When one resides on a working farm, finding kittens here and there is not a terribly uncommon occurrence, especially if livestock is present. Stray cats often seek shelter in barns on farms where there is heat from materials like hay and straw and typically choose to nest in these areas prior to delivering kittens, if they’re pregnant.
When Blaine and I moved into our home, we spotted a stray cat hanging around within a few weeks after getting settled. I started leaving some food out for her, and after a little while, I noticed she seemed a little more plump and figured she was pregnant. When I found a litter of five kittens a few weeks later in a hosta bush, my suspicions were confirmed, and we ended up rescuing one kitten from this litter who was abandoned and brought him into our home.
Sure enough, one of the kittens from this same litter ended up coming back here the following Spring. I named her Luna, and I’ve been feeding her regularly for over a year now. I had absolutely no inclination that she, too, was pregnant, but upon hearing yelps and meows coming from a barn, I went in to investigate and found five more absolutely adorable kittens.
Unfortunately, Luna did abandon two of her kittens, and with the weather getting colder and these babies being so vulnerable, I brought them both inside. I would love to keep them, but our home isn’t that big and we already have a dog and two cats; thankfully, they’re both doing quite well, and a girl on my rugby team is going to take them and give them a loving home.
I never would have thought I would be juggling so many different felines at one time, but I love it, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Photo by Kote Puerto on Unsplash
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