Kally & Her Kittens

Kally is on the right. She is the mother of these four kittens. The black and white one on the left is Kitty, so named by my husband because it looks like the cat he had when he was younger. The orange tiger is Twin. It's replica was killed at a very early age on the road in front of our house. The solid black is, of course, Blackie. And the calico is Junior, not for my driver, but because it's a calico like its mother only its colors are a lot brighter. As you can tell, we did not take great liberties when naming these cats. We grabbed at the first name that came to us at a particular moment.

Mom is due to deliver another litter any day. She'll have them somewhere on our property (hopefully in the garage/barn out back), and after a month or so she will bring them out for us to see, proud as a peacock like the first time. For an "untamed" cat she is the best mother I've ever seen. Her kittens always come first. Even now, when she needs nourishment the most, she makes sure they eat first. And there's always plenty there so no one goes hungry. They get fed canned food twice a day and there's always a supply of dry food and fresh water.

These are my "kids." They still keep their distance, but they seem to be getting braver week by week. Maybe one day one of them will let me get near enough to pet it. I have been referring to them as "it" because we don't know what sex they are. We always thought Kally was a male, but she has since proved differently.

So, time will tell.