The tiny stray I took in turned out to be pregnant!
Void and friends 🖤🤍💙💛🤎Yea we’ve had her for just under a month now and are making good progress! We’ve been sitting next to her wet food and she’ll come over and eat right next to us!
Still haven’t gotten to pet her much yet. I’m crossing my fingers that day is around the corner haha. Luckily according to the vet she’s all good health wise so we’re giving her some space until she really warms up.
It is around the corner. My former 9 years on the street feral boy ate for several weeks before allowing pets. And it was even weeks before he would take food with us around. Now he sits on our chests and rubs his cheeks on ours, and loves head kisses. Keep being gentle and kind and you’ll get those pets!
Thank you for being so patient with her!
I credit my wife. He had lived under my house for a good while and I had tried to get close to him, but I’m a very large and loud man, and I’m almost certain he has abuse history based on his behaviors. It wasn’t until I started dating my wife and hanging out on the porch that he came closer. She has a gentle manner and a very sweet voice. He must have figured if she was okay with me then I was okay.
She’s still the overall favorite and I totally understand that. I find her soft and comforting so a tiny fuzzy cat must find her even more so. It’s like a 70/30 thing. I get my fair share!
Edit: I am pretty overwhelmed by all the compliments. I was definitely not grubbing for them. I did show my wife on my lunch break and she and I were both very touched, so thank you. We showed the kitty too. He can’t read but did head bump the phone.
It does sadden me a little that so many people find someone speaking fondly of their significant other noteworthy. Please understand that each and every one of you deserve that and more.
how you described your cat, this process, and your wife is just so tender and thoughtful and wonderful. genuinely made me feel things and think about my own love of my life. 🥲 thanks, internet stranger, for being you.
Aw shucks. Thank you for saying that! I had a lot of really rough history before her. I was treated terribly in several very long relationships, and after that I was often thoughtless and selfish myself in the single world as a misguided sort of revenge against the world.
One day a deep conversation with a friend who said I was capable of being much more than I was choosing to be really cut to my core. I decided to get it together and be a better man. Stopped drinking almost entirely, started choosing kindness and honesty whenever I could.
A few months after that decision I met her, and wanting to treat her right has made me a better person every day for three and a half years. I mess up but I really do try and really do think she’s the bee’s knees.
Thanks for being you, too!
You sound like a great guy. I'm glad you listened to your friend. If you hadn't, you would have missed out on all the happiness you have now. I hope you two get to grow old together 💕
That’s very kind. I’d like to think I’m a pretty good dude these days but I always discuss when I was a crappy one pretty openly. I think it’s part of accountability to realize that was me, too.
I hope we do too. All the best to you.
And by openly talking about your past, you’re helping those that might not think there’s a way to make changes to see that there absolutely is hope❤️ keep doing you bro, hugs!
That’s the kind of friend we all need 💕
Saving this for when I finally decide to get my shit together, if that ever happens.
It’s really doable, I promise. You’ll look back and wonder at how easy it was to change once you really decided on it. (Note that I’m not including people with mental illnesses or bad addiction issues here, I know those aren’t as easy as deciding)
In the end what worked for me to get sober didn't come from a "stop drinking whiskey" angle, it came from a "stop doing shit you regret the next morning". I definitely needed to get on psych meds and have therapy to get there though, no one's a hard drinker for no reason.
Don't know if this is what you're talking about but figured worth mentioning the thing about quitting shame not booze (but also def about quitting booze).
You will, buddy, I'm here for you
You’re an A+ human being and your wife sounds amazing. Thank you both. Y’all give me hope. Seriously.
this is beautiful :,) i love this for you
The way you described your wife was very sweet. She’s not even here, yet you’re speaking so kindly about her. I wish that were more common.
I love bragging about her. Funny and smart and nice. I have nothing in common with the “my old ball and chain” guys. I walked through some real hell to find her, and her path wasn’t easy either. She’s the gold medal.
Awe, love this whole comment. 🫶
We love you back!
This is the most wholesome and loving description of a loved woman and cat and I’m glad you guys all have each other. Seems like you are all better off together and aware of the love held for you.
Thank you so much. It’s a tough truth that having a rough life can make you really appreciate a good one. All three of us had some dark pages. Which sucks, I wish we had not. But then we wouldn’t have each other, and I would not change that for anything.
Totally feel that. I have three lovely rescue cats and the love of my life. My partner and I are pretty new to adult life and moved away from home together not super long ago. We are both so caught up in surviving and we’ve all been through a lot. I hope to heal and be able to breathe and grow with them. I think your comment made me realize I need to express how much I care for them more so I thank you for that. I’m so lucky and I want them to feel how much love I have for them not just know it.
That….is beautiful.
Thank you. :) It is a special connection to have found. A good life.
We showed the kitty too. He can’t read but did head bump the phone.
heart explodes
'Hmmmm, that giant human hasn't crushed or eaten that little human yet, and sometimes he even feeds her. Maybe he'll feed me, too...'
You are a good man. So wholesome. Need more of you in this world!
Your wife has a keeper! What a sweet comment❤️❤️❤️
We showed the kitty too. He can’t read but did head bump the phone.
Omg, I bet my boy Ivan would do the same exact thing, lol.
She’s still the overall favorite and I totally understand that. I find her soft and comforting so a tiny fuzzy cat must find her even more so. It’s like a 70/30 thing.
My wife and I have had two boy cats, two girl cats. The boy cats seem to like everybody about equal, even guests. The girl cats? They each picked one of us and holy crap, we were/are THEIR person. I think 70/30 is a fair breakdown. Obviously a small sample size, but the gender correlations are interesting.
This is so incredibly sweet. 💗
👍
Well heck aren’t you a bloody angel.
Everyone’s commenting on your marriage and you but I’m here for the cat. 😬 What’s your cat’s name?
(Also, your post is very sweet)
My girl was like that. Humane society said she was the meanest cat they’d ever had. Now she’s just a big ball of cuddles. When I first got her she was mean as an old wet hen. But today she’s a great cat. She didn’t like men at all but loved the kids even when we first got her. I figured the previous owner was a man and mean to her but kids must have been good to her. You’d never know today how ornery she was.
I also adopted a "mean cat," they had a red card on his enclosure at the shelter and said the last two families who adopted him brought him right back. I think he'd just been treated really badly in the past because he was terrified of people's feet for a long time and would flinch and run away or hiss and scratch at random provocations. Eventually he figured out nobody was going to be mean to him any more and ended up being the cat that always has to be sitting on and shedding on a human at all times.
The bengal I found frozen next to death a few years ago took 3 years before allowing snuggles or real pets.
She hid for the first year.
Year two she would be seen but would always find somewhere to hide.
Around year 3 she came out and started exploring with us at home.
Now she’s demands snuggles.
We have one, who has a name but we call him dumpster cat. He has a great life in the house with us but he only really loves my son and is terrified of everyone else. He adores his cat brothers though, and snuggles with them every chance he can, it is so sweet .
Feral adoptions are the fucking best. It's like I've got real life Pokemon.
My void, who started off a teeny baby who now is like 12 pounds and still sleeps on my face, is the most loving animal I've ever had or known, dog, cat, bird, whatever.
You give them a safe environment and they literally never stop thanking you.
One of my cats I've had for two years and he'll only come close to me, he'll blink at me and he'll chatter when he sees me and sleep in the same vicinity, but even I'm only allowed to stroke him three times on his head and then he's had enough lol. Everyone else he just fucks right off.
He'll follow my husband around the garden though and accept his treats if at a safe distance.
Fucking weirdo. Tbf to him he is literally feral in the true sense of the word. So any type of advancement I'll take, lol.
Yeah, my 16-17ish year old was a former feral. Took me nine months of feeding him, then he let me pet him, then he just walked into my house. He's now a certified snuggler.
Awesome, my feral girl took slightly over 2 years. It took a damn long time but it was well worth it and now she demands to sleep on my lap everyday.
Bruh I read “street feral boy” and took it literally and was so confused…I’m like “what?! he took in a street feral boy and didn’t let pets around him for a few months?”…..I re-read it…I’m an idiot 🤣
Does she have a little cardboard box or a crate to hide away in? It settles mama cats and gives them a feeling of security with their babies?
Doesn’t need to be anything fancy, basic but safe with some blankets or old towels
Thank you for looking after her💛
She does! We setup multiple different options for her in the room, all cozy with blankets anddddd she ignored all of them🥲
This is proof that she is a cat.
Lol
Lol, my formerly-stray mamacat did exactly the same. Chose the bare carpet in the corner. 🤦♀️
She also did a great job cleaning up after herself. We went to sleep having one slightly restless mamacat and woke up to mamacat with 5 clean, happily nursing kittens, lol.
Ours decided the correct place was to jump up and have her babies in the middle of our bed, between us, at 3:00am.
She knew where it was safe, I guess.
Awww.... I think ours might have done that, too, but we'd just pulled her in off the streets 10 days before and hadn't yet gotten her tested for stuff she could potentially give to our resident cats. So she was shut in her own room (also for her and the future kittens safety, as she was very obviously pregnant when she came home so we didn't even consider introductions). She actually pulled up the carpet under the door so much I couldn't open the door at first! I had to reach under the door and fold the carpet back down so it didn't get in the way. She definitely tried to come get us. She is just the sweetest, best little mama. 🥰
I had multiple birth boxes set up in the quietest room. Nope. She just squirted them out on the carpet while walking around. Lol. It was somethin!
Put down your most expensive sweater that you absolutely don't want her on. Tell her to stay off of it. Put something uncomfortable under it like a pile of lego bricks. Wait 30 seconds.
Lmao
Start with a cardboard box with newspaper in and see if she takes to that.
My cat ignored everything else until we tried that. So we made her favourite cardboard box into a mini Tudor house and replaced the newspaper with carpet and she loves it!
Ahhh haha. Absolutely typical! Silly wee soul she is, she’d be so much happier and less OMG DANGER 🥰 thanks so much for replying. She’s so lucky to have you guys
can't wait to see more pics of the babies!
The more you hang around but don't pressure her, the less she'll perceive you as a threat. It's why people who are allergic to cats get the most attention from cats. Ignoring a cat is being polite. She'll definitely warm up over time. 🤗
Ignore them while doing something interesting and eating tuna. But seriously ignore them but narrate softly and do stuff like read a magazine
Yes! This is how my cat warmed up to my daughter. He started coming and sitting on the end of her bed while I read her bedtime stories. Now he’s ’big spoon’ while she sleeps 🤣🙈
Soon she’ll be like
Churru is a god send when trying to get a cat to love you! There must be kitty crack in them, it'll help associate you with yummy treats and not just around feeding times.
Once the babies are older you’ll interact with the kittens and your scents mix and she’ll calm down a lot around you. Especially once she realizes you’re helping her with them.
Yeah she’ll see you as a babysitter and say THANK GOD these hoomans are taking care of these little shits. Less work for me.
Her pregnancy hormones can play a role in this, too. Sometimes momma cats become a whole new woman after they’re done raising their babies and their bodies calm down.
She’s beautiful and reminds me of my Momma Cat, who we rescued with one litter and was smuggling in another. We just celebrated her 5th gotcha day, but she’s still a spicy girl who only interacts with us on her terms.
Oh it's so close and with both my super shy guys the moment they approached me to pet them once they then hunted me down and did figure 8s around my legs for a couple weeks non stop making up for all the years of no pets. The shy ones that adopt you back just do something special to your heart.
They do come around in time. My cat started out as a hissy, spitty, scratchy hot mess. Hiding under the bed for 2 months. It took 5 months now, and she's sitting next to me on the couch and aggressively snuggling. She still swats at me if I pet her too much. But, she's much better at being a "pet".
This is good patience. It will pay off.
When we got our boy from the shelter we tied a toy to the end of a fishing rod and “fished” for him to get him to come out of hiding. Took a couple days but he’s a giant lap cat now that is super attached to us lol
When she wants a break from the babies you’ll be her best friend!
You are an angel….gave momma safe place to have her kittens. She knows it, a little time and space, she’ll settle down. She’s got a lot going on right now😂
If she trusts you enough to eat next to you it is bound to happen that she’ll let you pet her. She might just be timid still since she’s recently given birth
Then being pregnant(in my experience) can make them take a little longer to warm up! It makes sense. She’s a momma now she has to be cautious! Somthing that’s worked really good for us is talking softly through a door just comforting them. Results may very and tank you for helping those babies
You'll get there for sure. We had a feral cat that would attack people when they tried to touch her out of self defense. 2 years later she's the sweetest and fattest one we've got
It's really a spectrum and depends on their personality.
It took about a year before one of my former ferals was happy with pets. He comes and sits next to me and makes little "meep" noises when he wants attention, pets and belly rubs. He is still terrified of being picked up tho - and will sometimes pee everywhere out of fear if I try to do that.
these are MY loafs, yous cants haves thems
but feel free to watch over them when I hand them off to you and feed them wet food only when theyre old enough, k thx baaaaiiii
she ran out of ink 🤭❤️
This made my heart happy haha
Best printer ever!!!
We never gonna be able to find the daddy
Adorable
We have 3D printers using Toner now?! What a time to be alive!
We had the same experience 6 months ago!! Only difference is that LG (little girl the mom) is very affectionate and trusted us immediately. We have all 5 of them still and love every moment
chubby orange belly 😍
Sweet girl. Maybe she had humans before she was a stray. Lucky you!
Adorable!!
Please get some warm towels (put in dryer for a bit), a heating pad or some blankets for and her babies🥹 a kennel or box would be good so she can have a her own space in a little nest that’s darker inside. It will calm them
Black on blanket looks like a puppy, gray one looks like a NY rat.
That is the look of a mom who did not quite see this coming. XD
Where did these potatoes come from, where am I, who are you??
This is not my beautiful wife!
Definitely her beautiful house NOW😹
Well how did I get here?!
Same as it ever was
She looks just as surprised as you sound 😂
lmfao I was gonna say she looks like she just found out herself
To be fair, I don't think cats are necessarily ever expecting kittens to come out of them until it happens.
I’ve wondered that before, I got a tiny 6 month old cat that ended up being pregnant and she was wild. She would drag her big belly over fences and up trees and stuff and jump from tall heights, it worried me for the kittens but I don’t think she had any idea what was growing in her.
Then for a few days before the birth she laid around all day and ate a ton but I think that was her just her giving her body what it wanted rather than her consciously prepping for birth
I was kinda wondering that after I finished laughing- must be CRAZY to all of a sudden go into labor not knowing wtf is going on
“I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant”
We took in a pregnant stray when I was a kid and she walked in circles during her labor and birthed one kitten while walking around.
Plop
Looking like bubbles from trailer park boys
I think it was a prom night situation
Congrats! Your printer came fully stocked with ink I guess, mine only had enough for 1.5 before running out haha
Haha your comment confused the heck out of me because I only saw the three and I had to go back to look for the void kitty!
Pics!
Pics pics pics!!!!!! Please
WE NEED A PICTURE!
Happened to me, too. Also, a black cat. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s a breed characteristic.
female cats can take different donors while they're in heat. so this is why the kittens are different colors.
tbf, black is slimming.
Thank you for giving her a safe space! Keep in mind that new mother cats are flooded with hormones, so her behavior while nursing and caring for these kittens may not reflect her actual personality (or even what she thinks about you). This is essentially a 5-6 week pause in her socialization process. :D
That’s so good to know! She’s been hissing (sometimes) when I bring her her food, even though I’m a distance away! I was getting worried but she has started to calm a bit. But confirmation that’s sorta normal is a relief!
Yeah a feral who I was absolute besties with hissed at me until her kittens were weaned. She actually presented them to me while moving them from the drainage ditch to my shed and she still hissed!
Dese are my behbehs harmthemandIwilleatyoureyeballs aren't they beautiful?
That’s it! 🤣
Give her lots of slow blinks so shes knows your not a threat.
Something I was told is that you should be feeding her kitten food and more than the recommended amount. It's more nutrient rich than adult cat food and she needs all she can get while feeding. Additional wet food as well.
I’m assuming you’re going to get her spayed once the babies are weaned? Because that usually also settles down spicy cats. I’ve known feral cats that HATED human contact before they got fixed, and miraculously started accepting chin scratches afterwards. It’s all about the hormones.
Flooded with hormones ... like every new Mom!
Sorry, didn't mean to be speciesist. :D
No, you were not at all being speciesist. Unfortunately, it's hard to convey emotion & empathy via text.
TY for teaching me a new term (I looked it up as English is not my first language). This why I like Reddit. It's really is a great forum. So many kind & helpful people in almost all subReddits (and, of course, jerks too) -- truly reflective of the best (and worst) of us.
My rescue was such a joy even after she gave birth to 6 beautiful little kittens. She wanted to show them all to us, and wanted to find a nice comfy spot nearby when we slept and bring them all over for a cuddle.
She was so sweet. That was 12 years ago and she's long since passed but her babies are still around. I hate that we have so little time with our cats. I really do. She deserved to live longer than most humans, she was the literal perfect cat.
The second photo: "What have I gotten myself into?"
Probably a face I made early on when my daughter was tiny lol.
This was absolutely the face I made when it really sunk in that they were sending me home with a baby and zero supervision. 😂
Lool they look like little burritos 😍 so adorable!!!
🌘🔻🌒
⚫️ᆺ⚫️
Trojan/Stealth mode hits again :)
I always wondered why one of the most common brands of condom in the States was called Trojan. :D
Right?? Just on the irony of it, I won't use them. I just can't lol
Ramses had 132 kids and they named a condom brand after him. 0_0
She’s gorgeous! Hope her kittens grow up healthy and well ♥️
and not feral, which is the best part! Call your local shelter; they can maybe give you a good rate/free and help with finding homes as well!
As someone who also seems to be a magnet for feral cats, I applaud you. Well done!
Oh no
Hope you can get her spayed after the kittens get old enough! Shes a doll
First thing on my to do list!
thanks for taking her in OP. you’re a good egg 🥚
Awesome!! All the best for her 😊
Aww, she looks like a protective mama cat. 😻
The big eyes are so cute! Protective mom
She looks as surprised as you sound.
Edit to add: Holy hell, someone else wrote pretty much the same thing. :D
Kudos to you for taking good care of your new family.
The same but opposite happened to me! I took in a grey stray that turned out to be pregnant and had 3 void kittens. Now I have 4 cats.
What is that panic face in the second picture, I’m laughing so hard right now
What a cute baby. Gosh she’s barely bigger than the babies. Oh yeah, and her actual babies are cute too haha
I had a surprise-pregnant stray as well. By the time I discovered she was pregnant, I didn’t want to kill the babies, so now I have 4 cats. 😂 (eta: we actually have 6 cats in the house, but 2 moved in when my stepson moved in. They mostly get along. Mostly)
Just add food & water, and you get instant PooFs
Omg poor mama is terrified. Please get a box and some places to hide with babies
She has multiple hideaway boxes in the room! We made her a little nesting tent with blankets, a cardboard box with some blankets, and she has a bed that’s got a roof over it….she ignored all of them 🥲
Oh good well thank you for trying haha. Typical cat.
Of course she did. Because, cat.
R/trojancats
Um. Does she know she's supposed to have black kittens and not white ones?
When the printer runs out of toner.
It’s crazy how often taken-in strays turn out to be pregnant. They know exactly what they’re doing, those scheming little opportunists.
r/stealthbombers in that second pic
Aw her big eyes 😻
She looks just as shocked as you.
That second picture screams, "WHAT I DO NOW?!?"
Same thing happened to me but she had 7 little ones 😭
They’re all adopted out now and she’s spayed but Lordy for a while there….
That face says no I swear I'm as shocked as you, I would have said something
You got a promo: buy 1 get 4
I can haz kitten!? Those sweet babies should be easy to find homes for. If not... ;)
What a little void!! It sounds like you’re taking great care of her and her kids. Thoughts and prayers to anything climbable when those kittens hit 6 weeks 💀
This defies the laws of physics, btw. Nothing can come from nothingness (a void being the ultimate nothing). Void can only produce more void, and yet an adorable set of lights emerged from this nothingness. So cute 🥰
Mamma cat is so beautiful. I love Stripes too. I’ve named them Stripes and now I’m emotionally attached, damn it! Keep us updated!
The tiny stray snuck in a few tinier ones!
Looks like you were both surprised
BUT WHAT IS HER NAME?! 😭
……………We named her Flop 😅 Those are her Floplings™️ (names to be determined)
Awwww! Flip, Flap and Flup! 😁
And Flep! There’s a voidling hiding in mama’s fur!
Aww look at her wide eyes. So cute with her little babies. What a blessing you are to her for taking her in ❤️
She looks surprised to know it too
Samesies!
FYI, the "white ones" will probably be seal points, which is an absolutely beautiful color. It looks like they have some darker coloring around the nose already, which makes perfect sense based on moms coloring. Seal points are generally black cats with partial albinoism. Cat genetics are fun :)
The cat looks as surprised she was pregnant as you were!
Yep. She was looking for a safe place to have her kittens. Now it's your responsibility to house all of them.
Trojan Cat
💜💜💜
It's wonderful that you were able to give this mother-to-be a home.
The void duplicates
Aww beautiful lil fluffballs 🥰
Picture two is so adorable. What a great mama.
She looks just as surprised!
Very defensive mama void with star kittens.
Her face!!! Poor baby lol! 😳
She looks just as surprised
lol that face! And omg those little potatoes! So cute
They are adorable! Make sure you keep kitten with mom for 12 weeks. See a vet asap for checkups. Enjoy!
Momma is freaked, I hope she will settle ❤️