A miracle of life!

It's no secret. Anyone who know's me know's that I love animals. But it's more than that. I'm fascinated by all life. I'm amazed by it. It doesn't matter what or how big or small it is, i'm truly inspired by it all. On May 3rd I was able to witness the birth of new life to our world. One of our cats, Rikku, gave birth to 5 kittens. Even though to some it's just a cat no big deal, to me it was a beautiful experience. Especially since rikku has always been skittish and leary of people. She trusted me enough to come up to the bowl while I was feeding, but has never let me really touch and pet her. When I realized she was pregnant I knew I needed to get her into a secluded area where she could be alone and I could have access to her and the kittens. Hoping that she would let me. I was able to coax her into the bathroom. I figured it would be easier to clean up messes in the bathroom other than somewhere with carpet. For the first few days she acted the same and would try to hide anytime I would go in. But after a few days something clicked and she went from being afraid to trusting me enough to handle her and show her the goodness of rubbing her belly. It was a bonding time for us which I think made the moment of when she gave birth more special. I came home to find her in the litter box thinking that was a weird place for her to be laying. Then as I looked closer I realized she was in labor and had given birth to the first baby. I immediatly carried the box over to her bed and lifted her and the baby into it. The baby was of course covered in litter so I took the baby and started washing it off. It was amazing to me that Rikku seemed to understand what I was doing. She never hissed or cried as I took her baby. As soon as I placed the baby back with her, she immediatly started her cleaning of the baby. It's so fascinating the natural instincts that come when you become a mom. She went from being a kitten herself( just barely a year old) to becoming a grown cat knowing exactly what she must do. Amazing! She let me clean her off just in time for the next one to be born. Rikku kept looking up at me with a look in her eyes that I remember when I was in labor with Jaxen. She seemed to find comfort in laying her head in my hand. So prescious. By the days end she ended up with 5 beautiful babies. She was so exhausted that she couldn't get up to eat. When I placed her dish next to her she was ready to eat and gave me a look of "Thank you". It really was a neat experience and i'm hoping that our bond will continue after the kittens have grown and moved on.