MALI

Born:4/8/08

This little girl is very special to me as she is the first girl I am keeping out of my own breedings.   She is so super sweet and we just love her to death.  Her coloring and those big inky black spots caught our eye as soon as she was born.  Her birth is a story in itself and I will tell it here.  She is a miracle kitten.  She was the first kitten born out of her litter.  Gracie was a first time mom and we were all excited.  We knew she was in labor and were sitting with her when we saw it, a tail out of her body and nothing else.  There was no sac around this baby, it had already broken.  Just this little tail.  Gracie had contractions for over an hour before any part of this baby emerged.  After a lot of pushing the baby's body finally came out but the head would not pass.  This baby was stuck.  She was working so hard but it was another few minutes before the head came out.  In this time the kitten was flailing around so I wasn't so worried.  When the head finally came out the kitten was lifeless.  There was no muscle tone to this kitten at all, it just layed there lifeless and Gracie wanted nothing to do with her. I tried to stimulate the kitten with no reponse at all.  I tried for what seemed like forever to get the life back into this baby that I had seen before her head was out.  Then I picked the baby up after cutting her cord and gave her chest compressions and some rescue breaths.  I figured it was her only shot.  All of a sudden she coughed out a bunch of fluid and started moving around a little.  I still thought there was little hope for her to make it and more kittens were coming by this time.  I laid her down next to her mother to keep her warm but could feel how cool she was getting.  I ran and got our reptile light we had used for our other litter to keep them warm and clipped it right on the birthing box so she had a shot at staying warm.  She was also on a heating pad.  The next kitten, a little golden colored boy (Deano), was born.  He was  fiesty as ever and kept walking on this little girl and kicking her out of his way.  That is what brought my girl back, her brothers persistance that she move so he could nurse.  She started warming up with the light nicely and started to nurse with her brother.  We have never had another problem with this little one since.  She has always been very healthy and just as fiesty as her brother, who saved her life.  She turned out just gorgeous and we always had a special place in our heart for her.  Her name is Mali which means beloved.  We gave her a formal name of Miracle Mali because she truly is our little miracle.