Mary Ann wrote the following letter to Felisa, Chris and Cameron for Christmas, 2005.  See pictures of the kittens here.

Dear Chris, Felisa and Cameron,

Polka was the name of their Mama Cat.  She was almost 2 years old when she had them.  It was actually just before Christmas that I first had a hunch that she was pregnant.  She used to go outside all the time and I never had her spayed because I never observed her going into heat.  She was such a tomboy kind of cat that I even thought that maybe she wasn't female - or maybe she was both male and female!  She turned out to be female! 

While pregnant she stopped wanting to go outside and spent most of her time with me.  At night she would lay on my chest (which got pretty uncomfortable as she gained pregnancy pounds) and I would feel the kittens squirm and move in her belly.  I would wonder how many there were.  Polka wasn't a big cat and I was concerned that she would have too many. 

As the time for her to have the kittens grew nearer she became more affectionate and would clean and allow herself to be cleaned by Nyah and Gideon, my other cats.  She never did like Freddy - or maybe it was the other way around.  Gideon (our big, beutiful grey Siamese) was the perfect "partner" though there was no way he was the father, but I was concerned about the kitten's safety after they were born.  How would he behave toward them?

Nyah, who was constantly in heat at the time, became Polka's midwife.  She and Polka would lay together for hours, cleaning each other.

February 14, 2005 - Valentine's Day.  At noon it was apparent that Polka was in labor.  She had completely ignored the kittening box I had set up for her and given birth under my bed.  She had torn a hole in the lining of my box springs and climbed inside where her water broke.  Yuck!  When I reached under to feel for kittens I felt Nyah!  She was right there, cleaning Polka.

Ivy was the first kitten born.  She was obviously a female Calico and ended up being the largest kitten of the bunch.  I moved Polka to the kittening box and had to kick Nyah out of the room because she insisted on cleaning Ivy - a task I knew was important for Polka to do so she could bond with her kitten.  Nyah yelled at the door all day.

At 4:30 pm Zeb was born, a medium haired tabby and a boy.  An hour later Zuma, the runt, was born and he was almost the spitting image of his Mama.  My sister Roseann came over after that (her husband had lost his job that day, otherwise she would have been there the whole time!  You can see her in one of the photos, she has the white hair.  She was certain there was a fourth kitten, but there obviously wasn't.  She was so hoping to see one of the kittens born - ironically I didn't actually see any of the kittens born myself!

Roseann's son, Reiner, is a vet technician and is going to go to vet's school.  In one of the photos you can see him trying to pose the kittens on our couch.

Emily and Heather had a hard time staying away from those kittens!  I eventually had to put a lock on the door because every moment she could, Emily would steel away into my room and pick the kittens up - and they were so delicate!  I am amazed they survived her.

As for Gideon, you can see by the photos that he was the perfect Uncle to them!  We called him Uncle Gideon after that.  He was so cute with them - as they got older he would play with them, ever so gently biting and never using his claws.  They pestered him to no end, but he was always patient.  As they got bigger, he used a little more force when they got out of hand - he seemed to know when they were old enough to understand scolding.

I was so worried about who would end up with these kittens.  I wanted good homes for each of them.  I am so glad you took Ivy!  She was my favorite (always sleeping by my neck and suckling at my ear!) and I know she has a great home with you.  The best part is that I've been able to watch her grow up. 

Anyway, I hope none of this was boring or bizarre to you.  Obviously I love my kitties!

Merry Christmas!  Mary Ann Overson