dwarf hamsters, newly acquired rabbit (we’re still working on the Partridge in a Pear Tree) we already have! Unless you live in the country, that’s _too many_ animals! But damn, they are tiny little bundles just overflowing with the miracle of new life!🆒 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/2 "2010-06-24T12:32:07Z")
I remember well watching Bob the cat give birth and marveling at the “miracle”, then coming back the next morning to find her litter had doubled. That’s been 30 years now but it’s still a steel trap memory. My next memory of that time was from probably 4 or 5 weeks later. I let them wander out during the day to a 2nd story apartment porch who’s railing I’d lined with chicken wire lest they tumble over. So there are 5 kittens who’ve climbed half way up, all oriented at different angles, and all mewing loudly because they found their situation precarious. Passers by below would look up and burst out in laughter. Enjoy your kitters! ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/3 "2010-06-24T13:54:11Z")
Too funny…Don’t forget the pics ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/4 "2010-06-24T19:24:35Z")
You march yourself right back in there and don’t come back without some pictures! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/5 "2010-06-25T03:52:27Z")
Since the momcat is so small and so young, she probably doesn’t have enough milk for her babies. Or, in fact, any clues. So I will volunteer to kittensit and give bottled supplements to the babies. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/6 "2010-06-25T04:10:11Z")
Yep yep; not all cattens are born moms. My sis had one cat give birth waaay young, and she ended up taking all her kittens and burying them around the house. I found one in between two sweatshirts of mine, two days later =/ So keep an eye on them for a while, just in case. And congrats 😃 In a week they’ll be more fun, just for now they’re going to be little wet spider-thingies. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/7 "2010-06-25T04:16:30Z")
Bast smiles on her newest subjects, and those who protect them. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/8 "2010-06-25T04:37:05Z")
You know the rules, **norinew** , when come back, bring pics! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/9 "2010-06-25T05:49:52Z")
It seems like the youngest you can imagine a female cat having kittens, she’ll have them even younger. You gotta spay those girl kitties real quick, is what I’m saying. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/10 "2010-06-25T13:26:37Z")
On Mama Cat’s youth: she seems to be doing a pretty good job of taking care of her kittens. She nurses them often, and the only problem I’ve had with that, is she lays on the gray one too often! I tried taking one of the babies out of the box, just to see what Harley would do, and she watched me _very carefully_ until I put the kitten back! So she _is_ interested in being a good mommy. As for pics, as soon as I can talk to my hubby, and find out what he did with my darned USB cable, I’ll see what I can do! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/11 "2010-06-25T14:08:43Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I tried taking one of the babies out of the box, just to see what Harley would do… It’s tough work, carrying a kitten around. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/12 "2010-06-25T16:00:14Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > It’s tough work, carrying a kitten around. Well, yes. But like I always tell my husband “My life’s been hard for so many years now, I’m used to it. . .” Sigh. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/13 "2010-06-25T18:04:02Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > It’s tough work, carrying a kitten around. Yeah, anything more than about 5 minutes and my jaw starts to ache. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-im-practically-a-grandma/544336/14 "2010-06-25T20:31:12Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Yeah, anything more than about 5 minutes and my jaw starts to ache. I’m sure that I could fit a kitten or two into my sports bra, if they’re this young.