Re: 10/28 Autumn amps-202,+4-353
It's probably around somewhere but exactly where I don't remember but I'm happy to retell it.
Our friends and the sound and lights people for my husband's band at the time were Allen and Jenn, not only are they still dear friends but also fellow cat lovers that cared for a small colony of feral cats on their property. I would on occasion help out with putting food out at the various feeding stations with them and got to know all the cats of the colony very well. Gemma (Myrrdin and Duvessa's mom) was about to be a first time mother, so we had coaxed her up to the house where the nesting boxes were because it was early spring and around here we can have everything from 80s to blizzard that time of year. So we wanted to keep a close eye on her, but since Morganna the senior female of the colony was also about to deliver and she normally had her kits in the nesting boxes we felt pretty safe that she would lend little Gemma a helping paw with motherhood.
On April 20, 2009 I got a frantic call from Jenn, Gemma had her kittens but both she and Morganna were frantic the kittens were not born in the nice warm nesting boxes but on the cold concrete sidewalk path, to make matters worse it was below freezing out with a freezing drizzle falling, all 6 kittens were immediately frozen to the ground as they were born, both mothers were trying to get the kittens to safety but couldn't pull the frozen wee bodies off the ground. By the time Allen and Jenn could get them all inside none of the kittens were breathing but all had very faint heartbeats. So Jenn and I went to work, the boys kept warming towels in the dryer for us as we used blow dryers to slowly warm the tiny bodies, rubbing them down with warm towels until one by one we had living kittens. All 6 pulled through. The story should have ended there, with 6 healthy happy kittens and their proud momma reunited and now kept in a nice toasty warm barn...but....it didn't.
Fast forward to June, we had just lost our first sugarcat Muse, when again a call comes in from Jenn. "Mel, remember Gemma's kittens?"
"Yes what's up?"
"Well two aren't doing great they are extremely sick and the others aren't letting them eat, I know you just lost Muse so the last thing you probably want is a pair of sick kittens, but could you please, just until the get well enough to go back to the colony?"
"Be up this afternoon, and do we know what is wrong with them?"
"Not really, think just kitty colds and being picked on by the bigger cats, so very underweight and hiding a lot, both are female I think."
I could tell right away something was off about black faced one, just wasn't acting like a normal robust playful 10 week old kitten, but her 'sister' was very active but was sneezing, had eye crustys and very underweight. So after a nice visit with our friends and playing with the rest of that year's kitten crop, we packed up our two new babies and headed for home, half way home a horrible thunderstorm hits so we are driving in pouring rain with big bolts of lightening flashing all around. Once home we decided that the babes needed names and since they were born in a storm, came home in a storm and the name of the company that Allen and Jenn owned was Electric Sky, We named the black faced Duvessa (beautiful darkness) Storm, and her blazed faced 'sister' Elektra Sky, until about a month later when Miss Elektra went prancing by me one day and I noticed parts that should not be on a female kitten...lol So Elektra Sky became Myrrdin Skye so named for the Myrrdin of Celtic lore because not only was he quite mad and a complete wild child from jump but also because his namesake in Celtic lore also use to dress in drag...lol and Sky became Skye for the island off Scotland.
Both Duvessa and Myrrdin are forever kittens, just different manner of kitten. Duvessa is a the stillness just before a big storm when skies grow dark and still, she is very fearful of all change and tends to be the more aloof and cautious kind, while her brother is well a Shitten. He is the Dennis the Menace kind of kitten that wants to jump out at you, climb the drapes and pounce on his sleeping brothers and sisters. :roll: They, however, are a very bonded pair, where one is weak the other is strong and vice versa.
http://s749.photobucket.com/user/MommaOfMuse/library/Duvessa and Myrrdin as babies?sort=6&page=1 Hopefully this link works it should take you to their baby album
Mel and The Fur Gang
