July 29th

So much for posting on a twice weekly basis! With the heat/humidity and keeping up with the dirty kitten bedding, I haven’t  felt like chasing them to get pictures!

We had one adoption this past week, only 4 to go! The older group got spayed and neutered yesterday. I think POP must do my kittens last every time because they come home still out of it.

You can see that the tabby is giving me the eye. Once they woke, they made a beeline to the food and water!

The babies are doing pretty good. They are at the sucking stage big time. Each kitten now has it’s own separate crate/box. We started them on Albon this week, and the diarrhea is getting better (hence all the bedding I’m having to wash). The baths are slowing down and as they learn how to play with each other, the sucking may be slowing down too.

 

We had a little drama yesterday. The female tabby fell ill. She eat great and was playing at breakfast but refused lunch. I checked on them about an hour later and she was hardly moving. I gave her sub-Q fluids, a little Karo syrup, and she sucked weakly on a bottle for awhile. The vet recommended heat, (I was snuggling her in polar fleece) so reluctantly I put her in a small box with a heating pad. I went out to run a few errands. When I got home, I wasn’t very hopeful but… she was totally revived and trying to get out of the box when she heard me! I don’t have any idea what was wrong; I guess she used up one of her lives!

Giving herself a bath.

Snuggled and safe.

Busy morning

I decided to photograph the kittens this morning as they played. It can be very difficult to capture a moving target and then they don’t look like they’re doing anything! Two of the older  kittens were playing ‘attack’ around the footstool while the 3rd watched from atop my curtain.

The younger 2 were in the kitchen playing in the pantry. Bags make great play toys!

   

Chasing your tail is also a great game.

And then there’s Attack!!

  The babies are doing great. They wiggle a lot when they are not asleep so that makes them hard to photograph. They are managing to get their belly off the floor more and more when they creep.

They have started the disgusting habit  of sucking on each other’s bottoms and drinking urine. Unfortunately this is very common in kittens that were taken from their mommas very young. I much prefer the way the older kittens have handled this, sucking on the black and white one’s belly. (see picture in earlier post)

Now they are dirty birds that will have to have another bath this afternoon.

But for now, they are sound asleep.

We had company during the last feeding. The black kitten is sneaking milk.

New babies

The shelter has a young female that had 8 babies last week. They were always crying and dirty so we decided to split up the litter to see if she could take better care of fewer kittens. Three came to our house. They have the same birthday as the little ones we already have.

These little guys were very dirty and the 2 already here were getting kinda’ smelly too, so last night was bath night. It takes at least 2 of us to bath them; 1 to feed and wash and 1 to snuggle until their dry!

You can see that they are the same size. Everybody’s eyes are fully open and they can walk a few steps before their stomach drags the floor.

The older kittens are running all over the house getting into things! Hopefully next week we’ll begin the spaying process on the oldest 3.

Babies eyes are opening!

The tiny guys are now 10 days old and right on schedule, their eyes are opening! It’s always amazing to see that little spark of reflected light for the first time. I tried to take a picture but they kept ducking their heads. If you look closely you can see the one on the left’s eyes are opening.

Their legs are getting stronger everyday and their bellies are clearing the floor a little more each day. Here’s what they look like after they’ve eaten.

One of the males got adopted this week; the rest are still waiting for their new home. We still have 4 females and 1 male (the tabby) ready for adoption.

These guys are getting into trouble in the kitchen!  

Sunday evening

It’s been a hot day but the kittens have found enough energy to play ‘attack’. The tabby and white kitten got adopted today!

The new kittens are growing quickly. They are eating twice as much food and staying awake for longer periods.

They are creeping all the time. It’s hard to see, but  since their legs are not very strong, the belly slides across the floor while they do the breast stroke!

They love to snuggle up with the stuffed dog, it’s like having momma.

July 8

We’re all flaked out trying to endure the heat! Except for the newbies, they’re enjoying the heating pad!

These little guys are only a few days old but they are feisty and good eaters so I have high hopes.

 

The other kittens are getting along just great, hoping to be adopted soon.

Kitten Season 2010

Kitten season started at the end of April with 2 litters of 2 day old kittens. They only survived for 24 hours. We had a puppy that was 2 days old and he didn’t live much longer. Needless to say, things didn’t start off on a good note!

In May we got a small litter of 4 week old kittens; they were already on solid food. All 3 are female and they have been extremely healthy. We needed that! I’ve looked back and  I see that I didn’t take many pictures of them. We’ve been doing some major work on the house and I’ve just been too tired to photograph them. I did take a few shots.

 

 

I keep getting distracted! We’re moving furniture and trying to de-clutter; I can only do so much at a time before I loose my focus. While I was painting the trim in the stairwell, the kittens were underfoot and in my lap. When these guys got tired they began sucking on the black and white one’s belly! We’ve had kittens that were weaned too young and they tend to suck for pee, these guys are much more charming.

The black and white one then sucks herself to sleep!

 

Here are the current pictures of these guys.

Shortly after these guys got settled in, we got another litter of 3, this time about 2 weeks old. They were bottle babies, very affectionate. They have also been very healthy so they only had to be separated for a week. They are now in that long legged stage and are learning how to jump, climb, and go in circles! Every night they snuggle up next to our heads to go to sleep.

   This is the female.

The boys.

I need to get to my painting, this time watercolor. Life is slowing down to a normal pace so I should be able to get more pictures this week (as I take them!)