After living outside her whole life, a calico cat finally had her eight kittens indoors, away from the streets.
Early September, a cat and her three 3-month-old kittens were found wandering outside and brought into Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals for a chance at a better life.
While the calico was caring for her kittens outdoors, she found herself pregnant again with another litter. "She had been living outside her whole life and was covered in fleas when she first came in," Angela Su, a foster volunteer of the rescue, told Love Meow.
A few days after she was rescued, the cat went into labor and gave birth to a litter of eight kittens, away from the elements.
While her older kittens were quickly put up for adoption, the cat mom desperately needed a foster home where she could care for her very demanding newborn babies. Angela took on the family of nine and gave them a comfortable room to nestle in.
After wandering the streets all her life, the calico named Celeste moved into a home with her kittens (Drizzle, Sunny, Breeze, Moon, Cloud, Rain, Twinkle, and Storm) for the first time.
"At first, she was a little nervous about being at my house. She had lived outside her whole life, and so many things were new to her," Angela shared with Love Meow.
With a comfy bed, soft blankets, and the all-you-can-eat buffet readily available, Celeste began to relax and warm up to her foster mom. She was happy to get some help as feeding eight hungry mouths was not an easy task.
"Being a mom of eight is hard and tiring work, but she is such a loving mother to her kittens. Celeste is very patient and keeps all of her babies clean and fed," Angela added.
"She will often lay for over an hour at a time to let her kittens nurse. I will sometimes bring her dinner or breakfast to eat in bed while she cares for her kittens."
The sweet calico has come out of her shell and started to seek affection, knowing that she no longer has to fend for herself or her kittens.
Watch Celeste and her kittens in this cute video:
"She now loves to gently nudge my hand with her head to tell me whenever she wants pets. She also loves to make biscuits with her paws," Angela told Love Meow.
Her litter of eight are growing by leaps and bounds and getting more active each day. "They are almost three weeks old. Their eyes are all opened and they are starting to walk a little bit."
Some of the kittens were born with short curled tails, whereas others came with a lot of sass and a set of pipes. It didn't take long for the little ones to figure out their tiny hisses.
"Kittens at this age rely on their sense of smell to navigate the world. They will often instinctively hiss whenever they smell something unfamiliar."
If one of the furballs starts crying for momma Celeste's attention, many others will join in the meowing choir, keeping their mom fully occupied.
Now that they have gotten stronger with their legs, they are starting to explore and check out the world around them.
Once the kittens are big enough, the sweet calico will retire from motherhood once and for all, and find a place of her own, where she can be the center of attention.
After roaming the streets her whole life, Celeste is loving her new chapter as an indoor cat.
Share this story with your friends. Follow Celeste, her kittens and Angela's fosters on Instagram @fosteringlove.pdx.
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