Pumpkin's kittens questions

[anticus]

He has seen them. He has sniffed a few. He groomed two of them. They are fascinated by him! He has a sweet disposition and I have only seen him be aggressive toward other males who got near Pumpkin or the food. There is that slim possibility though, that one of them will push the wrong button but he is not going to just snap and hurt them.

We are leaving them as is tonight. I observed that they only want to escape the pen is when there is some exciting exterior activity: Dr Wifey or me right outside the pen playing with them. I suspect they will all stay in the pen while we are sleeping.

Still don't know what to do as a permanent fix. Our plan is to take them and Pumpkin down to the utility room tomorrow and just let them play. See what Pumpkin thinks about it. She is very stressed out when the kittens are out of the pen.

 

[anticus]

Pumpkin has been really stressed since the kittens started escaping the pen. I don't know what to do to help her. I don't know if our interference is causing the stress or if this is normal behavior for a mother with 4 week old kittens?

 

[anticus]

I have read article after article about positive reinforcement in kitten training, but no actual advice. How do I positively reinforce good behavior when a kitten is 5 weeks old? They don't eat treats yet. They have no idea what pets are. Help!

 

[anticus]

Midnight and his kids.

This boy wants to be just like his daddy. And is like him in nearly every way.

 

[anticus]

The kittens will be 6 weeks old tomorrow and Pumpkin is still nursing them frequently. We are feeding them kitten kibble soaked in water with a separate dish of water and plan to move them to dry kibble this week. Will Pumpkin decide when they are done nursing or should we do something to help them completely wean?

 

[anticus]

Here's another kitten question for those of you who have raised kittens from birth: How long before you let the kittens roam free in your house? Or did you?

 

[Flybynight]

I think the mother decides when to stop nursing. As I understand, kittens nurse from time to time, even when on solid food. As long as she allows it, I would let them nurse.

 

[anticus]

Hi, it's me again. Things have been rough here. Pumpkin is upset all the time and doesn't want attention from us, nor does she want to play. I don't know if she is just too consumed with her five kittens and their constant whereabouts but she doesn't want to interact - only food. It's disheartening. I have lots of playtime with Midnight and the kittens, frequently all together, which isn't ideal because I think Midnight needs some solo playtime. So does Pumpkin but she isn't interested. She will come into the room where I am playing with Midnight and watch. She won't get involved and when I try she just leaves.

Anyway, the kittens will be 8 weeks old after the weekend. They are on solid food and Pumpkin still wants to nurse them several times a day. We've been told to separate the kittens from her for a time, but there is nowhere in the house to do that. Our downstairs is an open floorplan and upstairs there is not a lot of room for them to play. It feels like everything we do is wrong.

There are several people who want a kitten, but their timetables don't coordinate. So... Is it better for the mother to have the kittens leave 1, 2 at a time - or all at once?

 

[Willowy]

Keep the kittens with their cat family until AT LEAST 10 weeks, 12-14 is better. Even if their future owners whine about it, this makes them much better pets in the long run so you're doing them a favor. Kittens learn a lot of kitty manners from their parents and littermates. It is Best for Kittens to Stay with Mom in a Home Environment for 12-14 Weeks

At that point she'll usually be sick enough of them that it doesn't matter how many leave at once, lol. But usually gradually is better.

You don't have to do anything to wean them, unless your vet is trying to get her milk bags to dry up so she can be spayed (but if her spay is for next week it sounds like the vet plans to work around the milk, that's not long enough for her to dry up). By the time they're old enough to go to new homes, they won't be nursing enough to be a significant part of their diet, it's just for comfort. If you keep any of the kittens they'll likely nurse for a good number of months, until Pumpkin gets mad about it and makes them stop.

P.S. Midnight's "mini me" is a girl, since she's a tortie .

In this case it's easy to tell the boys vs the girls, because male cats only get their color from mama, all her boys will be orange. And girl cats get one color gene from each parent, so all female kittens born to this union will be torties.

Don't worry about Pumpkin not wanting to interact right now. It's a tough time for her. Once everything has settled down and she's spayed there will be plenty of time for that.

 

[anticus]

Thanks W Willowy - It will be at least 12 weeks. A friend who desperately wants 2-3 of them is recovering from a bad accident and won't have full range of motion until 14-15 weeks anyway. I appreciate your advice and info!