Seriously. My first litter was two, my second was four and then three, my third was four, and now I have FIVE tinycats plus their mama. I guess it's a good sign that they keep trusting me with more and more kitties?

This batch doesn't have names yet or even definite sexes, except for the mama who was unofficially named "Pepper" by the Humane Society people. They were strays rescued from MADACC (animal control), and the foster people said the kittens were "about a month" old, but there's a world of difference between these guys and the Sparrows who were also supposedly a month old.

These kittens are still nursing, for one thing, and their ears are still tiny. Their eyes are open, but they're not really walking a lot yet, just kind of wobble-crawling around. They go "meep" all the time which is adorable. I haven't heard the mama talk, she mostly purrs and a couple of times she's made the annoyed "mrrt" sound, I assume when a kitten is nomming on her too hard.

She's very friendly and will rub up on your hand, but she was pretty freaked out when she first got here. I let her out to explore while I put the kittens in their bed, and she immediately found the darkest corner, which is the back of my closet. I put a blanket over the cage so that she'd have a dark corner in there too, and she seems fine with the arrangement.

The mama is a beautiful speckled tortoiseshell, mostly black with sprinkles of orange. The kittens are one calico, one tortie, one black or possibly very dark gray, and two medium gray. I think one of the grays is female and one is male, but I can't be sure. Haven't gotten a good look at the black one yet.

The mama is eating and eating, which I guess she has to do because her kittens are also eating and eating. She's pretty skinny and has a patch of fur on her head that's matted or stuck together somehow. Hopefully after a few days she will put on some weight and be able to groom herself thoroughly. Right now I'm just giving her as much wet kitten food as she will eat, with dry food for snacking on when I'm away.

And yes, they are still at the stage where she eats their waste. It's kind of gross, but also kind of cool that cat mamas do everything themselves. No diapers necessary. Mama hasn't used the litter box herself yet though. I think the kittens are nursing so much that she doesn't have anything left!

The grey ones keep coming out and wobbling around, especially the one I think is a girl. The others are content to nurse and sleep for now. I'll take pictures tomorrow, since it's hard to photograph dark-colored cats at any time, let alone at night in a cage with a blanket over it.

I think the mama deserves a more dignified name than Pepper. Although, I was thinking I could go with a "spice" theme for naming the kittens. You know, Anise, Coriander, Nutmeg, etc. Ha. But I still want to give the mama a proper name.

Name suggestions welcome as always!