Weaning day 2

Bedtime stories…

Or a lullaby? 

Dear sweet Prune. At regular intervals during the night she came to wake me, dropping on me a mouse (toy) to remind me not to forget to feed her babies! How cute! 

So, after a good start yesterday, today was another messy day, with my food giving fingers feeling the bite! That’s good though since the bite is not purposeful at all but instead is their over zealous wish to eat (& not knowing quite how).

Once again one kitten seems to have no issues at all at putting her head down to eat from the dish as soon as I start her off. Her siblings are just not cottoning on yet.. I reckon, I’ve used a just over 100grams split between the 4 of them - with of course some lost to wastage that is dropped or missed during this training stage.

Throughout the day I’ve tried different consistencies to see if any is preferred, and to be honest, I’m not sure any way it was altered made a great deal of difference. Room temperature, or room temperature with different quantities of warm water added to form a soupy were attempted every few hours. The consistency of warm gruel is usually best at this stage as first of all giving it cold after having been in the fridge would be very alien to them being as they’re used to having their meals delivered at blood temperature from mum. Plus the tongue is used to the suckling shape so gruel is sucked and they will, once they’re interested in the meat , quickly learn to follow it downwards until they’re eating from the dish on the floor level.

I won’t be giving them food that’s fridge-cold for some weeks yet as their little bodies can’t be expected to cope with the temperature drop that would occur when eating it cold.  

Meanwhile, this evening Prune has had her first bath in several weeks. She’s unfortunately is not a bath lover, & so to avoid risk to her or the babies inside her I stop bathing her toward the end of her pregnancy & only begin them again after the kittens are a few weeks old. This delay allows her kittens to use her scent while young & blind & it is their “safe place”. Considering the gap in service, she was very well behaved, and for her first sudsing she stood/crouched without wriggling at all however,  since she had had so long between her ablutions, I wanted to get 2 sudsings and a good rinse in in order to remove any soap residue from her skin. It was when she realised that a second scrub was coming her way that she thought to try to scarper. It took a couple more minutes is all, then she was snuggled in a warm towel, her ears were then cleaned (they needed it!) & her claws which she keeps very clean were wiped & then snipped. They’d got quite long.  Did you know that hair & nails grow faster in summertime than in winter? There’s the trained nail tech in me seeping out!

So now both adults are clean & they have had lovely fresh bedding to go with it. The kittens will not receive their first bath for a  couple of weeks. Besides, Prune is licking them so much every time they leave the food dish, making very sure that no scrap of food is missed or goes to waste & Noodle helps too sometimes by giving each kitten a second going over so I reckon I can safely rely on their attentions in that department for a while longer, plus I’d like them a little larger before I begin that process. Weaning & litter tray learning is enough for now. 

No news there though. No sign of a first use of a litter tray yet - but with solids going in it’s only going to be a matter of time before (a) they feel the need & (b) Mum no longer deals with them. 

And YAY 😁- it was worming day for everyone (with 4 legs) here today too. Noodle had her Termaworm pill which will see her sorted until September. Prune had a pregnancy & lactation safe syrup which was cunningly disguised by being mixed into not 1 but 2 strong smelling lickilix. That did the trick. She eagerly had the lot. The kittens received the same syrup, which was given in the mouth by syringe (they didn’t like it!)  before their 9pm feed. The worming for mum & kittens on this product is 2 weekly until 12 weeks.  

As I am writing this I’m in my bedroom, but am listening to Prune warbling away to them in the lounge. I wonder what she says… when she sits on top of the Den, I think she’s encouraging them to come out, but at bed time, is it a song, or a story? And if so, are the words to aid the in their future life preparation ? 

Weaning Get Set GO!!!

I hope you’ll watch on as these little cuties change over the coming weeks! Why? Let me explain…. 

Having moved to their new digs, the same den, for security & comfort, but now with outside space as I begin weaning them.  

Typically confining them as I have doesn’t work for long at all since once they’ve discovered the world is a bit bigger than their den they will quickly become curious & find they can quite easily lift up the padding with their noses and simply walk out through the bars! Or climb the padding & topple out. 

Of course the rocket fuel of having their first tastes of meat helps this process along since they will soon have so much energy to begin to climb & run about, plus will realise I am the source of this food and it comes from the kitchen. Why wait for me to bring it when they can demand it when I happen to be headed in that direction!!!

Prune has been ready for me to get this process underway - today she came to me with a mouse! She will appreciate her kittens being a little less reliant on her as we move forward. Oh & she is also rather keen on helping & finishing up what they don’t eat & licking every last trace from her children after they’ve fed!

As always, it’s a case of my not enough hands in the early days…meaning I can’t show you the mess we get into - my hands are busy deterring two eager adults from eating the food before the kittens ever get the chance. Plus I generally need to show them how to eat 

Thankfully Noodle tends to hold back politely waiting until either a stray piece needs her hoovering abilities  or the kittens have lost interest in the food offered. Prune is a different story since she wants the calories to produce milk & will take it where she can get Not

I began the event by putting a sprinkling of litter into the two trays and showing then to the kittens. They are usually keen to scratch & dig about, the their bodies being triggered by this noise, feel & movement. It’s remarkable how they just know this is where to go & what to do. 

Next I put some dry food (kitten complete Natures Menu) in a dish to see what they did. One of the blue lads got straight on with it while the others just walked through the dish, the adults diving in to rescue the scattered bits as they ricocheted off in all directions. One blue buy seemed keener of this dry than the others.  

Now to the main event. Meat. I begin them with Natures Menu kitten which has undergone a revamp since last year. Now rather than in pouches of 100g, it’s tins of 85g plus there’s a new second flavour been added.  I start with easily digestible chicken. It’s been prepared by being lightly steamed once sealed into its container, thus retaining all the nutrients, while killing off any pathogens that might hurt a little kitten. While raw food is prepared frozen (as a weaning paste), this approach feels better for me on several levels - given that a£ ) I don’t know the preferences of their new families once they take them home and b) I’m lacking in freezer space . This steamed food is BARF but is more similar in appearance & texture to commercial wet food important for easy of their new families if they are transitioning their kitten down the road a bit. I do always recommend if making any change that a VERY slow transition is carried out at any age, but with young kittens the new family is always advised to keep to using the Natures Menu for a few months at least before beginning any make any change to their immature digestive systems.

Meat onto shallow dish, I mashed it with a fork & given they have teeth I thought I’d see if they needed it made into a soupy gruel or not by offering it as is. The black girl was straight in there once I’d opened her mouth & given her that first taste. Her siblings were not quite as quick on the uptake, walking through it as they tried to get to different positions. As I say, this early stage is very hands on with me covered in meat bringing kittens back to stand by a dish. This means though that I can’t provide images of this comically messy introduction. 

Each kitten was keen to sniff, just not sure how or what to do. One of the blue boys had appeared to enjoy the dry grasping how that worked right away, but he was not so quick on the uptake with this. One by one I opened mouths (oh the teeth!) and popped food in, they have no idea how to eat but some does get eaten some how. They are eager for more and will bite at my finger in anticipation. They don’t eat much this first time but the synapses of their brains will be firing like mad & their bodies will enjoy the experience. Their learning will be rapid as I lower by finger down leading eager mouths into the dish. 

Noodle & Prune washed up dishes, kittens & even the foam floor I’d put in the dens “yard” as insulation from my cold laminate flooring. I popped kittens back in the litter, but slowly they headed back inside their bedroom to digest this new food! 

Water will be introduced once I know they’re safe (i.e a little more agile) for now mum continues to provide them her nutritional liquid nectar as this is both a food & a drink. 

Over the coming days as the kittens come to love their meat, they’ll continue to suckle (in fact because they’re raised in an underfoot way, they’ll want to suckle Prune until they leave us but by then, when they are allowed (by her)  access,L to it it will be more about comfort & purring than anything that’s left to actually come from the source. 

Once Prune has seen they are well weaned her instinct presses her to still return to lay with them but to save hungry, now much stronger assault of her delicate bits, it will be more often on her front rather than her side preventing their access. Nature & nurture has its way of ensuring that the next generation become independent & that the mothering female can reclaim her body & recover her lost condition. 

Speaking of this, I keep Prune on a “cat & kitten” formulation food which gives her the calories & vital nutrients needed - she will naturally begin to cut back on the quantity she eats eating only what she needs. She is a delicate eater in general, different totally to gutsy neutered Noodle who will, because she is without the regulating hormones, easily gain weight. 

Noodle is so gutsy that, once retired, spayed as she was during her unfortunate second c-section, at the end of her second ever pregnancy at when she was carrying the extra weight they put on then to sustain growing embryos & start producing milk. Because of the timing of this & a single surviving kitten again, she never lost the extra weight. I’d  continued free feeding assuming she’d naturally adjust her appetite. 

As I fought for ways for her to get slowly (always slowly with cats, never a fast diet/weight reduction!) down to a reasonable size/weight, eventually after trying different approaches I migrated her to a timed & limited portion diet which would be dispensed regularly over the course of a full day. This approach worked wonders but it took a good 2-4 years of my trying different things which included “lower calorie” formulated foods, free fed & slow fed. Her gluttony was (is) immense & she was a “wide load” - which with no fur to hide under made it blatantly obvious plus more importantly it made for an unhealthy cat.  Now that she is a healthy weight, she is back onto the same “full fat” food variety as Prune - albeit restricted.

Prune’s food continues to be free fed as an unspayed lady & is protected by being safely stored in a microchip programmed feeder which allows Prune to feed without being harassed, while denying Noodle access. It might be that when she retires I will need to change her routine too…? 

I had a cat called Floozy too. Right from her arrival here at 14 weeks, she had terrible digestive issues which needed daily steroids & which sadly meant she could never be bred from as I’d hoped to do. She was spayed & despite being at the time a kitten (under 12 months) she too was a glutton who in the end was better suited to a timed feeding approach with an appropriate portion size for her life stage. 

She was boss cat right from her arrival & she also became devious. She would climb on top of Prune bullying her as she ate from her microchip protected feeder. I ended up making a cardboard screen/guard so only Prunella’s head could be there to access her food. 

What I’ve learned is that there’s no right or wrong for any cat at any life stage. Their feeding is very much as individual just as their bodies are. The important thing is to keep watch & be prepared to try different approaches as needed . 

With Noodle & Floozy slow feeders (to slow eating of greedy cats while challenging them to wok for their food - as they would in nature) did not work. Free feeding didn’t work, even with different food types. But the dispensing timed basis turned out to be a game changer (& I’d been so against it!) 

Kittens should always be fed kitten formulation foods, but even they can be prone to weight gain if they’re gluttonous - which could highlight an under Health issue so see a vet for testing & advice.  

The meat-fed kittens are settled & quiet now . I’ll offer the food once or twice more tonight - they’ll soon get the hang of the multiple offering & demand that I feed them NOW! Rocket fuel it is - no doubt about it. 

Kitten updates

The kittens are growing stronger day by day, more attention is being paid to the world outside of their safe & cosy den . A couple of days ago to see how well their limbs are gaining strength I put them all on the carpet just outside of their quarters…. They were nervous, the unknown feel of carpet, the exposure in an unfamiliar place (30cm from their den!) . They wobbled a bit but were able to mobilise & think about moving off. Have a look in the video below: 

They’ve also been changing on the inside too as their teeth are easily felt. I was making a little video at 3:33 this morning when suddenly Prune yelped & began immediately to get up. Obviously a too eager kitten has clamped down this it’s needle sharp teeth trying to keep its place or assure the nipple remained their own. 

I’m going to be introducing solid foods into their diet from Sunday - Prune will be delighted I’m sure though they’ll continue to suckle her even when thy be longer need to. As they get the hang of solids, lots will change… she will no longer see to their toileting needs & so on Sunday as their diet begins to alter so too will their accommodation which will now be adapted once more, this time to include access to a shallow sided litter tray & a dish of water. At first they’ll walk provable through the shallow water a few times before learning it’s there for drinking, but they learn the use of the litter tray readily. Their curiosity has them getting into the tray where instinct drives them to begin scratching about in it. This seems to trigger their bodies & they will just start using it & learning to cover their “business” by themselves. It’s remarkable even if they do at first get this bit a little wrong. It’s also, at times,  made infinitely worse by a runny tummy as their bellies adapt to a meat diet. In such circumstances I do tend to need to do some quickfire rinsing & washing of feet & toes under a warm tap. This is rather unpleasant especially once so agile in their free access around my home. However, for the most part it is a quick progression… their desire for the meat at first is not huge—- what is this weird stuff you are putting in my mouth? I don’t know how to deal with it? I don’t like the taste or the texture! Stop it! Then, oh how they change their minds becoming ravenous for their meat which is fed at first in small amounts 5-6 times a day, then gradually this is reduced to 4-5 times a day as their little tummies hold more. These tiny legs only a few centimetres long, minute compared to my own, can race past me get to the kitchen long before I can, so eager are they to eat! 

The kittens will,as always, be weaned to Natures Menu kitten, this is an ideal & safe first stage of on the way to them having a raw whole prey BARF diet. However, it is also a happy medium as it has a similar texture to commercial processed wet food too making it easy for their future family to do a slow & measured transition of their kittens later on if that is what they desire (transition advice is featured as a chapter in the new owner handbook) . The kittens also have access to Natures Menu dry kibble. Again, a great starter complete food all on its own, a perfect way to get feeding a meat & grain free diet if dry feeding is preferred. A slow reduction in wet food would be all a new family would need t do if this was their preferred . Food type. My own cats are fed on a Orijen Cat & kitten - a dry BARF food. However, of note here is that  while it’s advertised as being ideal to use for kittens for weaning too my own previous experience in doing this is that young kittens have tended not to cope well with this food (as a weaning food) so if you were considering this very excellent food, I would migrate them to this by slowly transitioning them later on . I plan to do this very thing with the kitten I am keeping. So it’s all to come, meantime I hope you’ll enjoy this cute early hours video revealing what goes on in the wee hours. Prune suddenly yelps & moves in response to being nipped by the rather needle like teeth but is encouraged to stay. As she resettles rather than guarding herself instead she positions herself to give as full access as she can. What a magnificent mother she is!