May 11, 2011 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

So over the last month or so, we have been watching our barn cat, Smokey, getting...ummm...wider.  Every day it seemed to take the poor thing longer to waddle across the yard and every day she seemed to want more in her bowl....  In fact, she has even been getting closer to our family, wanting to be around us more and more.

This is our poor girl on Mother's Day...hmmmm ??? 

May 11th started just as any other day.  Work...school....chores....all the usual.  That is until we came home and Smokey was waiting at the front door....a much thinner Smokey.  The girls and I headed to the barn, with the new Momma hot on our heels and looking very proud of herself. 

Once again there has been a birth on JADA Farms.  Now for those of you who follow our blog, you will know that last year our Smokey surprised us with a litter of four little additions.  Unfortunately, Smokey was new to our little family, was not as healthy and didn't trust us as much as today.  For this reason, she moved her kittens from their bed of hay in the barn to a small shed over by Andy's shop.  To this day, we are still guessing as to whether illness or predators were the reason the new little family did not survive. 

Last year's outcome caused us to be concerned about this new litter.  So after some discussion, May 12th was moving day!  Yes that's right, I caved and got Andy to agree to move our Smokey and her little ones into our front porch in order to give them the best possible start to their lives.  This of course was with the condition that they are not staying.

The wee ones got a fresh new clean blanket to cozy up in, a box to provide them privacy and a home where their Momma could take care of them without having to worry about predators.  It took about two minutes for Smokey to make herself at home.  Actually she did remarkably well with the whole move.  She never got upset and doesn't mind us checking on her or the babies at all.

Since the big event, the weather has once again turned chilly and damp....okay so the temperature dropped from +25 to +6 and the sun decided to disappear and be replaced with wind and rain.  Our little kittens snuggled in closer to keep out the cold.  Smokey was going to need a little more help keeping them comfy.  Luckily, we happen to have a supply of something that is extremely good for warm and cozy. 

Alpaca fleece...add keeping 2 day old kittens warm to the list of uses of this gorgeous fleece!

Thanks again Vincent...



I have been taking photos every day, watching the little ones grow...and so has Leroy, our house cat.
Leroy is the first one at the porch door when I go out to check on the kittens and would love nothing more than to gain access to our porch.  (Someone needs to explain to him that they are not staying)

Now on May 17th, eyes are beginning to open, little cries are demanding Momma's attention and three little furry bundles are becoming more and more active, crawling around exploring their box nursery.  All seem very healthy and we have started trying to find forever homes for everyone to go to in another 7 weeks.  We have been trying to come up with some temporary names....just for identification of course....they are not staying! 

Come back and watch us grow...