The Story of Me and Chililah - A special post celebrating the birth of her new kittens !

Dear Steemit friends:

I'm overly joyed to be sharing my story of my dear cat and friend, Chililah with you on this particular day. It's a special day because we get to celebrate the first time she's ever been a mother, delivering five beautiful angels to this world.

As you know, I have quite a number of cats, and I've had the pleasure of introducing a few of them to you, but this special day is dedicated to the new mummy, Chililah!

For most people, their stories with their furry friends begin from around the age of 12 to 13 weeks. This is because that the rough age that kittens become fully weaned, strong, and independent enough to leave their mother to seek out their new loving forever homes.

My story with Chililah differs from most people, because it starts from the first day she came to this world.

On March 2nd, 2016, my other dear friend, Amber delivered her first litter of five beautiful angels.

Since Amber is a Scottish Fold, and her fur coat consists of the colours grey, brown and black, her kittens have all inherited some these distinctive features from their mother. Isn't it remarkable that the kittens can have the same mother and father, and yet look quite diverse?

Chililah is the one with her mouth open, and she's also the only one with a dark grey, silver shaded coat of fur.

One way of judging a cats' character is through how they feed as little kittens. Chililah was always the most persistent and attentive drinker of milk. From the first day she was born, she would feed all day, even when her brothers and sisters were full, she'd continue feeding! Of course, Amber would go away from her nest for walks, and during this time, Chililah would sleep like an angel. Upon returning to the nest, Chililah would always be the first to find her favourite teat and continue drinking milk.

Before long, Chililah became the plumpest one out of the litter of 5, and her belly swelled very big and round.

Although I love each and every one of my cats, Chililah has always found a way to capture my heart. Owing to her Scottish Fold ancestry, she's always had such a round face, as round as her cute belly. Even as she grew into adolescence, she still had that round face that just makes my heart melt!

After 8 weeks or so, kittens are well on their way to breaking their milk dependency from their mother and will start to eat kitten foods. They can also control their bladders and defecate on their own. The harder part is learning how to use the litter tray.

Naming kittens is a lot easier once the kittens have developed more distinguishable personalities. You must be curious as to why I named her Chililah?

Well, the reason is that as little kittens become less dependent on their mothers for milk, they become more dependent on you for their food. As you know, from a young age, Chililah was always the big eater of the lot, so each morning she'll meow very loudly to wake me up. As if she's saying "Wake up! It's time to feed me!". Chililah is actually the same sound as the phrase Wake up in Chinese. (Qi lai la)[起来啦].

Time really does fly, and in a blink of an eye, it's already been a year and a half and Chililah is now a mummy of her own. Miraculously, both Chililah and her mother (Amber) became pregnant around the same time, and delivered their new litters just a few weeks apart!

If you're lucky to have more than one cat, then you'll be amazed to find that cats have their very own society.

Before delivery, cats like to build their own private nest where they can give birth comfortably, and safely, away from the disturbance of others. Chililah of course had her own nest, away from Amber's but as she began giving birth, what happened next was simply amazing.

Amber started bringing her own kittens to Chililah's nest. I was really confused and worried, not knowing what I should do. After all, this is the first time I've had to oversee two queens with kittens.

I thought the best thing to do was to separate them so Chililah could have her private space and focus on giving birth. But, just before she started delivering her babies, she persistently cried out to me as if she had something to tell me. In the other room, I could hear Amber crying out too.

I suddenly realised that the first time mummy, Chililah wanted her mother by her side whilst she delivers her babies.

When Chililah was pregnant, her belly was not much larger than usual, so it was a surprise to me as one followed by another, four gorgeous little kittens came out.

I noticed that the fourth kitten was still attached by the umbilical chord to the placenta. The only problem was, the placenta was still inside Chililah. I was extremely worried and frantically searched the internet for advice on what to do. It was clear that the placenta needed to come out. With an extremely gentle pull on the umbilical chord, the placenta popped out and my heart rate came back to normal.

Amazingly, Chililah was not done! Soon after, a fifth and last kitten came.

Chililah was of course extremely exhausted and had no energy to move. I quickly let Amber back in the room, and she immediately went to lick and clean Chililah's new born kittens. She even ate the placenta of the 5th kitten.

Seeing this mother and daughterly love brought tears to my eyes.

In times of need, animals, like humans will think of their family and close ones, relying on them for support and love. It's an amazing thing to see and experience.

Hope you all enjoyed the story of me and my dear Chililah. There'll be more cute kitty stories to come as well as updates on the mummy's and their progress!

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今天是个值得开心的日子，我的折耳猫起来啦在今天当了妈妈，成功地为我们带来5位小天使。你们也许还不知道起来啦是谁，现在就让我和大家分享一下我和起来啦的故事。我想大多数人和猫朋友的故事大概是从猫毛12或13周开始的，那时候猫咪基本发育健全，开始长牙，逐渐离开猫妈妈独自生活，也是在这时候，猫迷们可能离开收留站或者宠物商店来到新的家庭，遇见可以和他们相爱一辈子的主人。而我和起来啦的故事，却不同于大多数人，我们的相遇要从起来啦第一天来到人间算起。

2016年3月2号凌晨，我的折耳猫Amber把5只猫猫带给了我。根据猫猫的基因遗传规则，因为Amber身上有灰色，棕色和黑色的纹路，所以生下来的小猫各有不同。起来啦就是这只唯一张开嘴的小老虎，也是里面唯一一只深灰浅灰相间的条纹猫。看一只猫的品性，要从她从小吃东西看起。起来啦从小就是喝奶最认真的宝宝，她很执著也很专心，刚出生那几天起来啦一整天都在喝奶，喝累了就睡一会起来继续喝，很快起来啦就成为了5只猫里最胖，肚子最圆的猫猫。一直以来我都最喜欢起来啦，脑袋和肚子都圆滚滚的，耳朵折下来，无论长到多少岁都像刚出生的宝宝，太可爱了。8周之后，猫猫们渐渐脱离妈妈的奶，开始学习吃一些幼猫的食物，并跟着妈妈学习上厕所。我就觉得该给这些小老虎起个名字了。你肯定会好奇起来啦得名字是怎么来的？因为小宝宝们开始依赖我每天给他们喂吃的。起来啦从小就是他们里面最贪吃的，所以每天早晨她都用叫声把我闹醒，好像在说起来啦，喂吃的啦。Chililah是与中文起来啦同音的英文。

时间过得真快，转眼间一年半之后，起来啦要当妈妈了，更巧的是，起来啦和她的妈妈Amber一起做妈妈。信不信由你，当你养了不止一只猫的时候，在他们之间就存在猫社会，猫咪在生产前都会自己搭建一个自己喜欢的窝，以便生产的时候比较舒服，顺利。在起来啦快要生产的时候，她的妈妈Amber选择把自己的孩子移到起来啦的窝里，这让我很着急，不懂他们在想什么。为了让起来啦不要干扰Amber喂养孩子，也为了起来啦专心生孩子，只好把他们隔离，起来啦开始生产的时候一直哭叫，好像暗示我什么，后来又听见Amber也在门外哭叫。后来我明白了，原来第一次生产的起来啦，希望自己能在妈妈的陪伴下生产，起来啦怀孕的时候肚子就不大，没想到一只接一只，生到了第四只。我发现猫猫出来了但是胎盘还在肚子里，我很着急,知道这样很危险，就赶紧上网查询。后来我试着把脐带轻轻一扯，胎盘滑落出来，这才让我放心。生到第五只的时候，起来啦累的没有力气动，我让Amber进来，Amber立刻帮起来啦添刚出生的宝宝，激活他们的生命力，甚至还帮起来啦把胎盘吃了。这样的母子情深让我眼泪都要掉下来，动物在自己危难的时候，会想到自己的家人，渴望得到关爱，人又何尝不是呢？猜一猜图片里一共几只猫呢？希望大家喜欢我和起来啦的故事，之后还有更多我养猫的有趣故事想要和大家分享。