the miracle of birth 
nice one....
annnnd....
KITTENS!!!
nice one....
annnnd....
KITTENS!!!
Anyone Had Kittens?
- Thread starter chriswill
- Start date
AnnaKarpik
Queen of all she surveys
This is pretty much what I did; once Hattie had produced the kittens and started hiding them around the house I shut her and them in a wardrobe (a little used one of course!) for a while. I like to think this encouraged her to feed all the kittens - she had been happy with just picking one at random and sneaking off somewhere quiet with it. After a few hours you need to prop the door open slightly so the mother-cat can get in and out. For the first couple of weeks they were all confined to one room, in part to prevent Hattie delighting us with another litter in a couple of months time.
The great advantage to using a wardrobe is that the inside door had a mirror so that we could observe the kitten-bundle when Hattie was absent without ever touching them.
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
Win!
This thread is great - nice one Chris.
I am glad they all made it through.
You going to keep them or give them away to needy urbanites?
(that wasn't a hint BTW - not sure they would survive being posted to the Middle East)
If you do give them away - you gotta keep Orang Utan.
This thread is great - nice one Chris.
I am glad they all made it through.
You going to keep them or give them away to needy urbanites?
(that wasn't a hint BTW - not sure they would survive being posted to the Middle East)
If you do give them away - you gotta keep Orang Utan.
Chairman Meow
Perth, WA
Chairman Meow
Perth, WA
Chirs, switch to feeding Mum solely on kitten food. Ideally this should have happened when she was expecting, but still do it now. She needs all the help she can get whilst feeding 4 tiny mouths.
Once they're mobile, it's prob a good idea to put newspaper over a towel/blanket in the boxes or they get tangled in the fibres (not to mention trying to "feed" off them.)
Once Mum's happy to leave them and go wandering again, you need to keep her in the house or she'll be off getting preggers again***. You can't neuter her until the milk's stopped, so when you get the babies weaned, isolate them from mum unless you or Mrs Chris is there to supervise and ensure babies aren't feeding from Mum. She might not let them after they're eating solids, but some Mum cats will let them carry on forever if you don't interfere.
*** Unless you want another lot of course!
Once they're mobile, it's prob a good idea to put newspaper over a towel/blanket in the boxes or they get tangled in the fibres (not to mention trying to "feed" off them.)
Once Mum's happy to leave them and go wandering again, you need to keep her in the house or she'll be off getting preggers again***. You can't neuter her until the milk's stopped, so when you get the babies weaned, isolate them from mum unless you or Mrs Chris is there to supervise and ensure babies aren't feeding from Mum. She might not let them after they're eating solids, but some Mum cats will let them carry on forever if you don't interfere.
*** Unless you want another lot of course!
story
Gone for a Burton
Re: handling the kittehs. We always made a point of handling them really early, and often. It was partly for our own benefit (you can't beat a bit of kitten therapy to put a smile on your face 
) but also cos it helps the kitts to be comfortable with humans and petting.
Of course this depends on how happy the mother cat is with you handling them, but the fact that she chose to drop them in your bedroom suggests that she trusts you, so that shouldn't be a problem. She'll soon let you know if she's not happy.
We once took two kittens from a home where the humans had not handled the kittens at all, for fear of discomforting the mother. Those kittens were terribly jumpy around us, had to get used to being handled
And we've always used short-pile towels for new litters. Never had any trouble with claws or teeth getting caught. Newspaper seems a bit unyielding.
We once tried re-locating a litter out of the bedroom (midnight squeaks were distracting) but mum insisted on bringing them back. Although it was delightfully entertaining to watch her lugging them about (we made three attempts) we decided in the end to allow her to keep them where she pleased. Midnight squeaks were soon followed by midnight gallops around the floor and over the top of our sleeping mountains of bedclothes
) but also cos it helps the kitts to be comfortable with humans and petting.Of course this depends on how happy the mother cat is with you handling them, but the fact that she chose to drop them in your bedroom suggests that she trusts you, so that shouldn't be a problem. She'll soon let you know if she's not happy.
We once took two kittens from a home where the humans had not handled the kittens at all, for fear of discomforting the mother. Those kittens were terribly jumpy around us, had to get used to being handled
And we've always used short-pile towels for new litters. Never had any trouble with claws or teeth getting caught. Newspaper seems a bit unyielding.
We once tried re-locating a litter out of the bedroom (midnight squeaks were distracting) but mum insisted on bringing them back. Although it was delightfully entertaining to watch her lugging them about (we made three attempts) we decided in the end to allow her to keep them where she pleased. Midnight squeaks were soon followed by midnight gallops around the floor and over the top of our sleeping mountains of bedclothes
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
<confession>
I don't like ginger cats
I don't like ginger cats
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
They're common
Competition, innit?
Due some genetic weirdness most (99%) of ginger cats are toms. Similarly most tortoiseshell cats are female.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
And most white cats are deaf aren't they?
