18 Sunday Sep 2022
Nine years ago today, Lorca grace this house with 4 beautiful kittens: Scout, Snowman, Tinker, and RIver. Sadly, River crossed over this year, but his mom and siblings remember and know he is here in spirit to celebrate with us.
19 Thursday Sep 2013
Posted in Animals, Book Giveaway, Cats, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Lorca
Tags
Book Giveaway, cats, Cole Porter, Dragon, Harvest Moon, Kitten Pool, Lorca
Leave it to a glorious Harvest Moon to give Lorca the extra push/pull she needed to have her kittens! On the couch, surrounded by a passel of curious critters and her doting humans.
Last night, just after 8:00 p.m., the first of her tiny furry quartet popped into the world. With a yowl that woke all the other critters – and probably half the neighborhood – she gave birth to a little ginger kitten! Instincts kicking in, she cleaned him up and the tyke latched onto Mom for dear life and his first meal. (I say he/him/his for all of them, but it’s really too early to tell.)
Then Lorca relaxed, slept a bit, and, bingo, out came #2 around 8:30 – another ginger!
Mom did her thing and kicked back for a while – slept, had her belly rubbed, etc….10:00 p.m. and #3 arrives. At first we thought he was all black, but as he was cleaned and dried off, it became apparent that he’s a gorgeous black and silver tabby. Jennifer immediately claimed him as the one to stay, and named him Whitman.
Just after 11, the final kitten made his appearance, another ginger. 
It was fast getting past my bedtime, but I wanted to stay up for a couple more hours, just to be sure all was well and no more bundles were on the way. By 1:00, we put her and the kids in their box on clean bedding and I left Jennifer – who stays up ’til dawn anyway – to watch them through the night.
Their first day in the world is going well. Everyone is hungry – nay, ravenous! Lorca is the sweetest mom, loves being the center of attention and doesn’t even mind Carter and Poe dropping by to visit. I think she may have been stung by a bee, though, as her right paw inexplicably swelled this morning and she’s favoring it. A call to the vet in the morning if it hasn’t improved over night (though I can’t imagine her wanting to leave her kids for even a moment).
Thanks to everyone who participated in the kitten pool. A special congrats to the winner, Nancy Adams! I will be contacting you about your prize shortly.
Now, I will try to relax. An early night, tonight, for all.
03 Tuesday Sep 2013
Posted in Animals, Cats, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Lorca
Tags
cats, Dragon Keeper's Handbook, Dragons for Beginners, Kitten Pool, Kittens, Lorca, Lorca update
Well, mom-to-be Lorca is filling out by leaps and bounds.
Over morning coffee I watched Lorca’s kittens play internal bongos on her tummy. No idea how many there are, but I can attest to their wicked sense of rhythm
Do join in on the Kitten Pool fun. Just guess their birthdate (between now and October 1) and number in Lorca’s litter, and leave it in a comment here or on the Lorca Kitten Pool Page – where you will also find the pool calendar. Don’t worry, I’ll find you. 🙂
The person who comes closest wins their choice of a signed copy of one of my books, The Dragon Keeper’s Handbook or Dragons for Beginners, or a limited edition chapbook of my short story, “Because the Pleasure-Dragon Whistles.”
Kittens and Dragons, what could be better.
23 Friday Aug 2013
Tags
Time for pictures of mom-to-be, to give you an idea of her growing girth. 
I had hoped to get a pic of her with one the other cats for a sense of scale, but everyone else was being rather uncooperative today. Suffice it to say that she is a surprisingly small cat. Even Carter is about twice her size, as you can see from this photo taken about 10 days ago.
MacKENZIE's Dragon's Nest 