A woman believes her cat has given birth to the world’s smallest surviving kittens – tiny cats the same size as mice.
Kirsty Flann, 30, didn’t know her cat, Russian blue cross Thumper Gypsy Mae, was pregnant until a few days before she went into labour.
She had two tiny kittens who were just 25g and 3in long when they were born a week ago.
The same size as tiny mice, the yet-to-be-named pair were so little they were dwarfed by a cigarette lighter and Kirsty was shocked by their size.
They have since grown to over 4in and weigh just 55g – far smaller than the average size of a week-old kitten which is 200g.
The smallest cat on record was a male blue point Himalayan-Persian, named Tinker Toy who measured 7.5 inches long when full grown.
Kirsty said her pair are far tinier than all the other litters of kittens she has successfully bred before, and she can’t find any record of any smaller.
Her kittens are smaller than a pair of the rarest species of cat who were born in Porfell Wildlife Park & Sanctuary in Cornwall earlier this year.
Company director Kirsty from Weymouth, Dorset, said: ‘I didn’t know she was pregnant until a few days before she gave birth because I felt milk forming in her tummy when I was stroking her.
‘She’s a small cat anyway and did not show.
‘The kittens are well proportioned and have fat little bellies and fat feet- but they’re just tiny!’
Mum-of-one Kirsty has had Thumper her whole life and bred the two generations of Russian Blues that came before her.
She said: ‘Thumper is a house cat and she’s not even supposed to go outside at all, so her pregnancy was a huge surprise.
‘She doesn’t even leave me when I go to the toilet!
‘I have a feeling that she snuck out when I was asleep and came back when I woke up.
‘She went into labour in the middle of the night when lying next to me on my bed, and I woke up to her screaming and had to run to put a plastic bag under her!
‘I had to keep stroking her the whole time because if I took my hand away she would growl.’
Kirsty stayed up for more than three hours comforting the first-time mum through labour.
She plans to keep one kitten to maintain the family bloodline, and give the other to a family member.
Neither of the dime-sized duo have names yet as they haven’t grown into their true personalities, although one is more ‘vocal’ than the other.
Kirsty’s family of animals has expanded as the kittens join Thumper, Thumper’s mother Tinkerbell, five, and grandmother Skylar, six and her seven-year-old cockapoo Tallulah.
She added: ‘Thumper is a brilliant mum, I would have thought that I would have to get the vets involved and give them powdered milk but she never leaves them.’
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