Our semi- feral 2- week old kittens

For whatever little bit it is worth, I have more respect and admiration for someone who takes the proper care of pets than I do those who want to try and rehabilitate a clearly savage human.

Nothing wrong with a 'soft touch' with animals IMO. We can and often do far worse with our own species.

Brian

 

I hope you can get Phoebe to come around on the kitten issue. Scent swapping seems to be important...
"This will also give you plenty of time to carry out the important process of ‘scent swapping’. To do this, stroke each cat without washing your hands to mix scents (separately!) and swap bedding regularly. Also gather scent from the new cat’s head and cheeks by gently stroking with a soft cloth and dabbing this around your home and furniture to mix with your existing cats scent."
How to introduce a new cat to your resident cat

 

By my count they turned 7 weeks yesterday and you should be celebrating with more pictures and tales of their adventures.

 

Yep, they were seven weeks on Sat. Have some photos, will post them later.

Kittens are doing well, socializing with Phoebe not so much. In fact, kittens are back getting a bit of bottle again with their solid food and seem to be thriving on that.

Introduced one of them to Phoebe, in the house. It went OK, Phoebe was intensely curious and a little aggressive but not bad. So then we introduced all four of them to the house and Phoebe and again Phoebe was pretty intense and a bit too wound- up; she could not watch all of them at once and got excessively intense and more aggressive so we stopped that. Back to one kitten, Runt and Phoebe and again it went OK but Phoebe got a bit too aggressive; I was going to separate them again but realized that they have to conform to 'house rules' at some point and so gave Phoebe a shot with a spray bottle (water). That backed her off quite well. I finally though we were catering to Phoebe too much- she does NOT rule the house, Andrea and I do. So the new plan is to continue to raise the kittens in the laundry room and bedroom (they are connected) and spend evenings with the kittens to further socialize them. We did this last night and it worked out quite well.

They will be ready to adopt in another week or two. I think we are going to keep Runt and <possibly> one more but if good people want the other three, we will probably adopt all three of them out.

Brian

 

Well at least Andrea lets you think you have a say!

 

In this case, I was the one who basically had enough of 'over- catering' to pets. Sort of like over- indulging children, almost always a bad idea. It is as simple as this: it is my or our decision, not Phoebe's or anything else that lives here, such as plants. I foolishly forgot that but all is well now. If Phoebe cannot / will not accept a kitten, then they will have to be separated until such time as the kitten is big enough to take care of herself with Phoebe. But the kittens will no longer be confined to one room while Phoebe gets the run of the house; the division will be a little more equitable going forward.

Last night, Phoebe got closed out of the bedroom and the kittens got access to it instead. Funny thing is that Andrea felt bad for Phoebe and so slept on the couch to keep her company; of course Phoebe slept on the other couch, the two did not interact at all, and Phoebe slept all night without the slightest care that Andrea was there so again, over- indulgence. But that was Andrea's choice so she can continue to do that if she wants.

And going forward, I am going to begin occasionally putting Phoebe into the bedroom (with a litter box and food and water of course) and let the kittens have the run of the house for some hours; I think that will help socialize them further and get them used to how humans really live; TV on, sitting on furniture, etc.

Funny story: the kittens are now so fast, able and agile that we cannot move them from one room to another because they just hop back into the original room. Basically, they are faster and more agile than we are. Andrea is actually pretty good at holding 3 or 4 of them at once but that is not 100% reliable either. So what I do is to take the cat- carrier into the room with the kittens, catch them one at a time and put the next one into the carrier, then move the whole carrier into the other room and close the door before opening the cat carrier. It is actually funny that we have to resort to this but I am telling you, those little guize can just scurry around so fast it makes catching them look like a Three Stooges routine.

Brian (the cat 'mute'; sort of like The Cat Whisperer but without the whisper)

 

It is funny because it is true.....

On a different note, I believe I have now entered, despite my very best efforts, 'the danger zone' with these kittens. Andrea and I spent some time with them early this evening and I mentioned how I was really getting to appreciate Slash's markings and large areas of cream color. Plus she has the longest and softest coat- reminds me of a rabbit. Then I realized what really happened was I was getting a little more attached to her. So then I thought, Hmmmm, wonder if my favorite is Slash after all rather than Runt. But then Runt ran by and I remembered how much I like her too. And Spot is kinda' special when she climbs up on my leg and sings. And Glasses really does have an amusingly attractive face. So while there has been, and will be NO DEVIATION from the 'we are NOT going to have five cats!' rule, I find myself slipping down a very slippery slope here.....

 

Cue Midwinter with a slippery slope meme

 

I have no idea where you get these. that one is funny.

 

Oops sorry wrong meme...

 

Thats what is said three years ago. All five are still here

 

6 July 2018 Update:
Well, tomorrow they will be 8 weeks old. All are growing, socializing and are healthy and <seem> happy. We have introduced Phoebe to them, and vice- versa, with mixed results. Of course the kittens are fine but Phoebe sometimes gets a little nasty with them. Not any overt aggressive signs in the last week or more (spitting, growling, hair up, etc.) but she 'boxes' with them a bit too rough. She is not outright attacking them but perhaps playing too hard, not sure.

We introduced them to a new cat toy: an electric mouse that chatters around the floor. After some initial wariness, they loved the thing and went a bit nuts, with Slash especially hopping up and down all over the thing. Phoebe was in there too and mostly watching them play with the mouse. (ignore the mess, this is my laundry room, clothes closet, shoe storage area, cleaning supply storage area and partial reloading facility while the house is being demolis...... er, I mean rebuilt)









One of us spends the night with them but isolates Phoebe to the rest of the house so the kittens can relax. And they seem to be doing OK with that too:

This is Runt, all fired- up by the looks:



Glasses on the same bed:



Glasses grooming herself, Runt grooming her belly, Slash 'nursing' on Runt's belly at the same time:



Another week or so and they will be ready for adoption!

Brian

 

Pheobe seems to doing OK! She won't get to throw her weight around forever; if you keep a kitten, it may grow up to be bigger than Phoebe! I am partial to the ones with brindled gray/orange fur, I think that is beautiful.

 

Yes, we are going through a 'breaking- in' period with Phoebe and the kittens. Phoebe gets too rough / dominant with them on occasion and tonight, I 'flicked her ear' (a punishment I used on my own kids- very effective without any risk of any real damage to kid or cat) after she went after one of the 'kids'. But of course, it is a learning curve and a life change, not a single, moment event so we are all evolving together I guess.

Yep, the beige on the gray kittens is really very nice but so too is Runt, who is almost all gray. It is probably hard to tell from the photos but there is no orange among any of them, it is all beige or tan and ranges from nearly white to light tan in color. All are just beautiful in their own way. We have a prospective 'adopter' coming by before too long and honestly, Andrea and I have discussed which one(s) we would or would not put up for adoption and have absolutely no decision! Tough choice! It is easier for me to choose a favorite child than to pick a favorite kitten, seriously. They are all different and all have unique personalities and to pick the 'best' is really, really tough. But still, keeping our eye on the prize, the goal remains to find all four good homes so in the end, if a potential adoptive person really takes a shine to a kitten that is a favorite of ours, we will probably let it go. Besides that, the 'worst' of this little will make a wonderful pet IMO so even left with the last one after all others are chosen would be a fine thing IMO.

I can honestly say that at 8 weeks (tomorrow), having raised these kittens from 4 weeks of age, it has been a very interesting and rewarding experience. If they go to good homes with good 'parents', I will be happy that I interfered with the feral cat process in the first place. Who knows, we may do this again in the future..... we sure have enough pregnant, not- quite- adult cats running around here, compliments of my neighbor.

Brian

 

Yep, kittens are better than mittens.

It's a shame the mother wasn't willing to be taken care of (caught & fixed), but such is their nature.

I'm sure you'll make sure they have fine new human friends soon.

 

I was thinking the same thing after looking at the pictures. If she is willing to be in the same room and be distracted by the "mouse", then she is not a "hater" of the kittens. She may find them too much at times, but they, and she, will outgrow that. Not saying she will be best pals with any of them (although she might). Which is fine. I've only had a couple of cats that were great friends over the years and usually they were kittens from the same litter. Heck, I had two kittens from the same litter that liked each other fine, just weren't pals. I've also had a cat that when humans were paying attention acted like he hated other cats/dogs in the household. When you turned your back, he was rubbing all along them (dogs were constantly confused about the instant change from hater to lover ).

 

Yep, Phoebe does not hate the kittens but she is 'wary' or some similar word, of them. She does not actually attack them but she does batter them and chase them after they have all been together for a while. I do not think it is purely playful but the kittens' fur comes up and they spit at her, indicating to me that they do not think she is quite playing either. But I think we can get to a place of coexistence between a kitten and Phoebe down the road.

Just gave a pretty thorough check and it appears that Slash is female after all. Really tough to tell, at least for us and our vet. So it looks like four females. Again. Until the next check probably.

Brian