We suspected this might be the case when we adopted Roxy, but today I have confirmation. Roxy is pregnant and expected to be due in six weeks.

This happens to new parents all the time, but I don’t expect most parents adopting teenage girls think it will happen to them. Well, when the teenager (young adult, actually) is of the feline persuasion and she’s been outside unattended for a couple of weeks, you pretty much expect it.

Today, I took Roxy to Dr. Valeri for a suspected ear problem and soft stools. Both of which were confirmed by Dr. Valeri and treatment was ready to be prescribed (she has an awesome veterinary assistant who had everything ready for her, all she had to do was confirm) when I asked the pregnancy question and whether or not she could confirm. At that point, Dr. Valeri looked critically at Roxy’s midsection, grabbed hold, and said, “Let’s get some pictures. I feel something lumpy.” Her assistant had Roxy in his arms and Dr. Valeri had the clippers at the ready for a quick belly shave, and they were out the door with a, “We’ll call you if we see anything interesting.” I heard a couple of complaints from Roxy, and before I knew it, she was back on the exam table. She wasn’t liking the ultrasound procedure, so Dr. Valeri confirmed at least one kitten. That was enough for me — we’re both sure there are more.

We’ve been supplementing Roxy’s food since she got in the house just in case, and now we have confirmation. Kittens are due the same time we’re planning to be in Dallas (Grapevine) for Grapefest. A week later, we’re scheduled to depart for our annual trek to Hershey, PA, for the antique car part swap meet. I told Dr. Valeri, “Oh good, they’re due to be staying with you then.” The down side is we may not be around for the exciting event (which we have mixed feelings about, but by the time we adopted Roxy, it was a done deal — we’ll get her spayed after we’re done with kittens). The up side, with them being boarded at Dr. Valeri’s, I’d say there’s a good chance we’ll have homes for kittens by the time we return from PA. At least, we hope that’s the case.

As for other things Roxy-related, we’ve had a couple of good litter box days. Three boxes in the house seems to help, and she may be getting more comfortable here. She still stalks Ajax — the eight pound cat stalking the 13 pound cat, but that’s the way it is. The conversation between them is more civil the last couple of days. Ajax is really a nice guy — maybe she’ll figure that out.