The last weeks of Ciri’s pregnancy went very well. She was relaxed and happy and ultimately gained about 2.2 pounds (1 kg). In the last two weeks, I noticed a lot of movement on her right side. Her left side was much calmer. She was round, but not excessively so, so I thought she was carrying two or at most three kittens. But it’s still a guess….

From day 60 onwards, we became more alert, and one of us even slept with her at night. But just like last time, she waited until day 65, the average day a cat gives birth.

That day, Tuesday, December 30th, it became clear in the morning that it was coming. From then on, I was always with her. Later in the afternoon, the signs became clearer, and she started moving to the whelping box more often.

Around 6:15 PM, she lost her mucus plug, and an hour later, desent contractions began. Around 8:30 PM, strong contractions began, and not much later, the first kitten was born. A sorrel silver male kitten weighing a whopping 110 grams. His size had injured her badly, but after the birth, Ciri immediately became very caring and sweet to him. The little one seemed quite hungry, because he almost immediately searched for a nipple, which he quickly found.

Everything was calm and relaxed. Ciri took good care of the boy, and he seemed fine. About 75 minutes later, new contractions started, and within a few minutes, the second kitten was visible. Just like the first, it was headfirst, how lucky for Ciri. It was a beautiful moment to watch the kitten slowly glide into the world. I immediately saw the color of his face, black-silver, but also that this wasn’t a small kitten either. And that proved to be the case once he was fully born; he was a large kitten too, and also a boy. He looked a bit more delicately built than his brother, but he weighed the same, also 110 grams.

He hadn’t caused Ciri as much pain and needed a little more time to recover from the journey. She washed him, and after we dried him further, to keep him from getting cold. It took him a while to understand how the milk bar worked. Finally, he realized he had to do something himself, and then he couldn’t let go ;-).

Now there was another pause, and an hour later, around 11.00 PM, things seemed to be starting up again. But it remained just a few (after) contractions. Ciri’s litter was complete with two kittens.

Ciri is a perfect mother, and of course experienced after her first litter. She’s relaxed and take very good care of her boys. Besides their color, their personalities are also clearly different. The sorrel silver is less enthusiastic when his mother goes grocery shopping; he quickly makes himself heard. Picking up and weighing him also always gets a comment. The black silver is much calmer and less vocal; he accepts everything more easily. Over the course of the week, they also received their names: Julius for the sorrel silver and Jaro for the black silver. The second names aren’t entirely certain yet. They are now ten days old and both weigh over 250 grams. Today I also saw Jaro’s eyes open a little. Julius is apparently still waiting a while, but that won’t be too long either.

After two lost litters, it’s wonderful to have such beautiful creatures back home. It’s truly wonderful, and I’m already looking forward to their next phases, where they’ll increasingly explore the world around them and interact more with each other and us.