At the “It’s All About the Animals” cat shelter on Saturday morning, it was all about the kittens. Two momma cats gave birth the morning of April 23, but one small skinny “super-sweet” calico cat in particular was the star of the day when she delivered a super-size litter of kittens.
The young, pregnant, petite-framed cat arrived at the cat shelter in Rochester three weeks ago and recently caused quite a stir when her extraordinary pregnancy x-ray showed a triple-size litter of kittens. Twelve to be exact – far exceeding the average four to six kittens any regular cat pregnancy would produce.
“She was huge!” said Pamela Robinson, owner of the cat shelter, who eventually named the cat “Waddles” because of how she walked side-to-side with what Robinson described as “two great big balls” on each side of her. “When I saw the x-ray, I couldn’t even talk. It was like, where do you start counting?”
A litter of this size is pretty unusual, said Robinson. “Very unusual. It’s a big litter, that’s all I can tell you.”
On April 23, Waddles delivered 12 kittens and 10 survived. Waddles has her work cut out for her with only six nipples with which to feed her young. Robinson said all 10 kittens will need to be supplemented by bottle-feeding, which means that Robinson also has her work cut out for her.
Dr. Kimberly Suh of the Marion Animal Hospital assisted in the delivery of Waddles’ kittens, just in time before Suh moves away to Georgia, said Robinson.
“So this is going to be her going away present, and she is going to get to name all ten babies,” Robinson said.
It’s All About the Animals has limited its visiting hours to Sundays from 1:00 – 4:00 pm during its renovation. More information on the 501(c)(3) and the cats and kittens up for adoption can be found by visiting www.itsallabouttheanimals.org.
By Jean Perry