“How do kittens form?”

This question came from out of the blue.  I sat, speechless, trying to figure out just what this child was asking.

“What do you mean?”

“The body parts don’t go together.  Do the cats lie next to each other?”

Ahha… the mechanics of mating is something that I have not yet addressed with my daughter.  She has a working understanding of biology, the difference between boys and girls, and the development of a baby.  She even understands the biology behind sperm and eggs and all that.  But the mechanics… we have not gone there yet nor has her book.  

Admittedly, I have never seen cats mate.  I know, it is a gap in my education and knowledge base, but I grew up with fixed cats, mostly all males, and they just didn’t do anything that would allow me to have a glimpse of the process.  

Fortunately, I also grew up with male dogs!!  Dogs have no problem demonstrating the method animals use to make babies… whether it is with another dog, a leg, a chair… whatever.  They go at it whenever the urge hits. 

So I explained... using known cats as examples (Phoenix being a male and Doodles being a female)

“You know when Phoenix attacksDoodles and gets on top of her?”

“yes,”

“Well, he is trying to make kittens.”

“Oh…”

And that, my friends, was the end of that conversation.  No deflection just a straight forward answer and a deep sigh of relief on my part.

The next evening, as I stood making tea in the kitchen, I hear her exclaim, loudly, to the cat… “Phoenix, No Kittens!’

I lost it!  I have to admit that I needed to laugh and I just… lost it!