Hot Pepper Is Due Any Day Now And...

Thank you for the ongoing dialogue. I’ve been giving mama cat and her kittens my all and I apologize for being overly defensive of what I took to be an implication that I wasn’t doing right/enough. I’ve read the guidelines and would love to keep this little family unit together for the full 12 weeks but we can’t. The litter was born later than we expected them, there were more kittens than we anticipated even after the prenatal x-ray, and the labor complications and fading kitten syndrome took a big chunk out of our foster cat funding; Gertie Hot Pepper’s instinctual aggression toward our dog has thrown another wrench in the works, too. I know that three of the adoptive homes have cats so it’s my understanding/hope that these kittens will continue to be socialized by the cats in their new homes. Again, it’s not ideal, but from where we stand right now, it’s the best we can do.

You're giving them a *much* better start than they would have had on the street and have found them loving forever homes and i think you should feel nothing but good about that! FWIW most shelters and rescues in my area adopt out at 8 weeks.

The kittens are four weeks old today (well, yesterday, technically, but I got home late from work). They’re exploring their room and becoming so playful. The smallest kitten hasn’t gained as well as she ought to the last couple days, so I am keeping a close eye on her and will try sequestering her with mama for a little while tomorrow while the bigger kittens are asleep. The vets said it’s not uncommon to lose a kitten around the time of weaning but I would be so heartbroken if that happened - she’s so spunky and brave and quick to figure things out (like how to climb in and out of the nest by herself). I hope it’s just a case of the runt not getting as many chances to nurse deeply, and she’ll start catching up to her siblings once they start eating solid food. Mama seems so bored and ready to take a break, too.

Can we get some individual one month pictures when the day arrives?

Enid, the smallest, 448g, female, a bit of a wallflower but clever, might be short-haired?


^Louise, 506g, female, feisty, holds her own with her bigger brothers, long-haired, we think?


^Schmidt, 530g, male, curious, brave, and talkative, possibly shorthaired?


^Bing, the biggest, 562g, male, quiet and laidback/lazy, seems long-haired?

ileen , how could we resist? They’re so active now that it’s hard to get a proper, focused picture, but here they are!

We knew the odds would not be in our favor for short-haired kittens, since Gertie Hot Pepper is (medium) long-haired herself. The black kitten (“Schmidt”) and the darker tortoiseshell (“Enid”) could be short-haired. We might put it out there to the adopters that we will keep whichever kitten if one turns out to be short-haired.

Long hair is recessive, so if the daddy was shorthaired it's actually more likely you'd get shorthairs (well, about 50/50 if he carries the longhair gene). They're so floofy at that age it's hard to tell which will be longhairs. I once raised a litter I was sure would have long hair, and nope, all shorthairs. And the other way around too. And one little fluffy girl that was definitely longhaired from the beginning! I can't say for sure if any of yours will be longhairs, no obvious fluffs. The orange guy looks like the most likely candidate.

They're soooooo cute! I love that age!

Incredibly adorable! Floofy is the perfect word to describe them, even if spellcheck underlines it in red.

Hi everybody! I'm a worrier by nature, but if anyone wants to weigh in on whether these are real concerns, please do!

1) The kittens' weight gains are all over the place. Tonight, they've gained 22g, 8g, 18g, and 5g. I'm worried about the littlest one; she's 80g behind the next-smallest kitten and has gained under 10g/day for four days in a row. She’s the only kitten I haven’t seen eating the kitten kibble yet. She’s plenty active but she’s just not gaining like her siblings.

2) The red kitten tries to chew/suck on everything, and today I found him in the kittens’ shallow litter pan, nibbling the litter. I bought Yesterday’s News paper pellets because it’s non-clumping but is it safe to ingest? How do I deter this behavior? Should I switch to a different litter?

They are all still gaining, but quite common for they to plateau for a few days or so around this age mine all stalled for a day or so. So as long as no other symptoms and sounds like you are doing great job of monitoring their weight they should be fine.

Not sure about litter, but I used wood pellets and had no issues. Maybe worth offering them some food if they are licking stuff. I started around that age with mine, but it took quite some time before they started eating it.
Also you could give them some cardboard boxes with holes cut in them, mime loved to play with them and chew (think it may help with their baby teeth)

Hey everyone,

The kittens are six weeks old today! They spend most of their time playing and can climb up over the baby gate we were using to keep them in their room so we gave them free range of the (kitten-proofed) house when we’re around. Hot Pepper is still not nice to our dog and having to keep them separated is stressful for cat, dog, and people alike. Hot Pepper went back to the vet on Monday because she has diarrhea again - parasite-free but it could be diet, chronic illness, food allergy - or just the stress of being isolated from the household too much. :/ I miss when she would snuggle up to our dog. The kittens are all healthy and doing great integrating into the family. I hope they have smooth transitions into their forever homes in a few short weeks.

They are lovely kittens - do they have distinct personalities?