Monday, August 25, 2014

Catch Me If You Can, Four-Week Old #Kittens by Karen Rose Smith



I watch Halo's kittens change and grow each day. This week their back legs gained more strength and they ventured out of the nesting bin. We have half of my office blocked off for them. Halo prowls the perimeter and then creates boundaries for them. If they straggle outside of those boundaries, she tackles them and convinces them to come back.  From the outset, she made a noise in her throat, not exactly a meow, whenever they were suckling and afterward.  Now she uses that sound to call them to her to eat or when they wander too far afield. Just like baby proofing any room, we've softened the obvious pitfalls.  We've stuffed towels into cracks where the babies shouldn't be and blocked cords.

In addition, I've laid out a few memory foam bath mats and thermal crate pads. I put one of them under a lawn chair I'm using in their area.  Last night Halo fed her babies under there.  Today, I don't think they were in their nesting bin at all.  The three of them laid on a piece of foam covered with a receiving blanket near Halo to sleep or they slept under the lawn chair with her.  I've found I just make possibilities available and they find them.

At a month, it's time for them to use a litter box.  Maybe.  Kittens are like babies and do things at their own pace.  So just in case they were ready, we set up a smaller litter box with lower sides as was suggested in a few articles.  Yesterday, we put each one in the box just to get a feel for it. I haven't yet seen Halo lead them to a litter box, though they can hear her whenever she uses one.

Today, Paddington, the first born, yet the one who has had the most difficulty latching on and the smallest as far as weight gain, used the BIG litter box all by himself.  (He was also the first one to figure out how to crawl out of the bin.)  Hopefully in the next day or two, he'll lead his siblings to the box Halo uses too.

We're going to start weaning this week.  Tonight we just showed them the dish and gave them a taste of kitten formula on their bottom lips.

Each day is a brand new adventure...for them and for us!








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5 comments:

  1. Jacqueline HopperAugust 26, 2014 at 4:32 AM

    The sweetness continues. Thank you for sharing this adventure with your readers. I have a feeling I'm going to cry a little when these tiny darlings go to their furever homes.

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  2. Deborah BlakeAugust 26, 2014 at 4:44 AM

    Oh my god the cuteness! My eyes! My eyes!

    Seriously, this has been the next best thing to having kittens myself (well, or having a cat who had them...you know what I mean). Halo has turned out to be such a good mother and you're pretty amazing at all this too.

    Want Paddington BAD. :-)

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  3. MichelleAugust 26, 2014 at 4:54 AM

    They are all so cute, I want to take them all home with me,lol. Don't know why I never noticed it before, Paddington's face divided in half with 2 different colors. Love the updates and pictures.

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  4. MariaAugust 26, 2014 at 6:28 AM

    They are so cute! Thanks for sharing your adventure with the kitties!

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  5. Robin CoxonAugust 26, 2014 at 8:22 AM

    I love kittens. They can add such a different outlook to a household. My husband said if we ever had a female cat that had kittens I would never be able to part with them. lol!

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