Hi everyone.
A bit of background: when my flatmates and I moved in, a cat started coming around occasionally when we were outside. She was super friendly and we'd give her heaps of pats, but wouldn't feed her. After some time, we got concerned that she may be a stray. She had gunk in her eyes and a chest and belly full of thick matted fur (we didn't notice at first, but then she started asking for belly rubs and we realised). We took her to the vet, who shaved off the mats and told us she was neither microchipped nor spayed. We managed to get in contact with her owner by using a collar with our phone number on it, who said he "hadn't seen her in three weeks" and "we can keep her if we want." It was pretty sad, but we weren't prepared to have a cat and considered taking her to the SPCA, but wanted to give the owner a chance first.
We should not have given him that chance. We start to notice her belly is getting really round. She's pregnant. It's too late to do anything about it. She decides to have the kittens in our house. We have five very lovely little kittens who are now 7 weeks old (I live in New Zealand - she got pregnant a couple of weeks before spring). They have been to the vet a couple of times, who has issued a clean bill of health. Let it be known that I am very pro-spay. I hate seeing people let their cat get pregnant, and as cute as the kittens are (I admit, I'm in love with all of them), I wish it hadn't happened. They're a lot of work and Mumma cat is now stuck inside, which she doesn't love but she's putting up with. We let her outside for the first week until I called the vet about spaying her, and she told me not to let her outside before she's spayed. Our vets won't spay her until her milk has dried up.
I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted to provide some context. We're managing well, but between the poop and the food and playtime, they keep me busy, and I feel like I'm in over my head sometimes! But we do have five lovely, thriving, very friendly kittens. I have two questions.
First question: Mumma cat has started swiping and hissing at the kittens on occasion. Once or twice she's actually raced towards them to do it, but I haven't seen that for about a week. She swipes at them when they come near her, which I understand - she's weaning them and feeding them much less now, and they've mostly switched to cat food. However, sometimes they'll just be standing around vaguely near her and she'll swipe and hiss. She'll do it most often when they're just walking past her or around her. She's never actually hurt them - I make sure to check often - but they seem pretty frightened by it, and will either lie completely still until she moves, or run and hide under a bed or a couch. Is this a normal part of weaning, or is something wrong? The kittens now seldom come near her unless she approaches them for a clean and a feed.
Second question: One of the kittens, Atticus, is markedly less playful than the rest of the kittens. He keeps to himself a lot, and never sleeps in the kitten pile anymore. He'll find a spot under the couch or sit in a quiet corner. Sometimes he'll sleep on my bed. He also doesn't play nearly as much as the rest - the other four are constantly racing about, playing with all the toys we have and generally making a ruckus. Atticus occasionally joins in, and will sometimes chase the stick-and-feather toys we have (I don't know what they're called, they're the toys that a person controls and it has something enticing on the end), but then he'll go back to one of his spots and just watch or sleep. He doesn't seem in pain, and about 80% of the time you approach him he'll meow and then start purring when we pat him (other times, he'll just move his head back or shuffle away when he wants to be left alone, which all of the other kittens do as well). He voluntarily hops up on my bed, gets a few pats, then moves to the edge of the bed to sit/sleep. He'll sometimes follow us around, and he never seems scared. He eats just as much as the rest of them, poops just fine, and is generally very alert (unless he's asleep, of course). There's nothing to really indicate he's unwell or anything, it's just the fact he doesn't play very often and is quite a bit more reserved. Should I be worried? He'll be going to the vet at 9 weeks for his first vaccination round, so I'm sure she can check then, but I'd like to know if I need to make a special trip.
I'm so sorry for this mammoth of a post. I'm bad at explaining myself concisely. Advice would be very much appreciated. I've been browsing this forum ever since the kittens were born, and it's been hugely helpful.
Thank you!
A bit of background: when my flatmates and I moved in, a cat started coming around occasionally when we were outside. She was super friendly and we'd give her heaps of pats, but wouldn't feed her. After some time, we got concerned that she may be a stray. She had gunk in her eyes and a chest and belly full of thick matted fur (we didn't notice at first, but then she started asking for belly rubs and we realised). We took her to the vet, who shaved off the mats and told us she was neither microchipped nor spayed. We managed to get in contact with her owner by using a collar with our phone number on it, who said he "hadn't seen her in three weeks" and "we can keep her if we want." It was pretty sad, but we weren't prepared to have a cat and considered taking her to the SPCA, but wanted to give the owner a chance first.
We should not have given him that chance. We start to notice her belly is getting really round. She's pregnant. It's too late to do anything about it. She decides to have the kittens in our house. We have five very lovely little kittens who are now 7 weeks old (I live in New Zealand - she got pregnant a couple of weeks before spring). They have been to the vet a couple of times, who has issued a clean bill of health. Let it be known that I am very pro-spay. I hate seeing people let their cat get pregnant, and as cute as the kittens are (I admit, I'm in love with all of them), I wish it hadn't happened. They're a lot of work and Mumma cat is now stuck inside, which she doesn't love but she's putting up with. We let her outside for the first week until I called the vet about spaying her, and she told me not to let her outside before she's spayed. Our vets won't spay her until her milk has dried up.
I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted to provide some context. We're managing well, but between the poop and the food and playtime, they keep me busy, and I feel like I'm in over my head sometimes! But we do have five lovely, thriving, very friendly kittens. I have two questions.
First question: Mumma cat has started swiping and hissing at the kittens on occasion. Once or twice she's actually raced towards them to do it, but I haven't seen that for about a week. She swipes at them when they come near her, which I understand - she's weaning them and feeding them much less now, and they've mostly switched to cat food. However, sometimes they'll just be standing around vaguely near her and she'll swipe and hiss. She'll do it most often when they're just walking past her or around her. She's never actually hurt them - I make sure to check often - but they seem pretty frightened by it, and will either lie completely still until she moves, or run and hide under a bed or a couch. Is this a normal part of weaning, or is something wrong? The kittens now seldom come near her unless she approaches them for a clean and a feed.
Second question: One of the kittens, Atticus, is markedly less playful than the rest of the kittens. He keeps to himself a lot, and never sleeps in the kitten pile anymore. He'll find a spot under the couch or sit in a quiet corner. Sometimes he'll sleep on my bed. He also doesn't play nearly as much as the rest - the other four are constantly racing about, playing with all the toys we have and generally making a ruckus. Atticus occasionally joins in, and will sometimes chase the stick-and-feather toys we have (I don't know what they're called, they're the toys that a person controls and it has something enticing on the end), but then he'll go back to one of his spots and just watch or sleep. He doesn't seem in pain, and about 80% of the time you approach him he'll meow and then start purring when we pat him (other times, he'll just move his head back or shuffle away when he wants to be left alone, which all of the other kittens do as well). He voluntarily hops up on my bed, gets a few pats, then moves to the edge of the bed to sit/sleep. He'll sometimes follow us around, and he never seems scared. He eats just as much as the rest of them, poops just fine, and is generally very alert (unless he's asleep, of course). There's nothing to really indicate he's unwell or anything, it's just the fact he doesn't play very often and is quite a bit more reserved. Should I be worried? He'll be going to the vet at 9 weeks for his first vaccination round, so I'm sure she can check then, but I'd like to know if I need to make a special trip.
I'm so sorry for this mammoth of a post. I'm bad at explaining myself concisely. Advice would be very much appreciated. I've been browsing this forum ever since the kittens were born, and it's been hugely helpful.
Thank you!
