One for Carol

Introducing our adorable compound squatters.

When we first moved in, the mother had five kittens; four were given away, one remained. Six months later, in July, Mama had another two kittens. Then, almost immediately afterwards, her underage daughter (from the first litter) had two of her own. We came back from holidays to find these two tiny gremlins lurking in the bushes. Most of the time they can be found sleeping huddled together looking abandoned and forlorn, but occasionally one of them tries to venture out to play with his marginally older aunt and uncle.

Three generations: Teenage mother, gremlin babies, and two-month old aunt.

Now the two-month old aunt and uncle are perfectly happy, healthy, playful, mischievous and generally well-taken care of by their mother, the older and experienced Mama. But the tiny gremlins, product of an early teenage pregnancy – and most certainly an incestuous one at that since I’ve only ever seen one male lurking about the compound perimeter – appear to be undernourished and neglected by their uninterested mother who ignores them most studiously. Today for the first time she let them cuddle up to her, but their desperate search for a teat was apparently fruitless, and they eventually just fell asleep exhausted.

A rare occurrence: teenage mother cuddles gremlin babies

On one occasion I noticed both mothers basking lazily in the sun, each with one of the older kittens sucking away enthusiastically, whilst the tiny gremlins were left huddled and shivering in the shade. You’ve got to feel sorry for them!

So in defiance of Darwin I’m looking for suggestions. The aim of the game is to keep the gremlins alive, without making them dependent on humans or letting them into the house. Then I’ll be looking for someone to come sterilize the lot, because if they continue to reproduce at this rate we’ll have another twenty kittens by Christmas, and a hundred by Easter! By the way, did I mention I’m allergic to cats?