A stray cat gave staff at Bridgend Cats Protection an early Christmas surprise when she gave birth to ELEVEN kittens. Tabby puss Donatella shocked staff when she went produced a record litter of kittens at the charity’s adoption centre yesterday. Although one kitten was sadly stillborn, the 10 remaining kittens and their mother are all in good health after a five-hour labour. Donatella, thought to be around one year old, was handed to the charity just a week ago after a homeowner who had been feeding her noticed she was heavily pregnant.
Cats Protection’s Bridgend Adoption Centre manager Sue Dobbs said: “I’ve never seen this many kittens in one litter my 16 years at the centre. “We just couldn’t believe our eyes as they kept coming. “Donatella is a tiny cat, and having been a stray she is also very underweight. “I thought she may have five or six, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had lost some of them considering her poor condition. So to have this many surviving kittens is incredible. “Cats usually give birth to an average of three to six kittens, with larger litters normally resulting in a higher mortality rate.The world’s largest litter was born in 1970 when a Burmese/Siamese cat gave birth to 19 kittens, four of which were stillborn.