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She opened the packet again, making sure that Tiggy could hear it rustle. Then she wriggled a bit closer, shaking out a few more treats right next to the cat. Emma really wanted to get a proper look at the kittens, as she thought they must be just over a week old by now. She was hoping that their eyes would be open. Her cat book said that the kittens would all have blue eyes to begin with.

“They’re definitely bigger,” Emma whispered to Tiggy, who was still eating the treats. “They’re beautiful.” Tiggy looked up at Emma with her ears laid back, and Emma sighed. “I know you don’t like me talking. I don’t want to scare you. I just want them to get used to hearing my voice. Anybody’s voice, really.”

Tiggy crunched the last fishy biscuit, and Emma took a deep breath. She had stroked the cat a couple of times before, but not since she’d had the kittens. Slowly, she held out her hand to let Tiggy sniff it.

Tiggy dabbed her nose at Emma’s hand cautiously, but she didn’t hiss or raise the fur on her back. She actually looked quite calm. She rubbed her chin along Emma’s wrist, and then strolled back towards the kittens.

Emma held her breath and put the same hand down in the straw, next to the kittens. Tiggy lay down, stretched out beside her babies, and Emma smiled delightedly. She was almost touching them! And the little tabby was right next to her hand. Emma wondered if he could smell the fishy treats, too, but she thought he was probably a bit young for that. His eyes were definitely open, though– just tiny blue slits. He looked like a teddy bear, with his round face and little triangle ears.

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“I’m so lucky,” Emma whispered, “getting to know you now when you’re so small.”

The kitten mewed squeakily and waved his front paws, wriggling closer to Emma.“I’m not your mum, small puss,” she whispered. “I think you want to be over there. For some milk.” Very gently she scooped him closer to Tiggy, so he could latch on and suckle. His fur was the softest thing she’d ever felt.

“I’ve got to think of a name,” Emma muttered. “I can’t keep just calling you small puss. Sam maybe? Or Sammy… You look like a Sammy. My little Sammy cat.”

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As the weeks went by, Sammy and the other kittens grew amazingly quickly. By four weeks they could all walk properly, and suddenly they seemed to be interested in everything.

Tiggy spent a lot of her time trying to herd them back together, hurrying round them in the scattered straw and shooing them back to the nest. But as soon as she had one kitten safely tucked away, the other two would be padding out to explore again. Emma thought that Tiggy looked very tired. Liz had been putting down lots more food for her than usual, and Emma had been bringing her bowls of special cat milk and extra snacks, but it was hard work herding kittens and feeding them, too.

The kittens were more like mini cats now– their heads still seemed much too big for their little bodies, but they’d lost their furry balloon look. They were really growing up.

“Hello,” Emma whispered, crouching down by the door of the stall. Three little heads popped up at once, and she giggled. They looked so funny, like the meerkats she’d seen at the zoo. Almost at once the tabby kitten plunged over the edge of the straw nest to come and see her.

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“I’ve got something really special for you,” Emma murmured. She and Liz had been talking about how they were going to wean the kittens – to get them eating food as well as Tiggy’s milk. Emma had looked it up in her book, and Mum had got some baby rice and evaporated milk from the supermarket to mix up for the kittens. It looked a big disgusting, but then Emma didn’t much like the look of normal cat food, either.

She’d bought a special litter tray as well, to put in the corner of the stall. According to her book, now that the kittens were trying solid food, they were going to poo a lot more, too. Until now Liz had just scooped out the dirty straw every day.

Liz had said she’d be able to do most of the feeds and cleaning, and Alex and Sarah, who also taught at the stables, had said they could help as well. The kittens were going to need a bowl four times a day, so it was lucky Liz and the others were around.

“This is going to be yummy,” Emma promised, dipping her finger in the white goo and holding it out to Sammy.

Sammy sniffed curiously, and Emma rubbed the goo on his nose. He stepped back in surprise and sneezed. Then he licked at the dribbles of baby rice that were running down his muzzle. It was good! He licked harder, running his bright pink tongue all round his mouth and nose.

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Sammy padded closer to the girl, hoping for some more of the white stuff. Emma was holding another splodge out for him, and he licked it straight off her finger this time, trying to gobble it up fast. He could hear his brother and sister coming up behind him, and he didn’t want to share.

“Look,” Emma murmured. “There’s a whole bowlful…”