Other cats were now stopping by to steal food. Raccoons, skunks and opossums were getting in on the act, too.
In spite of Mama's bad disposition, I felt protective of her and the kids. Some nights, I'd hear growling or crashing on the porch and rush out to find Mama fending off a raccoon or opossum. Those marauders I would chase off. But not the skunks. It's not wise to argue with skunks.
Then other adult cats began calling on Mama. Fearing they would hurt the kittens, I chased them off. But they kept coming back. And soon, flirtatious glances advanced to indecent acts in front of the kittens. This behavior got old real fast.
There's nothing like watching the way male cats behave to bring out the latent feminist in a person. Mama sure went for the dirt bags. They'd rough her up and steal her food. Fortunately, after a week or so, the cats stopped coming around. Things quieted down and seemed to go back to normal. But not for long.
Until the unsavory suitors showed up, Mama was a model mother. Tainted by their bad influence, she began to change. For a while longer she played and hunted with her kittens. Then she began to take trips without them. And when she returned at feeding time, if the kids tried to greet her, she would hiss and smack them. One night, I was hanging on the porch with the kittens when Mama came up to dine. Excited to see their mother, the kittens rushed up to her. She hissed, growled and cuffed them away. After she finished eating, she started to leave. The kittens tried to follow. Snarling, she turned and hissed at them some more. The dejected kittens fell back and watched their mother leave them. A couple of them began to howl. Their distress at Mama's rejection was eerily human.
The reason for Mama's behavior change was soon obvious. Mama was pregnant.
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