When I reached to pet the feisty little smartie, I could see on her belly some unmistakably swollen nipples. I was both confused and alarmed – hadn’t the vet said this was not a\u00a0live birth? Could she have mastitis, brought on by spaying so soon after delivering? I consulted a vet, who said it was a distinct possibility, and that she should be trapped again and brought in. The outcome could be dire, the vet said, if a\u00a0mammary infection becomes systemic.<\/p>\n Sensing the urgency, I started stalking Maya, to discover her routine. Days went by when I didn’t see her at all. My anxiety growing, I meditated for a sign, a solution… something I could do to help her.<\/p>\n Finally on Saturday, I saw Maya\u00a0again on the steps. This time I came with some good tuna, and gave her a fat bowl of it, which she ate eagerly while keeping her distance from me. I sat for 20 minutes while she toyed with me, sunning herself, licking her fur, in no hurry. Then she picked herself up and ambled away, around the corner of the building. I tiptoed behind her\u00a0at a distance, ducking behind a tree when she turned around to check on me, aware of how ridiculous I looked. She led me on a 360-degree trip around the building, and when we were almost back where we started, she turned down a sidewalk between the cafe and an old house next door. And this is what I saw.<\/p>\n [Hi Mama! Where’s our breakfast?]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Inexplicably, Maya had KITTENS. Three that I could see, maybe 7-8 weeks old, who came bouncing out from under the house looking healthy, frisky and of course adorable. One gray, one orange, one buff. As joyful as I felt, I also could not fathom how on earth could this have happened! When she left them alone for two nights 5-7 weeks\u00a0ago, how did they survive?? They must be made of hardy stock indeed.<\/p>\n I said a small prayer of gratitude that Maya’s life was not in danger, that she was just in in the iron grip of a benevolent Mother Nature, who’d decided that motherhood was Maya’s\u00a0mandate. It was, in its own small way,\u00a0awe-inspiring.<\/p>\n And then I realized… OY!! Kittens! And under a house!<\/em> Things were about to get even more complicated.<\/p>\n Thank you, St. Francis, for watching so beautifully over your critters, and for letting me be in the right place at the right time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About a month ago, Carrie trapped a female tabby\u00a0who’d been living behind a Mexican restaurant in town. To her alarm, after she was spayed the vet told her the kitty had recently given birth; to her sorrow, the vet also … Continue reading ![\"IMG_5344\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/janeganahl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_5344.jpg?ssl=1\")
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