Elsa's babies

[Sarthur2]

What a great update - you have had your hands full! The cats and kittens all look fantastic!

Now that James is sick, you can go ahead and dose him using the meds you have to get him started, then pick up his meds tomorrow. Poor kitties.

Sorry to hear that Elsa is sick. I hope she is better soon.

It's difficult to believe that Silky is finally getting the hang of things and doing so well. I have to wonder if she just did not feel up to snuff for whatever reason those weeks.

Nice job, as always!

 

[daisyd]

Thank you so much for the updates ! X

 

[irishmammy]

Unfortunately the vet gave the two today an antibiotic injection so I don't have any meds at all for them. It's a bit frustrating because I knew the others were more than likely going to get sick.

Yeah Silky is brilliant now. Hard to believe. I think she just didn't understand what she was meant to do but has got the hang of it now.

Rosie doesn't react to her babies cries. It's very strange to see. If she happens to be passing as I'm holding a crying baby, she'll rub her head against it to put her scent on it but doesn't try and comfort the kitten or give me that "what are you doing to my child??" look.

I'm hoping she'll learn to recognise their cries though. Despite that she has been getting into the carrier box herself to feed them. Occasionally I do close the lid to keep her in for a few hours but if I know I'm going out or overnight, I leave the lid open and she goes in and out herself.

 

[daisyd]

Silky sounds like cat version of me

 

[maddies momma]

Oh my goodness, mac and pippin are soooo adorable!!!! I wish I could scoop them up!
I'm glad everyone is managing and doing okay.
Thank you for all of your hard work!
I love the updates so keep them coming when you can!

 

[irishmammy]

I will update as much as I can....its like keeping a diary so it's as wonderful for me to have to look back on as it is to be able to share.

I must get more photos of Silky's 4 boys ...they are just as gorgeous as Mac and Pippin.

Tulip and Lilly are both doing well in their new home together. Their new mom keeps me updated.

 

[ashade1]

I will update as much as I can....its like keeping a diary so it's as wonderful for me to have to look back on as it is to be able to share.

This is exactly how I feel! I love looking back through the problems/successes I had with previous fosters. Plus I get so much great advice here!
Hope the sick kitties feel well soon!

 

[daisyd]

How's it going ?

 

[irishmammy]

Oh my goodness I've been so lax at updating and so much has happened!!

Rosie's babies....they are 4 weeks now. I had them in a carrier box which initially I locked Rosie into but then she got the hang of getting in herself so I took the lid off and she went in and out. She had the freedom of my bedroom and would wake me in the morning by jumping on me!!

One by one each of the kittens got sick with the uri. None as bad as the first two though and all have been on antibiotics. Only Suki still has it but she was the last to get it.

I moved them into the bathroom yesterday and the kittens are running around the place now!

 

[irishmammy]

Elsa....her home fell through so she's still waiting for her forever home. She was sick with a uri but is ok again now. She has lost any excess weight and looks gorgeous.

 

[irishmammy]

Silky...
Over time, Silky got better at motherhood. Her kittens are 7 weeks old tomorrow but with the exception of Oreo, were lazy about solids and still feeding from mum. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

All 6 of her babies (incl Mac and Pippin) have homes waiting. Mac and Pippin's foster mum Sully ran into a problem with her milk and it dried up when her own babies were only 3 weeks old. Fortunately Mac and Pippin were older and were able to start on solids and kmr. They are in foster care now with an experienced bottle feeder. Although they are 7 weeks old, they seemed younger and less ready for solids than their 4 brothers.

Yesterday we took the 4 boys Oreo, Bruce, Ranger and Maverick away from Silky for reasons I'll explain in a minute. They are now downstairs in my kitchen and are quickly learning about solid food.

 

[irishmammy]

Yesterday we got a call about 4 kittens who had been born during the night. Their mum had died. Seeing as Silky's boys were still feeding, she has lots of milk but her boys are old enough to leave her (though obviously I wouldn't have removed them had this not happened.)

So this "teen mom" who was an utter nightmare with her babies and was aggressive towards them and had to be watched has ADOPTED this family of tiny babies.

It's early days but so far aside from looking utterly confused, she is doing an amazing job. She's responding to their cries, grooming them and somewhat reluctantly feeding them!

Now given a choice, I think she'd wander off and leave them but given time, I think she will be great. She's chirping to them a lot, which oddly she didn't do with her own babies! I used to think it was strange as I was so used to Elsa singing away and Silky was so quiet.

Three of the babies had really good weight gains and the 4th is the smallest who fusses a bit so I'm topping him up.

Their names are: Sooty (m), Chance (m), Mabel (f) and Sophie (f).

In the photos Bruce is in the crate too. Silky was completely freaked out by a tiny "thing" so Bruce gave her something to focus on and when she was busy grooming him, the kitten latched on. Bruce just lay in the crate nice and calm. Once she settled, Bruce went back to the big boys.

Sophie and Mabel are practically identical. Only the part of their faces where the whiskers are are slightly different. Sophie is black on both sides.

Sooty is all black bar a tiny bit on his tummy. Chance has a white strip down his face. Hard to believe this is the same mum.

 

[Sarthur2]

Wow! You've been tremendously busy, and doing a marvelous job at it too! The cats and kittens all look healthy and gorgeous.

I would say that Silky has learned the ropes well. Now it's her turn to give back!

Do you have Elsa?

It is wonderful to hear this update.

 

[libertysgoats]

Loved reading this update! Glad silky is doing better and so happy to hear she took on the new little family.

 

[irishmammy]

Elsa is at the shelter. She has a better chance of being chosen there.

I'm a bit worried about Bruce. He's one of Silky's 7 week old kittens. He doesn't seem to be eating at all. I've tried 2 types of wet food (regular kitten one and a "first" food - very mushy), I've tried dry food which the other 3 preferred over the wet and I've tried giving him kmr in a saucer to see will he lap. He's lost weight in the last 24 hours and is the smallest/ skinniest anyway. He's in good form and playing though.

Should I go back to a bottle?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, go back to a bottle for now. Or better yet, give him some time with his mama. That's what he really wants.

 

[daisyd]

Wow it never stops for you ! How did mum cat die ? So sad . Glad you are helping and silky is helping out ! Maybe she was too shocked first time round

 

[irishmammy]

Bruce is doing better - he's drinking milk from a bowl now. I added a little bit of the baby kitten mousse to it today to get him used to the taste. I separated him from his brothers while he ate to make sure he got a chance to get the milk.

The rest are happy eating dry food (It's royal canin and the pieces are tiny). Seem to prefer it to the wet.

I don't know how the mum of the newborns died. Her owner said they had no idea she was even pregnant, that she was tiny. Something must have happened during or after the delivery.

Silky is doing well but I had to put the kittens into a carrier within the crate. 1. Because Silky needs to be put in with them to encourage feeding. If she can avoid them, she does and they are too little to chase her. And 2. Because Chance is so tiny he wriggled through the bars and couldn't get back!!

I used the carrier with Rosie too in the beginning. She was very distracted and attention seeking to feed her babies so I'd put her in the carrier with them. After a while she was going in herself.

The babies lost 4g each overnight so I've been locking Silky in with them more today.

 

[Sarthur2]

I see Silky is back to her old tricks! I hope the kittens gain their weight back soon.

 

[irishmammy]

I weighed them this evening and they've all replaced the lost weight and added some more. Yay! Silky's more like Rosie... when Silky had her own babies she was very aggressive with them but I haven't seen that this time, just firm but gentle. Rosie was distracted by everything and would forget to feed her babies.

Thankfully the approach I figured out with Rosie (using the carrier to ensure feeding) is working for this scenario too.

I feel like every time I foster, I learn something and that stands to me for the next fostering challenge.

Seven weeks ago when Silky had her babies, all I could see was "get them weaned asap and away from her" and I was counting the days till they were old enough. And yet here we are a mere 7 weeks later and she's caring for 4 babies that aren't even hers!

Bruce is doing well today. This evening I added some soft food and also some tiny pieces of dry food to his bowl of milk. He drank a good bit and had a go at chewing some of the dry food.