Our semi- feral 2- week old kittens

Alright, Rita finally decided I could have some attention time. A nice little chat in the offering - well, after I do my duty and give her a belly rub

 

They are a lot of fun, (except for litter box time)

 

Yeah, always a potential problem. At this point, we do not plan on keeping any of the kittens but who knows, one of them may be a little 'human' heart- breaker.

Brian

 

No need for that, I can tell from your posts you would be an excellent pet owner.

I will have these kittens tested for leukemia and any other necessary initial kitten vet. needs but otherwise they will all need a trip to the vet. at first and later, to be spayed / neutered. All seem perfectly healthy. Give us a few weeks to socialize, wean and box- train them and they should be up for grabs.

If you want to take the road trip, you can see all of them, interact with them and then take your 'pick of the litter'.

I would be quite happy to have you take a kitten (or two?), confident that the kitten would indeed have a fine home, in a warm house to boot. Woodburners, motorcycle riders and shooters get preferential treatment and Brian's house of cats.....

Brian

 

OK, as of last night, we tracked down the fourth kitten. I call it 'glasses' because it has little whitish rings around its eyes, although the rings are fading now.



This morning, two drank some formula from a bowl, one from a bottle, and two used the litter box. Glasses is too busy trying to climb out of the box for any of that but it was just brought in last night so was the last one to nurse from Mama. I am confident when it is hungry, it too will eat. So far, all is well in kitten- land.

Brian

 

I think I've heard this tune before...

 

Nope, Phoebe was pretty much adopted w/in the hour of her arrival. She is and was simply the most adorable, interesting and 'coolest' cat I have ever been around and I still think she is 1/2 dog.

These kittens were not taken in because we did or do want them, we are merely trying to help them toward having a better life than being feral cats living outside. So while I am sure it will hard to send them off, that is the plan at this time. We have talked about keeping one or more, outright rejected more than one, and are very much open to not keeping any at all.

Brian

 

That is definitely how I would want to approach it.

 

Yeah, it is really impressive how different they all are from each other. Same thing with size; the big one looks two weeks older than the runt. Different personalities too so an in- person visit and choice would be the best way to pick one.

12 June 2018: all are now 'eating' kitten formula from a bowl, all are now using the litter box although only about 5% for the use intended, 20% for trying to mine to the center of the earth and 75% as a playground and an assault position for any nearby kittens. This morning, when I found them in that usual 'kitten huddle' and started to talk to them and touch them, one started singing. They no longer cry for Mama but now chirp like little birds for food (formula). Absolutely amazing how quickly they adapt to totally new environment, new feeding and using a box.

I will see if I can get a short video to post 'cause they too cute, doing all that 'kitten stuff'.

Brian

 

Well, this is the first time I have ever been around a batch of kittens this young and to my surprise, even box- time is a riot. When they are actually using the box, they do not do it right and that alone is funny. But they also go into the box two and three at a time, play with each other, dig holes with both front feet and generally act like the little insane creatures they really are. So even time 'in the box' is amusing and enjoyable with the batch of kittens.

Now Phoebe, on the other hand, well let me just say that it is best if you are not in the room when she uses the box. The world's most adorable cat can produce toxic waste that even land- fills in New Jersey would not accept...... And right now, her box is in the bathroom and she really seems to like using it while one of us is in there (what is it about females that they have to go to the bathroom in groups anyway?) so sometimes, we can be a captive audience and are not able to escape.....

Brian

 

Read: how quickly they adapt to the welfare lifestyle...

 

And now for today's riddle: what has 500 teeth and 10,000 claws?



Wait....










Wait....









Wait....









Yep, Four Kittens!

The scratches and punctures do not show well in the photos but trust me, I am covered in them. And that from the two kittens that really LIKE me and climb on top of me every-time I go into the laundry room (where they live). I sit on the floor and two of them climb up into my lap and one continues up to my neck, both of them using 4- paw drive. Sure it stings but hey, where else can you find that much fun that weighs under a pound (all four of them).







Brian

 

Let's hope that they aren't carrying any type of infectious virus germs under their cute little claws..........................or in their mouths !!!

 

Our cat likes to chew on my husband, but not me (unless she's had catnip).

 

Absolutely worth it for the amount of 'cuteness' provided. Besides, (paraphrasing) 'It takes a tough man to raise tender kittens'.

Brian

 

The kittens are going to the vet. for leukemia testing the Monday after next (25 June). Andrea (my wife) is NOT going with me. It is going to take everything I have got to put these kittens down if they test leukemia virus- positive :-(

Truth be told, I am getting attached to the little fella's. Still, reality shows that I can only keep one kitten, at most, and we have the leukemia virus to go through.... tough. :-(

But on the bright side, Andrea and I are really enjoying tending to them and watching them grow literally by the day. Two are little 'love bugs', two are a little more stand- offish but in the end, I am confident all will be well- socialized for humans and will make wonderful pets. And even the stand- offish kittens are a riot in their own right, jumping, pouncing and chasing their siblings. So whomever gets these kittens will get excellent pets, I am sure. And if you want one, bogieb, I guarantee you a great little kitten..... seriously. I am spending extra time on the two 'hold outs' and they are both showing a great response; neither one shies away from our attention, and 'Runt' actually climbs up onto my shoe for a little attention (big improvement). We are working diligently on 'glasses' to socialize her (him?) and it is definitely paying off in that she (he?) will now take petting as well as a bit of handling which as of last Monday resulted in spitting and growling. Again, things are changing on a daily basis.....

Brian

 

Are you also having them tested for feline AIDs? I had Rita in to my vet today for her yearly checkup and I told him I was thinking of a kitten. He said definitely want the AIDs test too. At least there is a vaccination for preventing leukemia so it is still possible to have an infected cat live with other cats that have had the vaccine - not true with AIDs

 

Sounds like you are doing a great job with getting them ready for their human servants!

 

I <believe> that both tests are done at the same time, or at least that is what happened with Phoebe; I asked to have her tested for feline leukemia virus and the report came back negative on both leukemia and AIDS. But I will ask that both be done when we do go to the vet. Which is now scheduled for 25 June BTW.

As I said before, I think I will have any of these kittens euthanized if they test positive for leukemia but am not sure about AIDS. It is not readily transferred to other cats unless there is deep tissue wounding (deep bites) and that is not likely to happen in a house. And feline AIDS is not at all a terminal disease. So that will require more thought and I will not do anything drastic w/out talking with my vet. and doing a bit more research.

The leukemia situation is a much bigger problem because it IS fatal, cats who have it usually do not live very long and are often ill for a good portion of the time they do live. In addition, I would have to have Phoebe inoculated and I do not want to do that for several reasons: first, they vaccination has a pretty poor effectiveness percentage, at least IMO. Secondly, there are a lot of pretty nasty side effects of that vaccination, the worst of which is actually that it causes cancer (a sarcoma) at the injection site far too often IMO. So once a person has an inside cat that does not have leukemia, my opinion is that that cat(s) should not be vaccinated. Or at least that is my opinion for my own cats. That said, if you want to take a leukemia- positive kitten and take care of it (or more than one) for whatever time it has, we may still be able to work out a transfer. Let me know, either in this thread or privately as this is starting to get pretty personal IMO.... sorta' like talking about one of the hotly contested human issues and I do not want to put you on the spot.

Thanks- we are trying but novices at this. Right now, two kittens will run right up to us (but especially me- seriously), climb into our laps and sing. So they are quite human- friendly. The other two are not so friendly though Runt is more disinterested than afraid or opposed to human contact. Glasses is standoffish, will not stay with us, and is the only one of the four who was aggressive the first couple of days, growling, spitting, biting and clawing us. Glasses is no longer aggressive but still not really interested in humans very much. Right now, they are eating softened (water soaked) kitten kibble but we will take that away from them tonight so they cannot freely feed, and we will go back to feeding all of them but especially Runt and Glasses by hand, with a bottle to again try to socialize and bond them with humans. They are not quite five weeks old so I think there is still plenty of time to change their relationship with people, and I am really shooting for 'greatly likes' humans as opposed to tolerates or is not afraid of humans. Phoebe will now tolerate being held for a minute or three but still will not sit or stay in our laps at all and I blame that on insufficient human interaction when she was very young. It has taken us 7 months to get to this point, being able to hold her without instant resistance. She is really very affectionate and clearly likes us but it took a long time to hold her or even pet her for more than about 4 times before she would get up and move a few feet away. Now, we can pet her until we wear the skin off our hands but again, it would have been much better if she bonded to humans much younger. So we are trying to really socialize these kittens so that they will be great pets for their final owners (or as you say, servants ).

Brian