They grow up so fast...
(update on my cat's six kittens)_____
They grow up so fast...
_______________________
Happy Caturday! It's been a couple weeks since I gave an update on my cat and her six kittens, so I figured it was about time! They will be three weeks old tomorrow. Fitting that I became a "cat dad" on Father's Day, which I didn't even realize at first :-D
There are two male gold kittens, two female tabbies (one of them long-haired) and two dark females — one pure black and the other dark brownish-black with some gold and grey patches of fur. I have really enjoyed the experience so far of watching them develop and getting them used to human social interaction. It's a rare opportunity for me as I've never been responsible for newborn animals of any kind, and I had a very good relationship with Topaz, their mother, who is a stray I befriended and adopted earlier this Spring.
Since the mother is used to my scent and comfortable with me, I was able to touch and pick up the newborn kittens while they were only a few days old. If you ever find a litter of kittens in the wild and they are still very young (eyes still closed, especially) do not just immediately go up and touch them or assume they are abandoned. Mother cats normally go wander around for a couple of hours and then return to her offspring, and if she is not used to your scent, it can sometimes cause her to reject them.
Of course, Mom does most of the work, so I am just here to take care of her and socialize the kittens properly. The window of time between one and two weeks old is often considered the most vital period to get kittens used to human touch. Their eyes are generally still closed at the beginning of that and opened or at least beginning to open by the end. Once their eyes open they become less fearful of being held since they can see their surroundings.
Three-week-olds — getting more curious!
Soon, I hope to partition off a section of the room they are in so they can have a larger safe area for them to explore, as they have been in a large cardboard box to prevent them from escaping and getting lost or hurt. I do take them out of the box several times a day and supervise them exploring now that they can walk decently and are becoming slightly more independent!
I hope to be as conservative as possible in terms of keeping them with their mother for a few weeks even after they are weaned so they are as socially well-adjusted as possible. I also hope to have them adopted in pairs as a preference (I already know my mom @violetmed plans to take two of them!)
After they are weaned, I will most likely need to get Topaz spayed as she is indoor/outdoor and cats tend to be quite fertile. I restrict her from going out more than an hour or two at a time these days and am observing for any signs she might be going back into heat as some mothers do so very quickly after they have their previous litter.
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Happy Caturday and thanks for visiting my blog!
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writing and images by @d-pend
created for HIVE — July 11, 2020.
There are two male gold kittens, two female tabbies (one of them long-haired) and two dark females — one pure black and the other dark brownish-black with some gold and grey patches of fur. I have really enjoyed the experience so far of watching them develop and getting them used to human social interaction. It's a rare opportunity for me as I've never been responsible for newborn animals of any kind, and I had a very good relationship with Topaz, their mother, who is a stray I befriended and adopted earlier this Spring.
Since the mother is used to my scent and comfortable with me, I was able to touch and pick up the newborn kittens while they were only a few days old. If you ever find a litter of kittens in the wild and they are still very young (eyes still closed, especially) do not just immediately go up and touch them or assume they are abandoned. Mother cats normally go wander around for a couple of hours and then return to her offspring, and if she is not used to your scent, it can sometimes cause her to reject them.
Of course, Mom does most of the work, so I am just here to take care of her and socialize the kittens properly. The window of time between one and two weeks old is often considered the most vital period to get kittens used to human touch. Their eyes are generally still closed at the beginning of that and opened or at least beginning to open by the end. Once their eyes open they become less fearful of being held since they can see their surroundings.
Three-week-olds — getting more curious!
__________
Soon, I hope to partition off a section of the room they are in so they can have a larger safe area for them to explore, as they have been in a large cardboard box to prevent them from escaping and getting lost or hurt. I do take them out of the box several times a day and supervise them exploring now that they can walk decently and are becoming slightly more independent!
I hope to be as conservative as possible in terms of keeping them with their mother for a few weeks even after they are weaned so they are as socially well-adjusted as possible. I also hope to have them adopted in pairs as a preference (I already know my mom @violetmed plans to take two of them!)
After they are weaned, I will most likely need to get Topaz spayed as she is indoor/outdoor and cats tend to be quite fertile. I restrict her from going out more than an hour or two at a time these days and am observing for any signs she might be going back into heat as some mothers do so very quickly after they have their previous litter.
In the next couple weeks, once they can walk very well and their legs are strong enough to squat, they will learn how to use a litter box by observing their mother. They will also become progressively more playful and active, so I expect to have my hands full!
Animals are difficult to photograph as they rarely stay still, but I figured I ought to get some shots before they get even faster-moving! It was hard to do the lighting and take the shots myself, so I apologize in advance for less-than-perfect focus and overexposure. I have a bunch more shots still to edit, so I'll make another cat-blog soon.
Happy Caturday and thanks for visiting my blog!
.
writing and images by @d-pend
created for HIVE — July 11, 2020.
Awwwwwwww, they're adorable! Love the first, 9th from bottom and 11th from bottom shots! And every one in between too! Lol... Happy Caturday!
Thanks @ackhoo :-) Have a great weekend!
Haha, you some great photos! It is amazing how big they have gotten in 3 short weeks!
Thanks! Yeah, I can't believe how quickly they grow!
They are so cute and tiny!
Looking forward to more photo updates as they grow. :)
:-D I am loving the experience and cherishing my time with them until they are adopted :-) Will be posting an update soon... hope your summer is going well @nikolina!
Beautiful and cute :)
Indeed :-D Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful.. I befriended two stray pregnant female cats where I wound up keeping them and their kittens.. Now I have a semi controlled mad house...
I have picked your post for my daily hive voting initiative, Keep it up and Hive On!!
Thank you @chitty for the support!
Congratulations, cat daddy. Ha ha ha. Taking care of and raising kittens is a great experience. I've done it before. I love cats! The pictures are great, they look very natural. The kittens, don't even say: beautiful!
A hug, @d-pend.
Even if you are an inadvertent cat dad, it looks like the little furballs are thriving. In the next few weeks you'll also get to see them develop their true eye colors (all kittens have blue eyes... not sure why), and they'll start getting into everything!
I like that you're going to try to adopt them out in pairs... very thoughtful! Look forward to seeing more photos as they grow!
=^..^=
Very cute kittens and beautiful mother cat! They all look active and healthy.
They grow up so fast indeed. Their progress is interesting.
Thanks so much for sharing their photos as well as their stories with us. ;)
Wow they are really cute.
I have enjoyed seeing kittens grow from my childhood. There are around 3-4 stray cats in our neighbourhood. Who mostly stay in our garden or our neighbours. Every year or two, they give birth to 2-3 kittens. It been 4-5 times that they have given birth in our garden. When it happens, I make it sure to provide them some more food and a cardboard box to keep them safe.
They don't like touched and also, their mother could abandon them so we don't touch them. I just enjoy to see them growing up. Play with each other. Learn how to jump and hunt mice etc. lol. They are really fun to watch. And whenever it happens, I get really 2-3 months of good activity in my house.
You did a great job taking care of Topaz and her litter. Really cute kittens. We get a lot of stray cats in our neighborhood and a lot of people feed the cats but no one wants to take care of the difficult things. It usually comes to a few conscientious people.
Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos I like the four bottom photos the best I've got a cat that lives at my mum's house she's very old about 14 years old in our years
I don't like cats .. but these one's are cute
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Cats love to play. I love cats too.
I'd like one of those kittens. We eat them as a delicacy in my village. We are starving...
I understand if this is uneasy for you... but... this is our lives here. We would offer you in return a sock, made of the tiny kitten's fur... believe it or not, this is a great deal for you, but we use tiny children because they have tiny hands and can knit the kitten fabric.
Very exotic piece. Can't get this any where else for obvious reasons. Please consider this as many stomachs will be filled... thanks brother