Continuing & marked changes

The kittens are now really excited to see my coming with their food & are all managing a decent amount at each feed time. And the good news is that as of last night Mr Stubborn decided that he liked the food the others have after all which is helpful. 

As predicted the rocket fuel of solids creates huge change with more growth & more energy so there’s now much more awake & play time happening . It’s so lovely to see, especially so when they don’t even know I’m there! 

Litter tray usage is no problem to them & each has been self grooming after eating (if mum will let them!).

I’ve also installed a water fountain which the adults have been drinking from showing them what to do. Of course they have investigated as the sight & sound of the water is too irresistible. Paws in water & shaking of wet paws is funny! However Mum & Aunty Noo have been testing the water in there so they’ll copy that when they’re ready. Once free they’ll have access to bowls of water too so will know how to drink from both running as well as still water making it easier to adapt when they go off to their new families. 

Going forward, their routine will be regular feeding with the amount of food they require increasing daily. As they grow, they’ll soon work out how & be strong enough to get themselves out of the pen enclosure - at which point I will take it down just leaving their den up at least while they continue to want to use it. What I find happening is that once they’re free they want to follow mum & Aunty Noodle  & quickly learn how to scramble up onto and down from my bed thus sleeping in a big kitten & cat puddle which leaves me to fit in around them somehow. At this point the den most likely will be abandoned. 

Bringing kittens up underfoot like this is not how every breeder chooses to go about things I know. Most have “kitten rooms” where they’re born & once weaned the mother is removed. The kittens now grow up confined in this room which is of course the room is filled with lot of fun things to do, but the door is closed & they’re not living as part of a household & that feels wrong to me, when they are going to be pets who will live as part of a household. Of course it might be the choice of their future families to keep their kitten/cat out of their bedroom & indeed their beds (the Sphynx will definitely want to sleep in with you!) and thats very much a personal choice. As long as the kitten/cat has somewhere warm enough to sleep if they’re separated from you over night. My choice has always been that my cats are my family & I especially love the closeness these cats need . I have provided them with heat mats on top of my bed which means that they don’t want to climb inside with me. Because this feeling of family with my cats extends to their kittens too, for me, bringing them up in the manner I do feels right. Mind you,  I do have to get used to being walked over regularly during the night or even becoming an early morning play area! Bless them! 

A landmark day!

 

Hoorah! And Hip Hip Hooray! Today all four kittens ate solid food unaided! Already in just 5½ days they know that when I appear food is imminent & they’re coming out of the den in order to greet me! What a change! Not only that but the litter trays also saw action today too (in fact the first was overnight!) ; I’m so impressed that these incredible creatures never need to be taught, instinct telling them that this gritty substrate is for them to poop /wee into & mostly they will instinctually bury it too (though I watched one today who was missing this action - I’m sure it will follow very soon though. 

What a result though!!! I’m thrilled as even Mr Stubbornpants ate with an appetite that was astounding especially considering his up until now point blank refusal to even look like he enjoys eating. It turns out he does, so what changed? I’ll tell you - I simply offered him a different food! Who would have thought that he would refuse his BARF food! And that’s certainly a first for a well cat (and he is most definitely not unwell!) 

Just look at him go! 

 

The food he is tucking into is a veterinary recovery food - let’s call it a “triple strength rocket fuel” packed as it is with tons of added nutrients & with an especially strong aroma which, being a recovery food is designed to entice a lacking appetite toward eating. I didn’t even dish it into a dish so sure I was that he would turn his nose up at even this! How wrong I was! Golly, I’d delighted to be wrong & so, so glad I had this sitting ready in case of illness in a cat or kitten in the supplies cupboard & that I thought to try it out! 

My aim then as we go forwards is to give him this on its own for a day or maybe 2 then begin to transition him to accept the other food by mixing a small quantity of the other food with this, then to gradually over the next few days continue to adding more of one while reducing the other. With luck he will once he has the hang of reliably eating solids he will more readily accept (& like!) the food he should be having. 

Hands more free today then, I’m so happy to have finally got some new food themed photos to share with you. This is how they look when it’s  “grub’s up” time! 

Weaning… is it only day ???

 It feeeeeeeels like more tbh. My fingers are going through it with one of the gents while we made a breakthrough today with some almost unaided dish eating. The 2 kittens who made some progress today have both required starting off & eating from the tips of  my fingers with their heads following the food into the dish, then the dish lowered to the floor. However, if their heads went up for any reason I needed to lead them again. The 4th is very reluctant to have the food in his mouth at all, let alone eat any… I’ve tried beginning with manuka honey even to see if he will get a taste for that and follow it to begin accepting the gruel but nope, he is, despite his very sharp teeth having none of it. Still, it’s early days yet. Prune is still feeding them patiently, they’re all getting loads of food, nutrition & fluid whether having meat or not. 

The litter trays have seen no action but tonight as I cleaned up after their final feed, & then renewed some of the blanket bedding in their den meaning they had to be “out in the yard” there was the first signs of interest with getting in & some of the instinctual digging I expect to see - while no wee or poop was forthcoming some noses had a cat litter frosting on them. Silly little things - they dip their heads to investigate it and is sticks to the moisture there. They then lick their noses to get it off & so it’s stuck to the tongue which means they sit comically try spit it off!  

I can’t wait to show you photos of them eating, it’s so messy getting going & both my hands are dripping with meaty soupy gloop that’s not what I want to get all over my phone! Sorry. I will aim to get some new images tomorrow so you can see the latest changes in their sizes! 

Meanwhile I’m just off now to rub Savlon cream into my latest puncture wounds! I’ve never had such a reluctant starter! Prune is doing too good a job evidently! 

Here’s a photo of the old matriarch of the household zzzzzz-ing away