3 weeks old (plus one day)
April 25th, 2008
What a difference a single week makes! The kittens are walking more, and though still unsteady on their feet, their muscles are developing and they are able to move fairly quickly now, though they are not ready to run or jump. As of today, the first kittens learned to climb out of their box too! Because Mama is comfortable nursing her babies outside of the box and they are growing too big for it anyway, we decide it's time to remove the box from their cage. It's also time for their first worming--a necessity with puppies and kittens, as the odds of having roundworm are actually quite high. We take the kittens out of the cage and put them on the floor for a little bit of supervised "exploring" time. Mama is also out of the cage, but she is not happy after she too receives a dose of the banana-flavored wormer. Mama retreats to inside a nylon cat play area, but she chooses a place only a few feet from the kittens where she can watch them. She is still very protective of her babies, but instinct tells her that she also has to let her babies develop and learn. One of the orange boys is starting to groom himself, and we are even starting to see some play behavior, and they climb onto our laps as we sit on the floor. The babies don't like to be away from Mama for long, and soon they are mewing and searching for her. Mama starts to meow back, in hopes that the kittens will follow the sound of her voice and come to her. When that doesn't work, she comes out of her spot to the kittens and starts talking to them. She gets ready to pick one up and take him to her new secure spot, but she seems to think better of it and goes back for a bit longer. It isn't very long before 2 of the kittens have used their still-developing senses to find Mama, and they carefully climb into her temporary nest. The remaining two kittens aren't quite as fast as the first two, and the last orange kitten spends some time mewing for mom. Mom answers him, but after determining that her baby is not in any danger, she chooses not to get up--she is nursing the two kittens that have found her. If the kitten continues to cry for much longer, Mama will go out to pick him up or lead him to her spot, but rather than disturb her nursing, we place the remaining two babies outside her chosen area and they soon make their way in. Although the room has been kitten-proofed, the linoleum floor can get quite cold, and the kittens are just about to get to the stage of eliminating without help from Mama--so to make life easier for Mama (and cleaning easier for their foster mom), it's back into the cage they go when we are ready to leave.
The kittens are now old enough that we will increase handling, as handling now will impact socialization. They will be given out-of-the-cage play times so they can continue to build their muscles and develop coordination, and a low-sided litterbox will be added--this way they can easily get in and out of the box and start to learn to use it. I don't see fully erupted teeth this week, but there will definitely be some next week.
Home | Adoptable Dogs | Adoptable Cats | Other Animals | Adoptable Animals in Foster | Special animals| Strays | Kittens in Foster
What'sNew | Calendar | Volunteer | Other Ways to Help | Wish List | E-Mail | Spottie's FAQ | Jobs
Alumni | Meowsers Angels | Animals Needing Foster Homes |Site Map