Indigo

People ask: Will Indigo miss the kittens?
Well, I'm not a cat, (lol, obviously) and without being one I couldn't say for sure. And cats who are brought up together or who have a close familial bond can have incredibly close relationships all their lives and can in fact grieve very deeply when one dies. And anyone who is around cats will know they experience frustration, affection, fear and a range of other emotions.

But at the end of the day (sorry came over a bit Jeremy Kyle there) a cat is a cat. It has a brain the size of a walnut. It is not human, and whilst the temptation to anthromorphise is strong (and I do it here, often, because it's fun) it's ultimately unhelpful when we are trying to find out how our cats might be feeling

In the wild, a mama cat loses her 4 week old kitten, she is distraught. She will call and call for it, searching until she is exhausted. But by the time they are ten weeks she's like what kitten was that, sorry? Oh she'll care for her brood, she'll feed them, bathe them and administer smacks where necessary, but they aren't her life any more. In nature she's in season again, looking for a man, or more likely she's pregnant already, gearing up for her next litter. Cats are extremely efficient baby making machines- grow 'em, raise em, turf 'em out ready for the next lot. People, please spay and neuter- moggy cats are not likely to be an endangered species any time soon...

Will Indigo miss the kittens? I can't say for sure, but if I had to take a guess as to her state of mind right now I'd say she's probably rather... relieved. She's been a diligent Mama. She's birthed, fed (with a little assistance) and raised seven beautiful kittens, at some cost to her own health. She's attended to their manners and morals and stood aside whilst they monopolised my affections. But now they've moved on and she has too. She can catch up on her sleep again (she's been napping pretty much solidly!), get back into the peak of condition and be a carefree cat again.
In fact it hasn't taken her long at all- she's moved back into her rightful place... which is of course my lap :)