kittens

[greenemama]

we adopted two beautiful kittens last weekend! :heart

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/molliegreene/DSC03259.jpg

they're still pretty scared of people, tho not so much of dh and i. we've been keeping them in the laundry room (more for protection from jude than anything else!) and bringing them out when jude's in bed. henry is pretty good with them -- he picks them up the right way and is very gentle. but i think he's still a little scary and i don't know if he'll still be gentle when i'm not around, kwim? they're getting used to the house, etc., when the kids are sleeping, but when will they be safe in the house with the kids around, without it being too scary? they're about 6 weeks old.

we're keeping the litter box in the basement, and the food, they'll find these things when they need them, won't they, when they're in the rest of the house? they can sense where they are, right? just making sure. dh is sure that they'll just poop anywhere but i don't think cats are like that, are they?

they're indoor pets, too, btw. we live on a busy-ish road and i'd be sick if they were hit by a car.

i'm glad we got two so that they have each other here. :) the mother was furious with me when i was taking her last two kittens. i felt so terrible!

[Cherish]

We have a mama cat who got pregnant at 7 months old last year, before we were even aware she could get pregnant!!!! We have 12 week old kittens in our house that she is extended nursing. Over the course of the last week, we have given away all but 2. It looks like today is the day that the last kitty gets adopted. We are keeping one of the kittens for ourselves, and I will be interested to see if she continues to nurse the one baby, as I would catch her nursing 1, 2, 3, or all of them together at different times. I didnt give them away as early as some people do because I would catch mama cat nursing them 3-4 times a day, and that was just what I caught! So I was trying to be respectful of that relationship.

It has been so much fun having a nursing mama cat and cute baby cats in our house!!! The girls have really enjoyed it too. I am glad to hear that you adopted someone's kittens, so they didnt end up at a shelter somewhere, and I know the mama will be okay in a day or two. I am glad you took two, also... I am a firm believer that if you are a traveling type that goes on weekends and a vacation here and there, that companionship while the human family is gone seems to vital to them! We always get our animals in pairs.

[greenemama]

the lady we adopted them from said that when she was a kid on the farm kids would come over and say, "can i have a kitten?" and her dad would say, "no!" and then pause for awhile and then he'd say, "you can have two -- they need to go in pairs." and it's been really nice to see them snuggle up together and play with each other, especially after making a transition from being with other kittens and then moving to a new house.

[domesticzookeeper]

Oh, they are just too cute! :hearts

We had a litter of foster kittens this past fall, and ended up keeping the two female kittens and their mom. Like Cherish said, cats are a lot more social than people give them credit for. When we adopted out the two male kittens, we made sure they went to homes with other cats. Especially at that age, kittens can be little hellions if they don't have a buddy to socialize and, yes, roughouse with. I am always astounded at just how violent young cats seem to be towards each other :eek

Not to scare you or anything, but 6 weeks is extraordinarily young. Cats should not be seperated from their mothers until they are 10-12 weeks old (our boys went home at 12 weeks). The development between 6 weeks and 10 weeks is huge, but unfortunately there exists the myth that kittens can leave mom at 6-8 weeks old. That's just not true, and your little kitties will be missing out on critical social interaction and learning from mom. I would suggest reading up on cat behavior and communication, because you may need to fill in that "mom" role. This site is a good place to start: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library

As far as the litterbox goes, they're still babies. Don't be surprised if they don't make it all the way downstairs to use the potty, I would suggest that you have more than one box until they are older (and it's generally recommended that multiple cats need multiple boxes - our three share two large tupperware bins)

I think the most important thing to remember is that at this stage, their brains are developing rapidly, and they are highly impressionable. Don't encourage behaviors (like biting) that you don't want to deal with for the next 15-20 years. And make every effort to see that they are completely surrounded by affection, it really pays off as they get older :tu Think attachment parenting for cats ;)


Cherish, our kittens are 10 months old and STILL try to nurse :neutral Now that's what I call extended nursing! :giggle

[gamomof2]

Awww!! Cute. :grin I have never had a cat so I can't help with any of your questions, but they're adorable!

[boonpnutsmom]

When we got Noel at Christmas time she was JUST barely 5 weeks old. I felt so bad for the mama, who had her babies taken from her so young. As to your questions, they can't sense these things especially that young, but once you show them where the litter area and food areas are they will know how to get to them. We were so worried that Noel wouldn't be able to get in and out of the area, we have a play guard around it, but she proved us wrong and was even jumping up and down off our bed that first day. We only got one when we got Noel but that is because we already have two other kitties in our house.