Miracle Kittehs

One of the surreal events of this past April concerns our cat, Echo. We got Echo last summer as a kitten, and had her and her sister Peanut spayed in the fall. In early April, though, Echo started to look uncharacteristically fat.

Actually, she started to look pregnant.

It's impossible, we told ourselves. But she kept getting bigger and her nipples became prominent. Our vet said it wasn't possible, surely a false pregnancy. Until we brought her in. He was as shocked as we were. She'd had one ovary attached to her kidney and there was some worry she'd managed an ectopic pregnancy, because cats rarely have multiple uteruses. Still, the vet kept insisting 'if the sperm can get in, the kittens can get out'.

I wasn't convinced, I was sure - in my heart at least - that she'd try to expel the kitten(s) and end up dying or something because her uterus had been removed. And Echo is a sweetheart. A bit of a wild child, sure, but a sweetheart none the less.

Anyway, I took her to our old vet near Des Moines who also worried about the ectopic pregnancy. She had me take Echo to yet another vet who specializes in tricky xrays and ultrasounds. Sure enough, she had a uterus and four kittens.

They were born weekend before last, right on time - according to all three vets - and absolutely perfect. Three white ones and a calico. Here they are, in a pic I took last night. Echo and her miracle kittens.

Echo. The cat born with 2 uteruses.
The remaining uterus will be removed soon.