Moira

Moira was the third cat we trapped.  She would often come up to eat after Moses and Atlas.  She was also very pregnant, and is the most protective and angry of all of the cats we have rescued.  She hissed, spat, clawed and chewed at the trap.  I got this picture by raising the sheet that covered her and standing back.  (Can you see how she is ready to strike?) We named her Moira after the name for the screensaver on the old Macs--moire de cive?--which was an ever-changing fractal pattern of colors.  Moira is a tortie tabby with long hair.  We don't know much about her yet because she has not had her vet appointment, but we are guessing she is the mother of Moses and Atlas.  We trapped her on a Thurs night and she was going to be picked up and taken to  the vet to be spayed Saturday morning.  However, Saturday morning when I looked into her carrier (we transported her from the trap on Friday) here is what I saw:

Moira had three kittens during the night--or so we thought.  It was only later that afternoon that we discovered there were actually four.  Here they are below.  We took this picture when they were, I believe, 4 days old.   They were born on April 11th after midnight--so, April 12th.   Again, we cannot be sure, but at least one sure looks like Tom Bombadil, doesn't he?

From left to right:  Opal, who gets her name because she is like an opal, not defined by one color.  (We also knew she was a girl because it is extremely rare genetically to have a male tortie), Pippin (named in honor of Bombadil who most likely was his father), Francis (worked for either a boy or a girl so we thought that was appropriate) and Agnes (who we are guessing is female).  When we moved Moira to her kitty condo (see next page for more pictures) we were able to handle the kittens.  It was an amazing experience and a real reward after all of the scooping, swatting, cleaning and trying to feed without being maimed.  It is also wonderful to know that these kittens will never procreate, and that each one of them will find loving homes through the shelter.  While the kittens were out we attempted to determine their sex (very hard to do when they reach a certain stage of development in the first few weeks).  We could still be wrong about some but we will know once they are old enough to be fixed.  Right now we are hoping all of the cats are healthy and will slowly but surely become more affectionate.