By 8:30 in the morning, Zoey had given birth to her four perfect little babies  and she immediately basked in her role of Mama and seemed to be a natural at it. But, when I came home from work later that night, not so much… Dan was already in Boston, so when I opened the bedroom door alone to check on the new family, Zoey bolted out without a second glance. Umm. Okay. I’m sure it was no big deal – she found Zee and was so excited to see him, rubbing and nuzzling against him and just gibber-jabbering away about nothing in particular. I just stood and watched in amazement, waiting for her to return to her motherly duties,  but she had completely forgotten her new and helpless family and claimed no moral obligation to them whatsoever.

I started to get a bit concerned – when kittens are born, they have a very critical period of needing nourishment and warmth – both of which was supposed to come from Zoey. She had not a care in the world and just could not comprehend at the moment that these kittens were hers and that they were her responsibility. I don’t think she was necessarily deliberately rejecting the kittens, I just think that she was just so overjoyed and relieved to be back to her old self – slim, young, and carefree – I mean, really, she had done her part and just gave birth for crying out loud, what more was she supposed to do? Raise them too? Every time I corralled her back into the box, she would jump out as soon as I stood up. Great. So I did what any cat loving person would do and I set up camp in the closet with her. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, grabbed a pillow, a blanket and my cell phone in case Dan called and setup up an area next to the box for me to lie down next to her. As long as I was with her, talking to her, petting her, and reassuring her, she was fine and was willing to stay with the kittens and let them nurse on her. I figured it would have to be an hour by hour thing and I was thankfully able to get her through the night without incident.

I went to work the next day, which was Friday, and came home for lunch to lie down with her just in case she needed me. I knew I would have the whole weekend to be with her as well, so I felt confident we all could get through this together. It was when I had to change her bedding that I knew everything would be okay. I had to lift each tiny, fragile little kitten out of the box and place it on the blanket next to me so that I could put in fresh newspapers and towels. The kittens began to squeal and meow, not sure what was going on. Well, this caused Zoey such panic and concern that her maternal instinct kicked in, instantly, like a mental light switch as she anxiously waited to see what I was going to do. Once I put each kitten back in the box safely, she jumped in and quickly nuzzled and licked them into place. The transformation in her from that point forward was absolutely amazing to witness. There was no doubting her commitment and love to these little babies. She was just so happy, proud, and content and you could see her absolutely beaming as she literally hugged these little ones protectively against her body.

Dan came home later that night to a very peaceful and happy family. We had officially made it through the critical period and now could just spend every moment reveling in the miracle of these little beings and the dynamic they had with Zoey.