Learning the etiquettes of meal time....

So right around week four, I put out some Royal Canin 'Baby Cat' kibble and boy it didn't take long until my babies nibbled! I was fascinated to watch the learning process (fueled by curiosity). Around the beginning of week three, Indy shadowed mommy and would watch her while she drank and ate. It was no surprise to me that he was the first to try it for himself. A couple of times he would sniff the food and water but his balance seemed to be a little off and he would fall over. But the old adage 'if at first you don't succeed, try try again' seemed to come into play.

Water was first. It was adorable to watch him put his tiny paw in to guage the depth before trying to lick. Of course he stuck his nose under quite a few times but in no time, he had it down and his thirst was being quenched, big cat style!

[Here he delicately dips his paw]

[He's got the hang of it - now it's time to lap it up!]

Next food!

Again Indy is the adventursome case study (he is truly earning his name - Indiana Jones). First of all, he stepped into it but as soon as he figured it out, he dived in nose first and has hardly come up for air since.

He is a very good eater but messy! The others followed with trepidation and nibbled on the stray pieces around the bowl until they were all enjoying their latest entree.... Mommy's milk was still first choice (as you can see below) but she was perfectly happy to nose them over to the bowl and let them chow down to get a break.

Wet food was a little trickier.... the babies don't recognize the smell or the texture, so I'm mixing up a little formula (KMR 2 Next Step) which they happily lap out of a bowl. I'm slowly mixing in some AvoDerm wet food but so far, they haven't been too keen.

Learning etiquette doesn't happen overnight........

Eating with the paws is perfectly acceptable but we are still trying to explain to Indy that it's not polite to actually sit in the food bowl!

Maybe it's his dastardly plan to hoard all the lovely food for himself :-)

Simba has also taken to sitting in the bowl and growling at any kitty that comes near while he is feasting...

The secret life of kittens........ revealed :-)

Week 3 - Potty Training (Warning: It's time to get down and dirty)

Last weekend was week three in the kitten family and this is usual time for diarrhea to set in. Mommy had been dewormed and so the family were ridding their little bodies of toxins. Sounds gross but it's just a fact of kitten fostering and I was reassured by other fosters that this is part of the experience. Being that their current home is a carpeted bedroom, I was a little unprepared, so they were all moved to my tiled bathroom for a few days until potty training was a success.


POTTY TRAINING:

Now it was potty training time. I set out a little box with some sand and picked up the kittens, placed them in it and helped to stimulate the feeling of running their paws through the sand. At first, they were very curious and simply spent most of those first few days climbing in and wrestling around in the sand but at least they were getting used to it.

My proudest moment was watching little Simba climb up, hop in and through the magic that is feline instinct, take his first unassisted bladder release. (Interesting fact - until about 3 weeks, kittens do not know how to relieve themselves so mommy licks them to get their bladder and bowels moving and she completely cleans them).



Now it was time for them to go it alone and my babies were passing with flying colors. One by one they hopped into the box and did their best to stay clean and figure it all out.

KITTEN BATHS:

Of course there were a few accidents but this just signaled the newest fun past time - kitten baths! I went to Target and stocked up on baby shampoo and we got them soaped up and clean. Little Indy was the easiest to bathe.



He stayed very still and fell asleep when the first few blasts of warm air from the hairdryer wafted over his shivering little body. To dry them, I wrapped them in a towel, gently rubbed them to get the majority of the moisture from their fur, then on a gentle warm setting (not too hot), I held them under the hairdryer and fluffed them up.

After this, I wrapped them in a clean, fluffy towel and cuddled them to me. (Okay, this part may not be completely necessary but where's the fun in having a fluffy, sweet smelling kitten if you can't love them some?)

Indy fluffs up nice!

KITTENS GO AWOL:

So living in the bathroom was not mommy's number 1 choice of abode. I had put the kittens on blankets in the bath but Amber was very distressed and vocal about this, so with determination and a level of intelligence I had never before encountered in a cat, she figured out how to break out. For the first few hours, I would come into the bathroom and she would have opened the door and carried the kittens in her mouth into my bedroom and hidden them.

[Amber drops Bodhi from the bathtub, then picks him up again in her mouth]

[As she picks him up in her mouth, he goes limp and submissive]

[Here you see her carrying him into the bedroom - I was so amazed that I forgot to pull focus on this one so the image is a little blurred]

[Finally, she drops him on the carpeted floor before she heads back to get others]

It was a game of hide and seek as feline matched human in a game of cat and mouse (pardon the pun). For that first day, I would find kittens in closets and under the bed as she stashed them in secret places so that they were safe. It was very endearing. I decided to cut her a break and took the kittens out of the bath and allowed them time to run around in the bedroom. After this, she settled down and the kittens were no longer hidden.

What I learned from this was an incredible respect for her mothering instinct to protect her babies and just how amazingly smart cats are. The animal/human bond can be so deep when we really hear what our furry friends are trying to tell us. She was conveying the message that she was uncomfortable with her babies being confined in a bath tub and through dedicated action, she made sure they were safe and where she could get to them. Amazing!

KITTENS GONE WILD:

So the end of week three heralds in that extra boost in kitten energy I like to call 'kitten crazy time'.

All of a sudden theses little furballs go from snuggling and nursing to bouncing around and climbing anything in sight. It was so much fun to watch them suddenly practice being cats. Their tiny bodies would puff up in mock battle and they would prance crablike across the room warding off their potential foes. Lots of squealing and hissing accompanied the sounds of tiny feet pounding on carpet. Adorable! At this time I introduced grace to her first toy (a fluffy ball) and I could see the concentration in her eyes as she tried to focus on it before pouncing. It was the first time I had seen any of the kittens playing with something other than each other and it was such a wonderful feeling to be this instrumental in their development - having no children of my own yet, I guess this is what it feels like :-)

Another fun thing to watch was them seeing themselves in the mirror for the first time. I remember the hours of fun I had with my own rescue cats when they were kittens. Everytime they saw themselves in the mirror, without fail, they would jump in surprise and then try to run behind to see 'who' the cat was staring back at them.....in Simba's case, he tried to climb up his own reflection in an effort to be the bigger lion and you see him yelling at himself. Cute!

At the end of their time in the 'big room' and tired from climbing the curtains, the brothers and sisters curled up and for the first time, slept in the wide yonder under the stars (ie, not their usual nest of blankets inside the carrier).....

They are now ready to move into "Learning to be Cats: Phase II".

Meet Indy....

(Indiana Jones) - the adventuresome one!

When Indy isn't sleeping or snuggling, he does enjoy wandering off quietly, sniffing his surroundings. He enjoys the occasional bouncy play fight with his brothers but he is mostly content and placid (with the odd bouts of wanderlust). After a curious romp outside of the nest, he loves nothing more than to burrow into the bottom of the pile under his fluffy compadres... He was the first to be named because on the day they arrived, he was the most curious but it took me a while to snap the perfect picture that captured his determined little waddle.

Indy is particluarly fond of Bodhi and together they enjoy quietly cuddling and snoozing... as brothers go, I imagine them to be the Niles and Frasier Crane of the cat world. Intelligent, refined, with a taste for expensive brandy and classical music :-)

He is the easiest to handle as he melts into my hands and relaxes. They are all little loves but Indy is proving to be very brave and very trusting of human contact.

And boy is he handsome! Just the perfect mix of white and tangerine fluff...

Meet Leo

This little lion is so fluffy and soooo vocal!

He has a very high pitched squeal (very loud when he explores too far from home and suddenly finds himself alone) ... He is very loving and loves nothing more than to climb onto my lap and snuggle in for a snooze.

Grace Kelly is ready for her closeup!

All I can say is ....... aaaaaawwwwww!

(Everybody Loves) Raymond

Meet Raymond. He was originally called Walter because he looked and acted like a grumpy old man but in the last week, he has turned into the most loving and affectionate little man..... as a newborn (with eyes closed) he would hiss at any hands coming near him and his mouth always seems turned down in a frown.

Despite the grumpy guss puss, his hisses have become kisses.... and what a cutie!

Doesn't he have a naughty look? Like he stuck his paw in the cat cookie jar!

Isn't Simba growing into quite the little man?

He is so, so curious, I can hardly keep up! Last night he followed mommy over to her food and stuck his face into her water... I guess in a few weeks, he will be doing this for real, so he is just getting his practice in! These photos are quintessential Simba... "what's going on over there?"

He is such a snuggle bunny too. Sometimes I will lie on the floor and he will come over to my face and just stare into my eyes, then roll over for his belly to be scratched.

He is no longer the biggest boy though! His solid colored brothers Raymond and Indy are taking over but the biggest of the litter is Leo. You haven't met them yet (they are very newly christened) but expect a post introducing them verrrry soon :-)

Kitten Antics...

I'm still figuring out names for the others but here are some cute photos of the growing family:


"In Russia we wear Momma Hatz!"

Amber shows just how patient she is when a curious kitten decides that her head is no obstacle for his explorations.... he even walked straight through her water bowl and didn't even stop to dry himself off!


"I like to snuggle".... little kitty button nose!

"It's tiring playing with my brother's"

Grace - viewing the world with eyes wide open

Like little rose petals, Grace's eyes popped open today ..... when she arrived, she waddled around with her little eyelids closed tight but in the last week, she has developed at warp speed. She started out the runt but my, what a beauty she is growing into.



Today was a fun day in the 'orange room' .... it was spring cleaning day and this little family met the vacuum for the first time. They took it in stride but most surprisingly, Amber remained very calm (my cats go bonkers when I hoover!) She watched me with curiosity and made sure I didn't get too close to her babies with the crazy noise maker..... after I cleaned out the nest and made their bed all cozy again, Amber yawned and then lay down to relax. She really is amazingly calm and centered - she impresses me everyday with her zen like energy.

Meet Bodhi

Meet Bodhi (Sanskrit for 'enlightenment')...

This little fella loves nothing more than to sit in silent meditation (as he is pictured below), silently rocking and staring into nothingness. He is pretty serious about it too... I often see him sitting in this position and if any of the other kittens bump into him or clamber over him, he doesn't move. He has a more solid tangerine body color but with stripes on his legs and tail.
Quiet, reflective and calm, Bodhi often has the far away look in his eyes of an old soul.



I also pictured our little guy hugging himself earlier. He is definitely a lover!



He does have his playful side and stuck his tongue out for the camera while wrapped in his favorite solo sleeping position (kitten burrito)



He does love his little sister and they often wrap themselves together in sleep....

*yawn*... well this was a lot of performing for the camera so it's nite nite from Bodhi (and Grace)... I'm beginning to see a theme here - Grace snuggling with her brothers!

Meet Grace and Simba

At this point, I'm still getting to know them all and letting their names come from their personalities..... the more time I spend with them, the easier it is to tell them apart.

I decided that because of the tough start these guys had in life, they needed strong names to honor their survival. The two boldest kittens are first up for introduction...

Meet the newly christened Grace and Simba:

Grace is the only girl but loves to cuddle and wrestle her 5 big brothers. I thought Grace was appropriate mostly because she was 'saved' but also because with her blond hair and (almost fully opened blue eyes), she is a ringer for the
beautiful and enigmatic Grace Kelly :-)

She is the most affectionate with me and is first out of the nest when I come in. Very brave and very vocal, she fights with the boys to get her milk and falls asleep anywhere.


This is Simba holding momma's paw.

He is the biggest of the boys. He is the most marked (very orange and very stripy) and has a fluffy 'mane'. He ventures out far from the nest until momma calls him back. He is very affectionate and very vocal when he wants his way. He often climbs all over me, sniffing his way to familiarity.

He is definitely the 'King of his pride'.


This was Simba 10 minutes after he arrived at my house ... it's amazing how quickly they adapt and how fast they are growing up!



Some other cute shots from the last few days......


Grace and Simba catch some zzz's together




They have enjoyed their close up but for now, Grace and Simba sign off..

Kitten/Cat Fostering - Day 1

I'm a long time cat lover but recently felt the need to do more to assist in the rescue efforts of the plight of the Los Angeles kitty population. As a loving friend of three rescues (who have graciously allowed me to live with them), I am always shocked and dismayed by the reports and evidence of people who dump their cats on the streets. One recent incident moved me to open my home to a mother and her 6 nursing kittens (9 days old when I got them). They were nearing the end of day 4 in the shelter and time was running out for them - the rescue organization 'Cats At the Studio Inc' had to move fast, or else they were all going to be put to sleep that day. One email later and I had agreed to open my doors to them.

I was nervous because I've never fostered before and I wasn't sure how to care for a nursing momma. Little did I know that she would be the one showing me how it's done! So at around 12pm on Sunday April 1st (no jokes!), I met Amber and her 6 babies for the first time.

I have decided to blog about their growth and development because mostly I wanted to share the beauty of this experience and encourage others who are so inclined, to open your hearts and homes to kitties in need. Also, this being my first experience, I wanted to remember it. Living with them very day, I want a record of the subtle changes because before I know it, they will be all grown up and off to kitty college!