I have more new babies! I was very surprised to find them already, because the mother is a first-timer, and she only recently started looking pregnant. I didn't think she'd be having them for some time yet. They're little, but doing well.
I took the above photo while Courtney was here, and it was pretty dark in there, so we couldn't see them very well except when the camera flashed. Then after downloading the photos to the computer last night, I noticed the top two kittens had some unusual markings. Their back halves looked gray! So this morning I took out a flashlight to see for sure, and yep... so I had to go back and get the camera again. Here they are (click to enlarge):
I found out that the odd gray marking is called a "fever coat". It means that the mother had a fever or an infection while pregnant, so the kittens with these markings were stressed in the womb. That's new to me. Have you ever heard of that before? The coat will eventually return to normal coloring. Shucks... I wanted them to stay that way. I wanted to have an "appaloosa" kitten! :)
Here's the mom, Miss BW (yah... I've never been very good at naming my cats!). She's looking a bit stressed herself about the photography session, but not terribly so. She didn't object to me handling her newborns.
I think she'll be a good mommy. Now just so we don't have tomcat problems again.
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