6-15-26 – Calliope’s birth story

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Before I start this post, I want y’all to know that Calliope actually gave birth to six kittens. The 4th kitten born – an orange tabby – was much, much smaller than the others, very lethargic, and absolutely would not latch no matter how much time I spent trying to get him to. There was obviously something not right, but with kittens that tiny and fragile (he weighed just 70 grams/2.47 oz) there’s a limit to what you can do – syringe feed formula, keep him warm, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, he passed away at just a few hours old. (Calliope is fine and is not looking for him. She knew he was gone before I did, of course.) I didn’t want his existence to go unremarked.

Calliope and her other 5 kittens are doing great.

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Saturday morning was – well, it was pretty much the same as Friday morning. I went into the room first thing and fed her, cleaned her room, and hung out with her.

We took a “banana for scale” picture. (Calliope: “Not funny, lady.”)

She demanded (and got) Churu.

Literally the last picture I took of her before I left the room at 10:00 or so. I could feel the kittens moving around, but there were no contractions and no indications that labor was imminent.

Fred and I went out to lunch and got back home around noon. I went into the foster room and Calliope did NOT meet me at the door, which was unusual but not worrying. As I closed the door, I could hear the cries of a tiny baby kitten. I RACED over to the crate only to find it empty. I turned and looked under the cat tree across the room, where she liked to hang out when the Dumpling Gang was still in the room with her. Not there. I checked the closet where the litter boxes are, and nope.

It finally occurred to me to look UPWARD. And there, in the top wall bed – the one about a foot from the ceiling – was a wide-eyed Calliope, curled around something.

(Wish I had a picture of that, but I considered it more urgent to get her and her kitten out of the bed than to take pictures. I yelled for Fred (who told me later that he thought he was about to walk into something really bad. What can I say? I panicked!)

Fred came upstairs, and while I couldn’t reach Calliope in that bed, Fred could. He picked her up and carried her to the crate, and I was right behind him with the kitten.

1 orange kitten? Check.

I didn’t want to leave the room because I was afraid she’d go back up on the bed, so I sat down near the crate and kept her company. Pretty quickly, she gave birth to another kitten.

A tortie.

And just a few minutes later here came #3, also a tortie.

I was like “This is GREAT! She’s gonna shoot ’em out one after the other and then we’ll be all done!”

Ha.

She cleaned them, cleaned herself, cleaned the crate a little. She settled down and looked like she was DONE.

“Yeah I’m done, lady. You may go.”

“Bye now.”

Since she was resting comfortably and didn’t seem inclined to move the kittens, I took the bottoms out of the wall beds (leaving just the frames, so she couldn’t go back up there), stuffed some blankets into the wall cubby, and left the room.

I kept a close eye on her via the cameras in the room, and she settled down and slept for the next couple of hours. Then she got a little restless around 3:00, and the next thing I knew, #4 had arrived.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, he was an orange tabby, super lethargic, and completely uninterested in nursing. This picture is the only one I have where he’s present:

That’s him in the middle. He looks like he was nursing, but he was actually just resting against her.

Those are all the pictures I have from yesterday. A while after she had kitten #4 she came out of the crate, used the litter box, and demanded food. I gave her a can of food, she absolutely INHALED it, and demanded more. I gave her a second can and she ate most of that and then returned to the crate.

She didn’t need me hovering, so I left her alone for a couple of hours, came back to weigh the kittens, and got some formula into #4 (in the interest of not continuing to call him “#4,” let’s call him Apollo). I went off to watch a movie with Fred, fed Calliope and Apollo, and then went to bed. I kept a close eye on the crate via the Nest app on my phone, but there was just nothing going on. I knew that the vet had seen 5 kittens, but started wondering if she’d miscounted – then I saw a kitten moving in Calliope’s belly and was VERY SURE that I was going to end up spending my Sunday at the emergency vet.

I went into the room the last time around 12:30, and Apollo was not doing well. He seemed to take some comfort from lying against Calliope, so I put him back with her and went to bed.

Sunday morning around 4:30 I went into the room to find that Apollo had passed (sad, but not a surprise) and Calliope had given birth to two more kittens, both black and white tuxies.

I fed Calliope, grabbed some clean bedding, piled the kittens into a pie plate and replaced the soiled bedding as fast as I could.

Kitten pie! (My favorite.)

I paused to take that picture, and it was apparently just long enough for Calliope to get annoyed with me. She stomped over, grabbed a kitten, and carried it into the crate. (Fortunately, I’d gotten the clean bedding in before she did that!)

“You is very rude, lady.”

She forgave me, though.

(Apollo is buried under the rose bush in the back yard, near Natalie.)

I have names for the kittens, I just need to get individual pictures of each, and will get them posted later. The litter as a whole is going to be known as the Greek Chorus (two or three people suggested that name, and I love it!)

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Before all the excitement started with Calliope, I opened the door at the top of the stairs so that Pierogi, Wonton and Tortellini can now roam the entire house during the day.

Pierogi has stopped hissing at Uncle Magoo. Wonton will halfheartedly hiss at him, and Tortellini mostly keeps a distance.

Checking out the new spiral tunnel.

“Don’t sniff my butt, Uncle Magoo. That’s rude.”

So far, it’s going okay. Magoo finds the kittens interesting to a point – then he goes outside where there are no kittens, and he, Khal and Charlie talk about how annoying kittens are. Heh.

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Khal’s all “There are KITTENS roaming through MY HOUSE and playing with MY TOYS and I am not having it. I’ve packed my toys, I’m leaving!”

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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr/ Bluesky/Threads) this weekend.

If you hadn’t heard, these three knuckleheads are available for adoption. 3 1/2 months old, spayed/neutered, vaccinated and ID chipped. Email Forgotten Felines of Huntsville at INFO (at) FFHSV.ORG to inquire, or fill out an application here.

YouTube link
One minute of Calliope purring. ❤️

“This is where the Churu goes.” (Calliope)

Tortellini is still available for adoption!

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Wonton, Tortellini and (eventually) Pierogi show off their leapin’ skills.

“I ain’t skeered of you, Uncle Magoo,” says Pierogi.

Good night innernets. (Pierogi & Wonton.)

Pierogi is still available for adoption!

Tortellini and Wonton have started their summer jobs at the Biscuit Shack. Pierogi’s working there, too – he’s off-camera in this picture, but he’s the one who “decorated” the awning.

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Calliope’s alien belly… and a whole lotta purring. (In the process of lightening this video so you could see her belly, I somehow boosted the color. )

Always Be Snoopervising, that’s Tortellini’s motto.

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The kittens love that dangly mouse toy. (I don’t know if you can tell from this video, but it’s a toy mouse attached to a bungy cord that attaches to the top of the doorway, and they’re having a lot of fun with it. (I recommend NOT leaving kittens – or cats – unsupervised with this toy. I keep an eye on them when they’re playing with it, and it goes into a drawer when I’m not around.))

Good night innernets. (Pierogi, with the bunny paws.)

Wonton is still available for adoption!

They’re here! Between noon yesterday (Saturday) and 3:00 this morning (Sunday), Calliope had her kittens. There was a little drama at the beginning, but right now the kittens are wiggly, nursing well, and just as cute as can be. Calliope is doing really well and she’s keeping those kittens SPOTLESS. We’ve got 5 – two boys (1 tuxie, 1 orange) & 3 girls (2 torties, 1 tuxie.)

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Calliope had her kittens between noon yesterday (Saturday) and 3:00 this morning. There are 5, they are vigorous and wiggly and nursing well, and Calliope is taking amazing care of her. Also, peep that smack down at the milk bar. They start so young!

Pierogi knows he might LOOK all grown up, but he’s still just a bayyyybeeeee.

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After eating, Calliope returns to the crate, and is there anything cuter than those cries of excitement when the kittens realize she’s there? No, there is NOT.

A look at Calliope’s kittens (I have names for them, I just have to assign them and get individual pictures – probably tomorrow). That’s the girl tuxie in the front (she is not as huge as she looks!) next to the orange boy, and that’s the boy tuxie in the back row on the left, next to the two torties.

Good night innernets. (Tortellini)

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Previously
2025: No entry.
2024: No entry.
2023: It’s reaching for the stars!
2022: “Please admire these beans.”
2021: Phase 1 of packing is done!
2020: Clyde’s all “HALLO.”
2019: No entry.
2018: No entry.
2017: Two little raccoons.
2016: This adorable puppy!
2015: They have met the vacuum cleaner, and are not impressed. AT ALL.
2014: No entry.
2013: “We’re trying to sleep, here. Can you make him get his big stupid foot out of my face?”
2012: Cicero acted like he’d known those kittens his entire life, and they acted like he was a pesky little brother.
2011: Complaints? She haz them.
2010: Rough life, boys.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: Which reminds me, last time I had a sit-down with The Lord, The Lord informed me that doing what might lead to business on Sunday is FORBIDDEN, but abandoning as many of His Creatures to fend for themselves and be hit by cars and lay dying on the side of the road is A-OK with Him! It’s in the Bible!
2006: No entry.
2005: Poop Watch v. 2.0, currently in progress.

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