We have always had cats since we moved to the country.

We were given two stray cats that had been living under some stairs. They were a bit wild at first, but adapted well to our place.

We had 5 beautiful kittens, all born in our bedroom closet -- an easy birth and with each new little voice I knew that another kitten had come into the world.

These kittens turned out to be excellent mousers and really did their job well. We had a waiting list of people who wanted to give them good homes. One of the kittens we kept was a grey tabby with orange bits and she had a big orange spot on her head. She reminded us of former President Gorbachev so Gorbi it was. She was pregnant with her first litter of kittens, and I set about putting little birthing boxes here and there but she did not seem to like any of them.

When the time came to have her kittens, she felt that our bed was the place to be. She hopped on the bed, I took her back to one of the boxes, and back and forth we went. She decided enough was enough.

My husband was sleeping on the bed, when all of a sudden something warm and wet landed on his head. Gorbi had dropped a kitten right on him!

He jumped out of bed and screamed! I was laughing so hard I could barely walk. I picked the poor kitten up and sat with Gorbi until she had the rest of her kittens. What a way to wake up -- having a kitten dropped on your head!

We had one more litter before we took Gorbi for her operation. Once again Gorbi decided our bed was the place, so this time, in order to avoid another rude awakening, I wrapped myself up in a comforter and sat in a comfy chair beside her little bed and kept her company. It was a good thing I was there because she had a bit of trouble with the first kitten. I had to do some midwifery and re-position one of the kittens. The kittens were all orange and white so I knew who the father was -- Creamsicle, our resident stray cat, and the only unfixed male cat around at that time.

Gorbi was a great mom and one day, while out taking a rest from her kittens, a red fox decided to come into the yard. I was afraid for the cats, but when I saw Gorbi turn into a screeching, snarling attack cat, I was worried for the fox. She chased him for a quarter mile.

We have so many fond memories and pictures of our cats and when we need a good laugh we think about the night that it "rained kittens".

Copyright © Tammara Cross
February 20, 2001