First, some videos, all taken on the day Maggie gave birth.
YouTube link
The first bit is of Maggie in labor, and you can hear Fred snickering at the expression on her face, and then me saying “You don’t laugh at a woman in labor!” The second bit is of Maggie and her firstborn. There’s nothing graphic, though the kitten is a bit damp still.
YouTube link
I believe Maggie was dealing with baby #6 while the other five were yelling for food. There’s nothing graphic here aside from some bloody towels.
YouTube link
And in this one, the first bit is shortly after labor was over, and Maggie was cleaning her babies. Then it cuts to later that same day, after we’d switched out the bloody bedding for clean.
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Now, meet the McMaos!
Purple (aka “black splotch on right nostril) is a boy.
Red (aka “black nose with pink splotch”) is “probably” (according to Fred) a boy.
White Face is a girl.
The sex of Green (aka “Pink nose”) is unknown.
Orange (aka “Black nose”) is a boy.
Blue (aka “Dark face”, aka “no white paws”) is a boy.
In case you missed this one on Facebook yesterday, I couldn’t keep my hands off the babies. This is Green and his/her umbilical cord.
I weighed the babies last night, and they weigh between 5 1/2 oz (Orange & White Face) and 5 3/4 oz (Red and Purple). They’re all nice and healthy, with round little bellies. None of them is really in the running to be the runt of the litter, at least not yet.
You might think that Blue, there, with the open mouth is crying sadly for his momma. “Momma, we is HONGRY!” he might be crying. You would be wrong. Blue is shaping up to be the drama queen of the litter, and when I reach into the kennel to pet him or one of his siblings, he hisses at me. I can’t take offense, though – he’s so CUTE when he does it!
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::slurrrp::
::urrrrrrp!::
::considering::
::slurrrp::
::slurrrrp::
::pondering::
“Tastes like chicken.”
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Alice, bird-watching.
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Previously
2010: FAKING IT THE ENTIRE TIME.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Oh the squeeeeling. 🙂
I love how comfortable Maggie is with you guys, I mean enough to just roll over and be cute when you coo at her. Even with her little bebbehs clawing around at her legs.
So there will be at least one “I haz many complaints” Bobby Brady-type in this bunch. That’s OK. I love their complaining.
Blue hissed! LOL…didn’t realize that they could/would do that at such a young age. It would actually make me laugh…little tough guy! HAHAHAHAHA
Oh, we think everyone on mom’s office floor probably heard the squeeing!
Such a wonderful post, thank you!
Oh, that photo of Maggie and her babies! So sweet!
Rufus seems like such a deep thinker. His face just cracks me up!
Robyn, are you still using Fresh Step? I thought you switched to Precious Cat or such (to prevent Anderson Litter Lung Disease). Please explain! 🙂
I switched to Precious Cat – inspired by you. I used Fresh Step and LOVED it except for the massive amount of dust. Precious Cat is good, no real complaints….I do like Fresh Step a bit better but not to the point of wanting to deal with all that dust again.
GD, I did switch to Precious Cat, but we had a bunch of Fresh Step left over, so for the time being we’re using half Fresh Step and half Precious Cat. We may keep doing that – it’s certainly not nearly as dusty as the Fresh Step on its own.
However, that Fresh Step bucket actually doesn’t hold Fresh Step – Fresh Step doesn’t come in those 40-lb buckets any more, but the buckets themselves are really good to use for various things. The Precious Cat comes in bags, and I dump it into the buckets, ’cause they’re easier to carry and store than the bags are.
So in summary, that Fresh Step bucket has Precious Cat in it. 🙂
Hmmm….I should have kept a bucket too! I was still using FS when they switched to the “carry bags”. Not the easiest to carry. LOL.
Ha, I have a Tidy Cat bucket with Precious Cat in it…I love how it doesn’t have those toxic dust clouds, but I have picked up more ammonia scent since switching totally, so was thinking of mixing it half/half…glad to see I wasn’t the only one!
Of COURSE those kittens are so nice and healthy! Maggie was so well-cared-for while waiting the birth! It’s so heart-warming to see such healthy kitties so nicely taken care of. When my heart aches for the ones not so lucky I either love on one of ours, or come here and feast on the photos.
The cute kills me… sigh. Adorbs! We had a hisser in the last litter we had… We still have him, and he is the biggest doll baby of them all. As soon as you pick him up he starts purring. Maybe this one will be the same!!
This morning I put my hand in there to pet them, and there was a hiss-off with at least three of them hissing at me. I have GOT to get the camera in there with me when they do that, it is so utterly adorable. 🙂
Oh, WOW – that was seriously cute!
I don’t know why, but somehow I thought that newborn kittens would be total “bundles”, but they actually do have quite a bit of character – both the distinct colouring and the quite audible mews and even some use of legs. Looks like Maggie is a good mama, so here’s hoping we can follow a healthy brood grow up and prosper! (And as they are so young, we get to enjoy them for a while, they aren’t going to a new home tomorrow. 🙂 )
BTW, Princess Alice is SO pretty!
I love them ALL!!! I’ve never gotten to choose a “child” out of a litter and I don’t think I could. With this litter though, I think I’d choose Maggie. She’s so pretty and such a trusting girl. I hope somebody in the market for a special girl feels the same way I do.
I agree with Patti. I love Miss Maggie, she is just adorable! I would pick her too.
Loving how in the last video “white face” is all ‘hey, where’d that giant leg come from!?’
You MUST get a video of a hissing Blue, that has to be the cutest thing ever!
I’m so impressed with Momma Maggie, she has been excellent so far, and she is so wonderfully trusting with you guys!
Oh, and FYI, my friend had her baby on Saturday too! Slightly bigger than these little dots though, weighing in at 8lb 5 1/2 oz!
They are all so cute!
I was thinking…. What’s Maggie’s deflated balloon belleh like now?
Less like a deflated balloon than you’d think, actually. It does sway a bit when she moves, but she’s actually in pretty good shape for a girl who gave birth only a few days ago!
Oh goodness, I can’t stand all this cuteness…my computer was being repaired so I had to follow Maggie’s birth saga on my tiny phone and now that I have my computer back…*thud*…
*Auntie Hyacinths just fainted from all this cuteness*
By the way, I totally utterly absolutely love them all, but Little Miss White Face just kills me
At the end of the third video, was Maggie going, “OK, if I’m such a good girl, you can tickle my tummy” or was she going KER-THUNK out of exhaustion? 6 babies and they just pop ’em like peas out of a pod!
awe little marker ears
gosh they are all so dang cute! and what a proud momma maggie looks to be
aw little alice you are so pretty!
Oh they are just too cute! I have been saying to my husband that we need a kitten (at some point… not right now…) But seeing these guys makes me want a kitten RIGHT NOW!
🙂 Kittens make me VERY happy!!
You did good work, Miss Maggie. They all look quite healthy, and ridiculously adorable. What a fine little family. 🙂
Haha, I love your comment of, “You don’t laugh at a woman in labor!!”
They’re all soo cute! I love their squeaky cries.
(I’m not sure if it’s just me, but the love-and-hisses.com still directs me to the wordpress site. I got to your entries by pulling up the full link of an old entry)
Yileen, all I can suggest is maybe clear your cache? Fred did take down the redirect, uh, thing (code?), but maybe it takes a day or two for the changes to propogate. I went over to the temporary site and posted a link to this entry just in case anyone else is having the same issue.
The babies are adorable, Maggie is a gorgeous momma, but what I am really struck by is the new photo of Rufus in the sidebar. I just think he’s lovely and wish I lived close enough to consider adopting him…
Awwwwwww my heart has melted from hearing the little McMoas squeaking!! Awwwww how adorable are they?!?!?! So so so lovely! And mum Maggie is just perfect!! Wow!! Thanks for sharing these clips!!! Yay that all the kitties are your favourites! 🙂
Hello lovely Alice! Take care
x
Hi Robyn and all,
Thanks for the videos — does anything beat the sound of little kitten mews? I think not!
Did you know that you were on Love Meow the other day? Here’s the link: http://lovemeow.com/2011/04/maggie-the-rescue-cat-momma-plus-6/#more-21019
I love Maggie’s response to your praise. Incidentally, you have such a nice voice. I can never stand to hear mine on camera, but yours sounds so soothing.
White Face is my faaaaaavourite. When she gets big and strong, do you think she’d like to move to New Zealand?
That worked perfectly! Thank you. 😀
Yay! “Clear your cache” and “Did you try rebooting” is the extent of my computer expertise. 😀
Own… I´m absolutelly in love!!!
White face currently seems to be outnumbered by the boys! Maybe she’s hoping Green is a girl haha.
You know, I had to go back and look for the coloured texta dots. So obvious second time around. How cute is everybody? Mum and babies are gorgeous. And that little Alice…where are her big brothers to chase her around.
Those babies are just too darn cute. Bring on the drama! 🙂
Oh, Robyn. I had to create a flickr account for work today and decided to find you on flickr. I just MELTED when I saw the pics of the babies in your hands. Their luscious little stripey bodies are amazing!!! Their faces are cute but what got me was their plum little bodies.
YAY Babies!
Oh wow, so glad this is not anywhere near me. I have a soft spot for mackerel tabbys and my wife and I have agreed that we are at our cap!
Maggie rocks 🙂 And so glad she found you so this will be her LAST time birthin’. After all having SIX is quite a feat! Gorgeous mom and babies..
Absolutely adorable, love the videos and photos. After going back and forth between here and the livecam at kittencrew, the near 4-week olds there seem huge in comparison to these tiny bundles of cute.
I think this bunch truly personifies “Love and Hisses”. Love from you, from Maggie to the kittens, and hisses… well, you’ve already pinpointed those. 😉
P.S – I don’t know if it’s changeable in the code or something that flickr mandates, but the top header is now taking us to flickr, and not the main page.
Ledi, it’s a Flickr thing. They require that the image links back to Flickr. I just went and added a text “home” link under the header image. It’s not beautiful, but it works. 🙂
Oh Robin, I envy you in the sweetest way. You have inspired me to work hard to have my dream farmhouse someday where I can bake sweets and foster kittehs who would otherwise have no one to love them. I look forward every day to seeing the new adventures at your home – this darling mama and her bebehs have lifted my spirits in the best way. Kudos to you and Fred and all the hard work you put in every day and yet make it seem as simple as breathing. Thank you.
Thank *you*, Gloria! 🙂