In retrospect – it was all very clear cut and straight forward – definitely nothing out of the ordinary for me. Zee was a male. Zoey was a female. Zoey went into heat. Zee acted accordingly. Zoey became pregnant. This was not rocket science, folks. So, that being said, why I morphed into a full-blown neurotic lunatic during her pregnancy is beyond me, but I did. 

I’ve had cats my whole life and have seen many kittens being born. I have gone through childbirth myself, twice, and I’m a pretty calm person by nature.  Dan and I were very excited at the prospect of Zoey having kittens – we knew we would be keeping at least one of these amazing mix of two extraordinary breeds of cats and all would seem well.  I instead took her pregnancy so to heart, that you would think she was the first cat in the entire world to give birth and I worried and fretted constantly.

Zoey was very young and petite by nature, so that worried me, but I think what concerned me most was the fact that we worked all day long and I had a certain loss of control – we were not completely certain of her due date – I figured it would be some time late January, early February, but with each week that went by that she didn’t have the kittens, I became more concerned – what if she had the kittens while we were at work and she needed me? What if a kitten was born on the couch or the counter and fell to the floor? What if the other cats retaliated and hurt the kittens? I could not stop thinking about all the worst case scenarios, despite telling myself what a strong and agile young lady Zoey was.

When I was able to keep calm, sharing the pregnancy with Zoey was such a gift and so amazing. Zoey became very attached to me and would like to lie on my outstretched legs hours at a time on the couch. I would feel her babies moving around her full belly on my legs and it was such a privilege for me. We pampered and spoiled her so much too  and treated her like the “Queen” she was – Dan got her a heating pad to keep her tummy warm when she was not napping on my legs and I cleared out our large walk-in closet in our bedroom as a “birthing room” for her. We had a birthing box lined with newspapers and towels at the ready and just waited. And waited. And waited.

Dan had a trip to Boston to take a few days before Valentine’s weekend and had his suitcase ready to go for the flight the next morning . Zoey climbed on top of it and decided it was a great place to “nest.” Rather than disturb her and tell her to get off it, we went to bed and let her sleep there for the night. If she was comfortable and it made her happy, so be it. Several hours later in the wee hours of the morning, I got a wake up call from Zoey before the alarm went off. Zoey is a loud girl on any given day (especially very early morning), so I didn’t know if something was going on, or if she was just talking. She stopped, so I went back to sleep. An hour later, she was much more vocal, and much more insistent and she was definitely directly her cries at me. So, it was pitch dark and I stumbled with her to the living room couch. She immediately snuggled beside me, curled up into my stomach as I laid down with her and was purring like a loud machine. I just pet her and murmured words of love and encouragement to her, not knowing what to expect, and not necessarily knowing if “this was the moment.”  Her little body then began to contract and I still was not certain what had happened – she continued to lie next to me and was still purring, but then I heard a faint “mew.” I screamed for Dan to wake up and come help me. She definitely had a kitten on me and I wanted to get her into her birthing box as soon as possible.

Very gingerly, we got her in her box with the newborn, safe and sound, and got them into the closet. Pretty quickly after that, she had kitten number two. We thought that was it, but after several more hours, Zee and Zoey were the proud parents of four healthy and beautiful kittens. It was by far one of the most extraordinary moments I have ever witnessed and the birth of these kittens has forevermore changed our lives. Birth – one of the most commonplace and ordinary occurrences that can happen, yet, at the same time, the most miraculous and extraordinary of occurrences. Zoey just beamed when all was said and done and lay down with her babies, so proud  and content. Zee… how did he take all this? Well that will be a post for another day. But suffice it to say, he did not share any of our collective pride, happiness, or feelings of joy… And Zoey, bless her little heart, not only did she have the kittens while I was home, she came and got me so that I could share the entire experience with her!