Kittens!

Our kittens have been born! I know it's not, strictly speaking, part of a Modern Country Style blog, but it was one of the most amazing things I've seen in my whole life so I wanted to share it.

If you are of a delicate disposition, you may look away now...

This first picture is of the second kitten, moments after it had been born. Our cat, Pippi, is eating the sac that it is born in.

Each kitten is born in it's sac and then its placenta is delivered about a minute or two afterwards. The mummy cat eats the sac and the placenta and bites off the umbilical cord a few centimetres from the kitten.

It feels like watching a miracle. How do they know what to do?

Before the kitten's placenta is born, it can travel only so far as it is still attached. Most of the kittens born reached round and start suckling, as in this shot.

More and more were born...

...until there were six!

Utterly, utterly adorable!