Tom Cats Loitering Again..

[LouH]

I don't have an actual lockable crate
I'll weigh this morning and if down I'll get one today

 

[Paul K]

View attachment 177434 Such a little lady this afternoon

She look just like the cat that adopted us.

 

[Sarthur2]

Sounds good!

 

[daisyd]

Are you able to met muma to the vet which may be an idea if she stops feeding them completely ? She may be - little under the weather if not feeding babies. As its going to be a lot for you to take over feeding for next few weeks. How old are they now? Just over a week aren't they ?

 

[Sarthur2]

I'd like to see weights before you do anything.

 

[LouH]

Sorry didn't reply
So I think I'm a paranoid mother!
They had that big slip Monday but I do atribute that to moving her downstairs which didn't work despite her protests.
She's now back in my bedroom and kittens have a set of lungs I can tell you

Kitten 1 (Tilly - we are keeping and another bit can't choose ) had her eyes fully open and the other 3 are either one eye fully open or partially open! We have 2 pirates currently ;-)

They are all trying to lift their bellies up now which is hilarious because kitten 4 looks really chunky.

Anyway
This morning (assuming birth as day 1) at Day 11 they were (birth in brackets)
Tilly 243g (103g)
Kitten 2 - 253g (95g)
Kitten 3 -242g (103g)
Kitten 4 - 241g (103g)

 

[LouH]

Kitten 3 with Tilly's head ;-)

Kitten 4 enjoying a little snooze

tilly just now..(sorry rubbish phone pics)
I have the comfiest kittens ever ;-) they sleep in the best positions!

 

[Sarthur2]

The weights are great! Kittens should weigh 8 ounces at 2 weeks, and yours have already surpassed that.

The kittens are super cute!

 

[LouH]

Wow she's driving us crazy tonight
It's 3.30am and she's (Bella) is back to biting the edges of her nest (cardboard) and is trying to move the kittens (heard one crying the other side of the bedroom)
Why could she be suddenly Tryong to move them?

 

[Sarthur2]

Cats have an instinct to move their kittens 2-3 times in the early days. This stems from not wanting predators to pick up the scent and do harm.

Maybe help her move them and the nest safely to another spot in the room so you can get back to sleep.

Is she unhappy with the box? She may not want the box anymore.

 

[LouH]

We've just removed the bed part of the enclosed nest and put her back in the en suite for the fest of the night (about 2 hours until kids wake)
It's actually the first time she's ever moved one of the kittens.

 

[Sarthur2]

Hopefully this will work for now! She may try to move them again. It's not uncommon for cats to do so. The main thing is that they are in a safe, accessible place and all together.

 

[LouH]

It's fair to say that my husband and I are exhausted!
Bella scratched at the door for the last two hours of 'nighttime' so was pretty much awake and agitated or moving kittens all night.
So much so that when I opened the en suite she grabbed a kitten and tried to take it behind the bed again.
I weighed them and they'd not gained since yesterday morning and in one case they'd lost a few grams.
I decided to take a chance and took Bella and the kittens down to the lounge with the children's commotion and the other cats.
I didn't think she would like it as I've literally put the kittens on a folded bedspread and put it next to ansizeable scratch post (which has a sort of shelter which opens up next to bedspread) but she's thrives. She is happy, not agitated and babies are trying to find their feet! It's hilarious!
I've weighed them this evening and in 12 hours they've gained between 14g and 28g!! So tonight I'm going to sleep downstairs with her and see how she goes (the other cats go out of an evening so there's no 'threat' from them)
I'll add a few more pictures! Decided on two of 4 is so hard that I've discussed keeping them all which would take us to 8 cats and make us ridiculous so fairly confident that won't happen

 

[daisyd]

They are so cute not sure I could decide which ones either

 

[LouH]

Tilly with Bella :-) they were having the most gorgeous bonding moment and I have the best sequence of photos!

kitten 2 is camera shy and a squealer

Kitten 4 sleeps in THE best positions and is very chunky! So much so he is nicknamed bruiser as he's a bit thuggish

Kitten 3 is our pirate! Because she has a eye patch! She's the cuddles - she's always snuggled with one of them!

 

[Sarthur2]

The kittens look so sweet!

Thank goodness they are gaining! I was concerned.

I'm also relieved that you have located them in a place where mom seems happy - finally. If mom is happy then everyone can be happy.

I know how you feel about choosing. I could not do it, so I kept the stray mom and ALL FOUR kittens. It's now 2 years later and I could not be happier that I kept the family together. I also have 2 additional cats!

 

[daisyd]

I love bruiser ! Haha

 

[LouH]

The kittens look so sweet!

Thank goodness they are gaining! I was concerned.

I'm also relieved that you have located them in a place where mom seems happy - finally. If mom is happy then everyone can be happy.

I know how you feel about choosing. I could not do it, so I kept the stray mom and ALL FOUR kittens. It's now 2 years later and I could not be happier that I kept the family together. I also have 2 additional cats!

How many do you have?
We have bobby who is 13, lily is 12 and Freddie (Lily's 'baby' but they have a pretty much hate/tolerate relationship) is 11 and now Bella who is 1 plus 4 babies!
I love them all for different reasons - tilly was the odd one out being tabby so I wanted her, kitten 2 is my husbands favourite as pattern wise he is like our oldest cat, kitten 3 is our resident pirate and she's already showing personality like bobby - she'll be a one owner cat! Bobby will only normally go to my husband for attention unless he's super desperate
Then there's kitten 4 who is a bruiser and a bulldozer and the one I didn't see born so he's got a place in my heart!

 

[LouH]

We have wobbly feet / legs this morning

And a 300g kitten! Who was born the smallest at 85g so for 2 weeks today he's done well!
The rest are 298g, 292 and 290!

But the biggest does have a sticky eye
I clean it with a nice warm (clean) cotton pad but can I do anything else?
It's not oozing but after a nap will be stuck like there's too much liquid for example

 

[Sarthur2]

The weights are awesome for 2 weeks!

Keep cleaning the eye(s) with a warm, damp cloth and watch it. You may or may not need terramycin. If you see green or yellow discharge it's infection.