Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
Four heavily pregnant cats sought help quickly
Gut Aiderbichl is expecting many kittens
Vfour white tabby cats urgently needed a new forever home. A lady told the animal emergency centre that the owner of the catswas suffering from severe dementia and needed to go into a retirement home, and sees himself as out of work, his four cats and their unborn babies. The lady herself is also ill and is unable to take care of the pregnant animals.
So that’s how the four “Myladies” Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter at the animal visitor centre of Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf.
Action had to be taken quickly ...
Autumn, about five years old and a white tabby, was probably the cat that only had a few days left until her babies were born. The animal keepers decided to bring Autumn to Maria Schmolln so that the three other cats would not be jealous when Autumn’s offspring were born.
In Maria Schmolln, Autumn was given a cosy “nest” to have her kittens. A cat’s pregnancy can last for different lengths of time. As a rule, the gestation period lasts between 63 and 67 days. Two weeks after arriving at Gut Aiderbichl, the time had come …
Autumn - her birth preparations
Autumn roamed around shortly before giving birth to find a suitable place to retreat to for the birth. Cats prefer a place where they don’t feel watched and can be undisturbed.
Like all cats shortly before giving birth, Autumn also showed typical behaviour, and the animal keepers knew that “it” was about to start:
- Autumn ate less
- the body temperature dropped below 38.5 degrees
- Autumn reacted to her environment with agitation. She made more noises and groomed herself more often.
- Shortly before giving birth, like all cat mums, she visited the litter tray more often, although she didn’t need to relieve herself.
- Autumn’s teats were more swollen and breast milk was leaking sporadically.
- The vagina secretes liquid discharge and a plug of mucus is released.
And here they are …
Talon, Leaf, Pumpkin, Weene, Lunar
All the kittens are doing well, are healthy and are already having a great time looking around. They are hungry all the time and hardly allow Autumn to rest. Autumn gallantly and patiently takes on her new task.
Talon – a coal-black tomcat – and his brother Leaf and Pumpkin are gorgeous little tomcats. The two sisters are called Weene and Lunar.
If you have a cat, you don’t need to fear being alone. –
Daniel Defoe (1660 – 1731), English writer
All the animals at Gut Aiderbichl ensure that people never suffer from boredom. We are never alone here.
Then we wait for the offspring of Spring, Summer and Winter….
