[feedback] 11-week Old Kittens

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Hello

I'm new to the forums and I've been lurking for nearly two months digesting every information possible for my kittens. Thanks for all the great resources. I made this thread to get your feedback/opinion on my kittens and to see if I'm going in the right direction to ensure their happiness and well-being. This is my first time actually owning kittens/cats but have taken care of fully grown cats in the past for friends/family.

Around the 1st of July, I adopted a pair of kittens (brother and sister) at the ripe age of 8-weeks from a local rescue. They immediately got on my shoulder during my first visit and knew that they would be mine for life. Although, I must say that they weren't in the greatest condition at the rescue. Underweight and was stuck in a hot small room with 4-5 other kittens. And so, I didn't want to prolong the inevitable and adopted them right then and there.

Meet the kittens,

• Frank - Male orange tabby (domestic shorthair)
  • Aggressive and likes to play more often than her sister.
• Senna - Female calico (domestic longhair)
  • Timid, shy, and extremely scared of vacuums.

Vet visit (10-weeks old),

• Weights
  • Frank - 2.2lb (close to average)
  • Senna - 1.13lb (underweight)
• Received all of their shots/vaccines and got a wellness exam. Nothing wrong with them other than Senna's weight. Will be back in a month for the next set of vaccinations and wellness exam.

Observation (11-weeks old),

• Litter
  • Frank doesn't quite know how to bury his pee/poop and tends to step in his poop on a daily basis. Hoping he will grow out of this soon. Poops and urinates multiple times daily. Poops are solid.
  • Senna is very good with her litter. Will turn around, sniff her pee/poop to locate it, and then she will promptly bury it. Poops and urinates multiple times daily. Poops are solid.
  • 3 litter boxes throughout the house.
  • Cleaned 2-3 times daily
  • Used Cat Attract (kitten version) at first and slowly switched over to World's Best Cat Litter.
• Feeding
  • Due to my work schedule, I am feeding them 3 times a day at 9:00am, 4:30pm, and 10:00pm.
  • Wet kitten food during the scheduled times and free-feeding dry kitten kibble 24/7. Although... Frank will eat a small amount of dry kibble, whereas Senna won't touch dry food at all it seems.
  • They will mostly eat 4oz wet food per day even though I try to feed them 2oz at each feeding time (6oz total). This is my biggest issue with them. I want them to eat 6oz per day, which is what I heard is the norm but they just won't eat that extra 2oz at night.
  • Frank eats closer to 5oz of food per day since he will eat a little bit of dry food each day on top of the wet food.
  • They will not eat at night 80% of the time. I might try pushing back the time to 11:00pm or 11:30pm to see if that makes a difference.
  • I've tried 6 different high quality kitten brands for wet food and 3 different brands for dry kibble. Results are all the same.
  • Water bowl 24/7, refilled daily with fresh water. They both drink a little amount throughout the day.
  • Planning on phasing out dry food at around 6-7 months.
• General health
  • Frank is a bit more active compared to his sister, Senna.
  • Both will go through some intense play throughout the day. Sometimes with each other (running around, chasing each other like crazy!, and play fighting) and sometimes with my help (VIA various toys, cat tree, and especially Cat Dancer (crack on a stick)).
  • They sleep a lot throughout the day.
  • They are not lethargic from what I can see.
  • Senna has all of her whiskers broken off and now they are all short (blaming Frank on this one). Heard this is also quite normal.
  • Clipping their nails and handling their feet on a regular basis. Light brushing 2-3 times a week.
  • They've grown very fast from 8-weeks to 11-weeks.

I think that's all the information I can give. Please let me know if I left something out. I really do want the best for my babies and would like your feedback based on the information I've laid out. Am I going in the right direction? Should I do anything different?

Thanks

 

[kashmir64]

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job. Normally, I recommend nonclumping litter, but you are so close to the 12 week mark, why bother. You could try moving their last meal back to 11-11:30, this may help. My last meal is at 12.
Out of curiosity, did the shelter worm them? They may not show any signs, but that doesn't mean that they are not there. Senna is severely underweight, but now that she's being taken care of properly, she should gain quickly.

They are so cute. Welcome to the forums.

 

[Norachan]

Beautiful kittens! You've done such a great job with the so far.

I agree, treating for worms could be what Senna needs. Did the vet test for intestinal parasites? They almost always do. If not, you can take a poop sample to the vets for testing. You don't actually have to take Senna in.

Not covering poop is a sign of dominance so it could be that Frank is deliberately leaving his uncovered. He is very young to start showing signs of dominance though, I suspect he just doesn't know what to do. Sometime you need to take their little front paws and gently show them how to dig in the litter.

One of my cats manages to singe his whiskers off every winter by sitting with his face too close to the heater. They'll soon grow back.

Do they finish all their food at the morning and afternoon feeding? Maybe you could offer them a little more then and see if they'll eat it.

Sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day is normal at their age. As long as they're lively and playful when they are awake there is no need to worry.

Hope your're going to share more pictures!

 

[verna davies]

Pretty kittens not to mention lucky for having such a good owner. You seem to be doing everything right. I have a one year old that has a small appetite and eat time I feed him I get down on the floor and talk any old rubbish and while I talk, he eats. If I leave the room he leaves his food. Perhaps it might work for Senna.
Lots more photos please.

 

[Subspace]

Pretty kittens not to mention lucky for having such a good owner. You seem to be doing everything right. I have a one year old that has a small appetite and eat time I feed him I get down on the floor and talk any old rubbish and while I talk, he eats. If I leave the room he leaves his food. Perhaps it might work for Senna.
Lots more photos please.

Beautiful kittens! You've done such a great job with the so far.

I agree, treating for worms could be what Senna needs. Did the vet test for intestinal parasites? They almost always do. If not, you can take a poop sample to the vets for testing. You don't actually have to take Senna in.

Not covering poop is a sign of dominance so it could be that Frank is deliberately leaving his uncovered. He is very young to start showing signs of dominance though, I suspect he just doesn't know what to do. Sometime you need to take their little front paws and gently show them how to dig in the litter.

One of my cats manages to singe his whiskers off every winter by sitting with his face too close to the heater. They'll soon grow back.

Do they finish all their food at the morning and afternoon feeding? Maybe you could offer them a little more then and see if they'll eat it.

Sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day is normal at their age. As long as they're lively and playful when they are awake there is no need to worry.

Hope your're going to share more pictures!

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job. Normally, I recommend nonclumping litter, but you are so close to the 12 week mark, why bother. You could try moving their last meal back to 11-11:30, this may help. My last meal is at 12.
Out of curiosity, did the shelter worm them? They may not show any signs, but that doesn't mean that they are not there. Senna is severely underweight, but now that she's being taken care of properly, she should gain quickly.

They are so cute. Welcome to the forums.

Thank you for the replies!

Yes, they've been dewormed twice. Once at the 8-week mark (Shelter) and another at the 10-week mark (Vet).

Senna will eat all of her food in the morning. Frank will leave a small portion, which Senna will promptly finish off for him. I'm alright with this since Senna is the one that is underweight and I'm 100% sure that Frank eats some of the dry food early in the morning.

In the afternoon, they will sometimes leave a small portion behind. It's 50/50. Other times they will finish it right off.

The Vet didn't test for intestinal parasite but I will bring this up for the next visit, which will be in ~3 weeks.

Thanks

Here are some morning pictures after they've eaten their breakfast.

 

[Ragdollbabies]

Super cute!! It sounds like they are very healthy, happy kitties with a great owner

 

[tmactoth]

A note Regarding broken whiskers: My 2 kittens had broken off (very evenly) whiskers. It was ringworm, diagnosed by lab test.Ringworm eats thru or weakens hair shafts, making them break/fall off. Consider ringworm as a possibility when you see broken whiskers.

 

[Anoxia]

Hello! I agree with the others; it sounds like you're doing fantastic!

I'm a first time cat owner too, and we've recently hit their first birthdays! I think one of my greatest regrets is that I didn't start them on dental care early because it feels like such a struggle now to get their teeth brushed. I give them raw chicken gizzards as a treat but one is used to slurping up her wet food so I have to start her off small since she seems lazy about chewing (the vet has already looked at her teeth to rule out health concerns).

You mentioned one of your kittens was shy, but she is also very young; I don't know if this would apply to you, but one of my cats is shy enough that it took weeks to catch her for a vet visit, and months for her to trust me enough to let me touch her (she still runs when anyone else approaches; being able to clip her nails is a dream of mine). She is the kind of shy that goes ballistic when we do anything new, and I don't think it helps that these situations are often new to me, too. What worked for us was to normalize scary things by doing them often, and I feel that it builds confidence for both my cat and for me. Right now I catch her and put her in her kennel daily to desensitize her and so I know I'll be able to take her to the vet the day I notice something worrying (if I do it less frequently she'll go back to being scared). If I get dressed to go out, I will put her in the kennel an extra time so she won't associate specific behaviors with vet visits. As another example (this is not something I've done and is far enough in the future that I haven't researched it in depth yet, but for when I'm able to work up to handling her mouth), I'm considering getting a syringe and just practicing putting it in her mouth and, later, squirting a bit of water or something. For my shy girl, I try to predict what she might need in the future and ideally work on her comfort before it becomes an issue, or hopefully never becomes an issue at all.

I spoon feed my cats for their last meal (with a soft baby spoon) and it's the only time I can guarantee they'll eat until they're stuffed. Sometimes I have to stop them myself because I get so worried about how balloon-like they look.

They're absolutely adorable!

 

[Anoxia]

Oh, wow! I just saw the timestamp on the first post.