We woke to a light layer of snow on the ground, which had me concerned about the bitty kitties. When I started putting the kibble out, I couldn’t see them. I did notice the board I’d put as a ramp into the cat house was knocked over, so I put that back – and spotted one of them looking at me through the window!

It was as I was coming back from putting kibble under the shrine that I saw something that had me doing a double take.

A tiny ball of fluff! It was pushing around the other kittens. The face you see glaring in the corner of the photo is an adult, but I don’t think it’s the mother. She had no interest in the baby.

I was able to pick it up and put it into the kibble house, but when I came back to top up their water bowls with warm water, it was back on the ground.

Except… I wasn’t seeing the same kitten!

There are two almost identical bitty kitties, under the kibble house!

One came out and I was able to pick it up and put it in the kibble house. This one started hissing and spitting when I picked it up, so I’m guessing it wasn’t the same kitten I picked up before.

I found a brick to brace the bottom of the ramp, hoping the other one would come out, but I couldn’t see it anymore.

I did see the two kittens we found yesterday, wrestling in the corner by the window. They seemed alert and not at all distressed, which tells me the mama has been tending to them. I am guessing the other two were stuck outside because the ramp board had been knocked over.

I did the rest of my rounds, then looked for the kitten again. No sign of it. I am hoping it went up the ramp on its own, but more likely it went under the cat house, rather than in. I wasn’t going to poke around too much, because the last thing I want is for the mama to take the kittens away again.

So it looks like this is a litter of four. I did see several adults cats around, but none of them behaved like these were their own kittens. Who the mama is, is still a mystery.

Today and tomorrow are supposed to have highs just above freezing, then things will warm up again. Because the cat house was built to house two large dogs, it’s very open in there. We’ve been thinking of quickly popping the roof up when it’s warmer, and putting in some boxes or bins to make cozy little “rooms” inside, where little ones can curl up. Now that the kittens are in there, I’m afraid if we do, that will cause the mama to take them away, too.

One thing is encouraging. As tiny as the kittens are, they have really dense fur, with thick undercoats, for their ages. Which tells me they are developing their winter fur even faster than the bigger kittens.

Or they’re just really fluffy, fuzzy, kitties.

Either way, it’s their first layer of protection against the coming cold.

The Re-Farmer