I was pretty much sure that Glinda would have her babies the same night we were having a huge, 13-course gourmet dinner. And indeed! Halfway into the evening, right in time for the cheese course, she started. And we ended up with four absolutely gorgeous little miracles, and some very awed guests that had never witnessed a kitten birth before.
Here's a first picture of them. You can't see very well, but there are two black and white boys, a brownspotted and white boy and a brownspotted girl, just like mommy. Glinda is doing very well and is happy with her new role.
Names? These will all start with a J, and I like to have a good theme. We're thinking candy (Junior Mint, Jolly Rancher, Jelly Belly, Jujubes), whisky (Jim Beam, Johnny Walker, Jack(ie) Daniels, Jameson) or Shakespeare characters (after all, they are born on Twelth Night - Jupiter, Jamy, Juno and... we're not sure.).
But any suggestions are very welcome! :)
Some very blurry first pictures...
Number one, black and white male
Number two, brownspotted and white male
Number three, brownspotted female
Number four, black and white male
32 comments:
Congrats on the kittens :).
I think names after Shakespeare would be nice.
welcum to doze byootiful kittenz.
i wuz a kitten once miself ... an i think i mighta been az kyoot!
abowt da "j" namez ... mine iz jeter. it'z a grate name fer a tabby! i wuz named fer a hansum baseball player. u mite wanna consider baseball playerz. i can help!
luv--jh
I vote for Shakespearean names - classic names are timeless. And how about Juliet for the only girl. Congratulations!
Thanks again for yesterday!
OMG, the fourth kitten is just lovely!!!
They're gorgeous. The available names in the J-section of the Shakespeare naming department could be better. Aside from those you have listed, I can draw to mind and have checked them for reference against main characters and found Jessica (!), Jaquenetta and Juliet for girls. Julius (julian) for boys.
Haha - baseball players! There's an idea.. :)
Dagmar, you're so very welcome! Loved having you here!
Pt - sorry, gotta start with a J!
Pene and Jessica, Shakespeare sure is looking good.. but Jessica, where did you find a Julius? I didn't find that in the lists I looked at, but that's a very good name! Jupiter, Jamy, Juno and Julius... I prefer Juno over Julia (which is Juliet in Swedish) though. Or maybe not.. hm.
Jessica - oh god, I'm so stupid! Julius Caesar, I assume? :)
Hi Anne,
I am one of those people who have never seen cats being born and in connection with this, I have a question: does the momma cat not mind at all when her kittens are being handled? Is it because she knows and trusts you? Would she let a stranger handle the kittens? What do the kittens do when they are born? Do they know to go to momma and eat right away or do they try to walk around? They are born blind, is that right?How long does the blindness last?
Thanks.
Anna
Anna, it's different each time! Glinda is a very mild-tempered cat and didn't mind at all having an audience. She was fine with having both me and my neighbor the vet handling her and the babies. It's easy at first - they don't mind much at all. Today, she gets nervous if the kittens squeak, which they inevitably do if you lift them. It's fine though - the more you handle them, the more they get used to your scent.
They pretty much go to eat straightaway. Some need a little nudging. They have something like a heat-sensitive radar in their nose (sounds weird, I know) and thus find their way to the nipple quite easily.
And they're actually both blind and deaf. They open their eyes usually after about a week, ten days, and they hear from just a few days. :)
Those are adorable! I didn't know newborn cats would look so, uh, cat-like.
Anne,
Yep, it's from Julius Ceasar. I haven't been able to establish if it occurs in any other of his works so far. Julian is a dimunitive form of Julius.
I like Juno over Juliet too.
(As for my love for names, it's a quirk I developed years ago and still lingers. I wrote an essay once on the etymology of Japanese first- and surnames as compared to swedish names).
Vilka bedårande små kattungar. Helt underbara.
Magnetburkarna säljs i 3pack på Ikea men jag har inte kvar i minnet vad de kostade eller hette.
I'm a dog person. I always have been a dog person. I love dogs.
I think those kittens may just have converted me...
Off to confession. ;)
it's so lovely !
What a job !
Oh, Anne!
Congratulations on the new kittens! They're gorgeous! I vote for the Shakespeake names! But if you want another alternative to consider, I googled these pretty sounding plant names: http://www.plantpress.com/plant-encyclopedia/plantdbatoz.php?letter=j
Ooooooh.... how sweeeeeeet....
Congratulations to all! :)
i just can't seem to stop "awing" at this post, anne! those have to be some of the cutest itty-bitty kittens i've ever seen!
Thanks for the wonderful dinner and the (just as) wonderful chans to see the new babies. They are just so cute. I wote for the candy names, sweet names for such cuties.
grattis "mormor och morfar" jag är glad att allt gick bra... det där med namn är inte lätt... eftersom ingen annan har röstat på wisky namnen så gör jag det...vet ju att Per gillar wisky..kramar till er alla syster
Oh they are so qute!
It was soo beautiful to see the birth of the first three kittens!
The birth couldn't have been more perfectly planed by glinda! ;)
Thank you for a great evening!
What a bunch of little cuties! Glinda looks somewhat relieved :).
I'm utterly in love with Kitten #2! I have secretly named him Jigglesqueak. :)
Glinda's looking very protective there. Love the pictures. Happy New Year. Congrats.
Anne,
Thanks for all the explanations re: newborn kittens. I didn't know they were born deaf AND blind. I wonder if their Mommy knows it. How long does the whole birth of 4 kittens last?
Thanks again so much.
Anna
Jigglesqueak! So cute! :) Seriously considering that..
Anna - I'm pretty sure the mommies know, because they never try to talk to their babies until they're older. Glinda is completely quiet around them.
What sweet little babies! Congrats :) I love the Shakespeare names
So beautiful kittens. Sweet babies.
WOW! Such cutie pies! I am sure you are a proud GrandMother! Hehe...
Are you gonna keep them all?
just sharlene - no, we won't be keeping any. If one of the black and whites had been a girl, that one would definitely have stayed.. but no, we can't keep boys, and we already have two brown spotted tabby girls. So all are for sale at this point! :)
Kitten feet are the cutest thing ever.
The kittens are adorable! Hope to see more of them growing up.
Love,
Bonnie in Virginia
Hi Anne,
I was searching for names for my new kitten and came across your blog. What darlings! My new baby is a black and white male too.
As for "J" names, don't forget Jacques from As You Like It.
Pam
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