Pregnant Luna Kitty

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CarrotandLuna

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Sorry for the lack of updates. Been a busy week and I've been staying hands off with the kittens except for weighing. They are all gaining weight well. Opening their eyes now as well, they're kind of mobile and male ginger is becoming a noisy little chirper now he's discovered his voice. Luna decided to give me a heart attack today by moving all the kittens while I was in work. I eventually found them safe and sound.

I already have a new home lined up for the ginger kittens. The black kittens have potential homes lined up.

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Female Ginger

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Female Black

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Male Ginger

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Male Black

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Family photo

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Possible Dad
 

lutece

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They are adorable :)
"Female black" appears to be tortie and white, you can see the red patches on her cheek and the top of her head in these pictures.

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CarrotandLuna

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Well after her game of hide and seek kittens yesterday, Luna decided that everytime I went to sleep she would pick up a kitten, move it from the box and drop it on my head. It was a long night. If I wasnt worried about me squashing them or them falling off the bed I would have just left them in the bed with me I was that tired.
 
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CarrotandLuna

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So I am after some advice in regards to ensuring the kittens develop well and have the best start for going to their new homes. I've tried googling it but like everything else google gives contradictory advice.

Kittens are now 18 days old. They are becoming more mobile, eyes are open and they're gaining weight well. So my questions are:

When am I best giving the kittens more space? I have a secure playpen being delivered to allow them space while remaining safe.

How am I best encouraging litter training? I know it is still slightly early but want to start preparing

Also weaning; mums on kitten food am I better off leaving the kittens to just copy mum? Moving her food where the kittens can reach it when they get old enough. Or am I better trying to hand feed the first tastes?
 

Sarthur2

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The playpen will do for a couple of weeks, but eventually they will need a room to explore that is safe.

Most kittens with a mom will copy her and try her food, or gravitate to a low saucer with a soupy gruel of wet food and water or dry food softened with kitten formula. This is often around 5-7 weeks but is normal up to 8 weeks. By 6 or 7 weeks they can even begin to eat wet food that is pate style but not slushy.

Once kittens begin eating solids you must put a kitten sized litter pan nearby and begin putting them in before and after meals. They usually catch on quickly.

Kittens are best rehomed at 12 weeks. That is the age at which mine were spayed and neutered. Mom was done when the kittens were 8 weeks.
 
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CarrotandLuna

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Ok another question. The main kitten Luna keeps moving and bringing to me is the black female. I just weighed her for the first time in a week and shes only gained 40g. She weighs 250g at 18days old. Her siblings have all gained 60g+. Should I consider a couple of supplement feeds during the day to help her gain a little bit of weight?
 

Sarthur2

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She should weigh about 12 ounces at 21 days, so you might want to supplement a bit, as 40 grams gained over a week is a bit less than 6 grams a day. She’s 8.8 ounces now, but she’s overall probably smaller than the others in general, so she’s doing fine for her size.
 
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CarrotandLuna

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She should weigh about 12 ounces at 21 days, so you might want to supplement a bit, as 40 grams gained over a week is a bit less than 6 grams a day. She’s 8.8 ounces now, but she’s overall probably smaller than the others in general, so she’s doing fine for her size.
She was one of the smaller kittens and doesnt look underweight, I generally monitor their weight gain by comparing them with the kitten that was born closest in weigh to them and she has gained 20g less than the kitten that was closest in weight to her.
 

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It’s best to weigh kittens at the same time each day. They need to be compared to themselves from birth weight going forward rather than to other kittens in the litter. It is their own pattern of weight gain that matters as each kitten is different in bone structure, etc.
 
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CarrotandLuna

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It’s best to weigh kittens at the same time each day. They need to be compared to themselves from birth weight going forward rather than to other kittens in the litter. It is their own pattern of weight gain that matters as each kitten is different in bone structure, etc.
Thank you I will keep that in mind. They have been weighed every day at the same time up to 11days old and then I dont know why but I went 7 days without weighing them. Or at least without recording the weight. I still weighed them
 
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