Update on Pucha

On April 19, 2007 Pucha (my cat) gave birth. It is a crazy story. At about 3:00am Pucha I woke up and found Pucha in bed with me. Before this was no big deal, she always sleeps with me. However, since Pucha has been pregnant she wants nothing to do with me, or anyone for that matter. So, when Pucha started cuddling up with me in bed, I knew something was up. She was extraordinarily affectionate: purring, rubbing up against me, and rolling around. This is my first experience with a pregnant cat, so I have no idea what the warning signs are for a cat in labor. After about a half an hour of Pucha being nice and cuddly, she began to pant and I could tell that every now and then she would give a little push. Eventually, she also began meowing, which woke my roommate Eva up. At around 4:00am Pucha’s behavior became even weirder. She started tossing and tumbling and the pants, pushes, and meows were more frequent. I could feel that it was about to happen. I looked down and saw that a tail was beginning to make its way out. This freaked Pucha out, which in turn, also freaked Eva and me out. In addition to the tail peeking out, blood also starting coming out; so Eva and I maneuvered Pucha down onto the floor. The scene that followed will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Pucha started jumping and tumbling around, while at the same time making some really weird sounds. Within seconds, minutes, I’m not really sure; she had given birth to a kitten (a small, wet, ratty looking thing). Our room was splattered in blood and some of our clothes in the closet got a little messy as well, but we both sighed and relaxed a little when it was all over. Pucha began cleaning the kitten and tending to it. We made the two of them comfortable in a box with some of Eva’s sheets that were a victim of Pucha’s birthing. We knew that there were more kittens waiting to be born, so we wanted to contain Pucha as much as possible. Eva and I didn’t sleep much after all the excitement, but it seemed as though Pucha was done for a while. According to Eva’s mother, who lives on a farm in Austria, there can be a long lapse between the birth of the first kitten and the rest. In the morning, Pucha kept bringing the little kitten to Eva and my beds. The kitten didn’t do much; wasn’t making any attempt to take Pucha’s milk or anything. What did I know?! We left the next morning to go to work and locked Pucha, the kitten, and the box up in the bathroom. This way if she were to give birth while we were gone, the damage would be minimal and contained in a small space. I came back after lunch and Miguel (another volunteer from Austria), asked to see the kitten. I took him into my room, thinking maybe we’d find more than just the one. Nope. I opened the bathroom door and Pucha ran out. The items on my shelf were all knocked down on the floor and I could not find the kitten. All of I sudden I heard Miguel let out a shout – there was a kitten head on the floor! The rest of the body was completely gone. We both stood in complete shock for a while and came to the conclusion that Pucha had eaten the kitten. Is this normal?? As word spread throughout Casa Personal, we all were really confused, grossed out, and in awe. Eventually, I put the head in a plastic bag, cleaned up my things, and stopped trying to figure out what had happened while we were gone.

Later that day (almost 12 hours later), Pucha gave birth to two more kittens. This time it was head-first, much quicker, less messy, and less noisy. I guess this is how it is supposed to happen. This made us start to consider that in the animal world maybe it’s normal to devour your baby if it comes out wrong. If anyone has any insight, please let me know. Later that night when we came home from hogar, we found a third kitten had appeared. All three were sucking away (another good sign). Many volunteers came over to see the new kittens, take pictures, and check to make sure they were all alive and accounted for.

The next afternoon, 36 hours after Pucha first gave birth, a fifth kitten was born. This one came out tail-first, just like the first poor kitten. We could tell it didn’t have a chance right away. It was smaller than the others, its head was deformed, and it couldn’t maneuver itself to reach Pucha to drink milk. The next day, I found the kitten, dead. At least this time Pucha had the decency to bury it underneath a blanket. Out of sight, out of mind.
To let you know the results of the Casa Personal bet, it’s pretty complicated. Do we count live babies, total babies, or half babies? Dani bet on three-and-a-half kittens. Do we consider when she first started giving birth, or when she finished? In the end, the fact that Pucha ate one of her babies and left us a head nulls and voids all bets placed. In the end, we have three healthy, cute, and cuddly kittens. They will stay with Eva and me for about two months and we already have owners who are waiting to claim them. Only in Honduras....