On Kittens and Survival



The mother's unflinching stare follows me as I hover barely two meters from her brood and take pictures with my camera of the slumbering kittens on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The family of five have turned a small patch of untended garden into home.

Nelly, as I have named the big black, white and beige striped tabby, gave birth towards the end of a very mild summer. She made her home in our garden thanks to our cat-loving neighbour who feeds her fish fillet and bits of chicken every now and then.

Its a welcome sight indeed, cats are and should rightly be part of domestic rural life. Their presence puts off rodents and they are faithful and loving companions around the home. No home is a lonely home with a cat in it. They are smart, cunning and clean, at least when compared to other domestic species of animal, including some humans!

Watching life's routine struggle is awe inspiring: from a kitten's fight for equal attention from mother, to their playful battles that will upon reaching adulthood play a vital role in their survival.

Many will die before they reach adulthood, that is nature's way, as they struggle against the elements, hunger and other cats, other animals, man included. But for this Sunday afternoon, they huddle close, one on top of the other and they sleep for tomorrow they will start to hunt, fight, procreate and survive.

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