New foster mommy (siamese) and her 4 kittens

Hi guys,
just wanted to introduce you to my new fosters. I don't have a picture yet, as I am leaving her alone a little to recover from the stress of coming from the shelter to my home.
She is a beautiful siamese with the bluest eyes I have ever seen in a cat. She has white fur with beige and grey markings on her face. They told me at the shelter that she is a good mother, but really protective, so I will have to gain her trust.
She has four kittens, they are about 10 days old, as their eyes are just starting to open. The kittens are half-siamese and are, of course, absolutely adorable. There are two white kittens, one grey and one orange. I haven't figured out the sex yet, most of them seemed like boys at first look, but I will confirm that when I post pictures.
I still need to find them all names!

Here are some pictures to properly introduce them to you guys
I wish I had taken better pictures, but it will have o do for now, as I want to keep them away from the light.
Imagine her with eyes blue like the ocean




She is such a good mommy to he kittens, always purring, cleaning them or letting them nurse relentlessly.

Family pictures






And some baby pics
The grey one sleeping on his (not sure of the gender yet, though!) back.


The orange one not so happy to be held in order to be weighed on the scale


One ofthe white ones, this one has darker ears. He was suckling his thumb instants before this picture, it was the cutest thing! But obviously, by the time I took the camera out, he was asleep like that.


They all weight between 145 and 209 grams. The just love to be pet, they roll around and purr when I rub my finger on their bellies, neck and back. This is my third foster litter and I tell you, each one is so different from the other! These litle guys and their mommy are angels.

StefanZ, you are probably right, I know nothing about cat breeds, all the cat I've been owned by were domestic cats previously. She sure has something exotic and very elegant in her.
Yes she did accept my presence. At first she growled a little when I came in the room, but she let me pet her and really liked it. So I purposely went in the room to pet her several times yesterday and today. I would just pet her and then pet her kittens, then sit and watch them for 5-10 minutes and then leave to room and let them alone.

Now, after being here for only 30 hours, she doesn't mind at all when I come in the room and I can even handle her kittens. She won't worry except if they cry, then she we'll have a worried look on her face and she will try to pick them up and bring them back to the nest! I only handle one at the time and for a few seconds only though, so she doesn't really have the time to worry much.

They thought at the shelter that she was a cat living on the streets, but I am sure she has been living with humans before because she loves my presence even though she is protective with her kittens.

That's it for now, gotta go weight the little ones and figure out who's a boy and who's a girl!

Yes, I knew she had tortie in her! Her eyes are very blue, it is impressive to look at in the light of the sun (wich I could see at the shelter). Unfortunately I don't get to see those blue eyes much because I like to keep to room dark for the kittens. The two white (or really pale beige, I am not sure) kittens are pointed too, because I noticed their ears are a little darker (one has beige ears, the other one has brown or grey ears).
Her face looks like one of my friend's cat whose genes are a mix of siamese and balinese (I think it was called Tonkinese??).
She is so beautiful and her love for her kittens touches me so much. She really looks at them with love in her eyes and she always cuddles them, I had never seen that before (three previous foster litter: 2 without a mom and one with a first time young mom not knowing exactly what to do!) I think I am in love with her already and I am not sure I will be able to let her go.

Quick update! Everybody is doing fine and they are all gaining weight everyday (about 7 grams a day except for the grey chubby one who can gain 15 grams a day!). Their eyes are almost all open.

There is one kittens that worries me a little, one of his eye is a little crusty and won't open. Now I remember seeing here the procedure of how to take the crust off the eye, but I don't know how to find it. I know it has to be very sterile and done the proper way, so could somebody send me the link to this thread or article I have seen please? If I don't get an answer I will post a new thread about this. For now I don't think it is dangerous because the colour of the crust is not worrying (it is just brown crust), but I would like to take it off and see if she opens her eye. And yes, this one is a she (the palest white one) and the 3 others (the darker white one (that's funny to say), the grey and the orange one) are males. At least I think so!

Overall they are adorable. I think they hear me now, as I see their little ears moving when I talk to them and their head moving toward me. They also know my smell and still love when I gently rub my finger on their little bellies. Will post more pictures soon.

Mommy really like me now. She comes to me and rolls on the floor while purring her little heart out when I pet her.
I have tons of ideas for names, but I want to wait until I know them a bit more before making up my mind.

Thanks for the help Cutekittenkat! I will get to it right away! And it was the link I remember reading, I should have known it was right under my nose all this time in a sticky post!

Oh my gosh, something reeaaally scary just happened!
I did manage to take the crust off the little one's eye and she did open her eye, but it was white! So, I wasn't sure if it was pus or the actual color of the eye, but of course I freaked out. I had already read that if the kitten's eye appear solid blue or white to take him/her to the vet right away. Obviously it's sunday night, so I call the E-vet in a crisis while my boyfriend gets together a heating pad, blankets, a box, bottles and KMR for a quick trip to the vet (the kitten being only 2 weeks old, I find it stressful to take her away from mommy even if it is just for an hour or less). Well, the vet tech tells me on the phone that it is probably the second (or third?) eye lid still being closed wich would give this color and to wait until tomorrow morning before going to the vet. Good thing I called before leaving. So I hang up and, next thing I know, the little doll is looking at me (well, looking somewhere toward my direction!) with her two eyes wide open... and blue! The vet technician was just right and me... well I apparently had no reason to worry and I felt sooo relieved!
Just had to share this story.
I think I will call this kitten Alice. I don't know why, it sounds like a pure name to me, suiting her white (soon to be pointed) fur. Fragile yet strong.
Only 4 more names to find!

So, she DID have pus in her eye, because this morning when I dabbed warm water on her eye so she could open it there was definitely pus in it. I had to work from 11:00AM- 4:00PM and then from 6:00 - 9:00PM, so I rushed to whole fur-family to the e-vet (at 9 in the morning ). I wanted them all to come to make sure she wouldn't miss feedings (she is the lightest) and stayed warm.
Well the vet sounded like a complete idiot to me, couln't even figure out if the kittens were boys or girls. She said they might be all boys, but wasn't sure. Couldn't figure out either what was the problem with her (although she might be a "he" now, I don't know!) eye. But was definitely worried by it. And of course, one problem never comes alone, they all started sneezing today. I am scared they will all develop URI (they have only been at my house for a few days and I don't know how long at the shelter and it can take a week to develop once they catch it) Anyways, we are covering everything for her eye with antibiotics and Atropine. All in all, it is only 6 drops a day (5 in the eye and .05 ml of clavamox in the mouth) If it is not better in 4 days, we will take serum from the mother and I will have to give it to her every hour.
It is very hard to give her the eye drops, because the eye is swolen and won't open much. Poor doll, I hope it is not to painfull for her.
I trimmed all their nails from their front paws, as they are fighting quite hard for milk sometimes (impressive considerng they are 2 weeks and a few days old).
They are all still eating even though I hear a sneeze here and there. Mommy sneezes too. They might all need Clavamox eventually, but this might just pass on its own though. Let's hope I don't have to put them all on antibiotics and bottle feed them and forcefeed the mother.
I hope the tiny one's eye gets better fast, it worries me so much. At least she/he is still gaining weight and seems strong despite the fact she/he is the lightest.
To be positive, here are a few pics taken in the past 3 days.

This one of the white boy (the one without eye problem) and his mommy is precious


This is the little grey one on top o his mom' s head looking really comfortable. He was the first one to open his eyes. He is also the heaviest and the only one with semi-long fur.


Again, the white healthy boy (he is darker and also heaviest than the othr white one). Don't worry, his nail are now trimmed!


The orange one getting some love from mommy


He is precious


And my little Alice (or Jimmy, depending if it's a she or a he!). This was taken beforeher eyes opened and the eye on the left did not seem that badat his time. Yesterday when she started opening her eye it was starting to look swollen.


Long post! Gotta go to work now!

Update on the little Alicia.
Her eye is already better after 24 hours of treatment.
I don't know if she is repsondinc to the antibiotics or the drops, but it's already looking better. I wish I could show pictures, but it wouln't be clear without the flash and I won't use the flash until they are 5 weeks old. Her eyes opens by itself now (no need to dab it with warm water anymore).

She has huge eyes, she will be so pretty when she gets older (she is already very cute despite her swollen eye!). Her eye is still red. We will know in 3 days when I go back to the vet if there is an ulcer or not (she couldn't even tell that because the eye was too swollen) and depending of the form of the ulcer (if she does have one) we might add serum to the list of medications she receives.

Overall everyone is doing fine except there is a bit more sneezing, wich still scares me for the future. At least I have enough Clavamox for everyone, if I see that one is not nursing well, one quick call to the vet and I start the antibiotics right away.

Oh, and now theyr can really hear me well as when I go in the room, as soon as I talk to them (even if I am too far away for them to smell me) they wake up and start walking (well, not really walking, more like pushing themseves) toward me. It is so cute.

One of them wouldn't stop crying (the grey one) and I was scared that he was hungry but couldn't smell her mommy's milk/nipples (he is the one that sneezes the most). Turns out I start petting him and he just stops moving and crying... and starts purring! My first real purr. They usually do it automatically when they nurse, but this one was just for me! And I know that by this age they can now purr when they want to, it is not just a reflex. Well, I was so happy. But then a minute later he started crying and moving again. Went right to mommy and started nursing. He was hungry afterall! I just happened to distract him for a few seconds of his hunger.

I will name them all with boy's name, since the vet told me she thought they might all be boys but wasn't sure
So, no more Alice and I gotta stop calling him a she!
Here are the names I found (I am French, so maybe some of the names will sound weird to you guys, I don't know!):
The mommy: Alicia (I am keeping Alice in case the white boy turns out the be a female!)
The orange one: Xavier/Javier
The grey one: William/William
The beige one (the white one with no eye problem): Mathéo (I wouldn't know the English translation for this)
The tiny white one with the eye problem: Loïc (I don't know the stranslation either)

Well, that sums it up for today!

Well, it is said like Lois, but with the "s" being replaced by a "k".
I am glad you liked the names and the pictures. I have a bunch more to put up, I just have to resize them.
As for Alicia, I wish I could keep her. I gotta talk to my boyfriend about it. One part of me want to keep her and the other part tries to tell me I will save more cats and kittens if I don't. I already have two cats of my own and when I take in a foster and her babies like right now we have 8. I really have to think about it, but I am very attached to her. She let's me hold her in my arms and is purring all the time. Plus, she is beautiful. I think we have a special bond already, as she trusts me with her kittens and always gives me the eye kiss (you know when they blink slowly and keep their eyes only slightly open when they lookj at you?). Loïc cries when I give him his eye drops and she supervises me but won't ever try to take him away from me). Talking about the little guy, he is still doing good. His eye is still red, but definitely better than yesterday!
All the other kittens are still fine, but I noticed today that the orange one has one eye smaller than the other. It seems fine, it looks like it is just the way he is. I hope it won't ruin his chances of being adopted, it does gives him a strange look for now. He is still adorable though, he should be fine!
Alicia has a hard time breathing though. She eats and drinks plenty and acts normally, but sneezes and breathes heavy because her nose is all jammed. I am seeing the vet thursday and will ask her about giving her antibiotics.
Will post some more cute pics tomorrow along with my daily update!

I am sorry you guys lost kittens to URI. I lost a pregnant cat to URI when I fostered for the first time more than 2 years ago. I didn't know an adult cat could go downhill so fast. She was fine, then she started sneezing, then a few days later she was dead, it was horrible. I went 3 times to the vet. The 2 first time they said she would be fine. The third time they said it was too late. I was devastated. Plus, I saw the 5 kittens inside her on the x-rays and I had felt them moving all the time she was with me.
Okay, I will stop thinking about bad things now! I have learned from it and would never hesitate to get a second vet opinion when unsure. Also, I have learned to be better at force feeding a sick cat and giving sub-q fluids if needed. With my first foster, of course she yelled and complained when I force fed her and I let myself be impressed by that and would stop thinking I was hurting her. All of this to say, if I ever loose a cat or a kitten, I know I will have done everything right to save them.

So, to be back on the subject, the family is doing really good. Loïc's eye is getting better. Not swollen, just a little red where it should be white. He is healing so fast, I am amazed!
Also, it turns out that Xavier's eyes are just fine and the same size. I guess one of his eye took longer to fully open and that it why it looked smaller.
William is HUGE and so round compared to the others (267 grams compared to an average of 200 grams for the 3 others!)! He is a little bear! lol
And Mathéo's pointed color is starting to be more apparent. He will be a handsome boy, looking more siamese than the others (with his color and also because and can see his ears are going to be bigger).
They all love me except Loïc who doesn't hate me, but doesn't come to me when he hears my voice (of course, I torture him everytime I go in the room with eye drops and medication!). The others love when I pet them and talk to them. The mommy too loves me.

I rationalized and I don't think I should keep her. Financially, if all two of my own cats get health problems, I could handle it. With a third cat? Not sure. I know I would have to be pretty unlucky to have my 3 cats sick at the same time, but I don't want to gamble even if the chances are slim. Would I still foster if I kept her? Yes, but not as often, since fostering too is expensive (I pay for the emergency vet if needed (cost me 120$ monday), the expensive kitten food, the toys, the litter, the KMR and everything you need to have handy when you foster kittens and their mommy!). If I foster less often, I do save less cats and kittens. So, rationally, I shouldn't keep her. Emotionnally, that's a whole other story and will have to take care of when the time comes!

These daily posts are always so long, I'm sorry! I stop my rambling. Here are some pictures for your patience! I took some today and yesterday, but haven't gottent the time to upload them, so here are other from this week-end that I haven't posted yet.

A family picture with a happy Alicia


Kitten pile (Mathéo and Xavier)


Xavier getting his beauty sleep


My one and only picture with flash (everyone had their eyes closed, so it was fine) so that you can see their real color.


Mommy kissing Loïc (or is it Matheo?!)


Tomorrow I will try to put up pictures of them with their little eyes open. I took a few good one of each of them today. They are getting cuter and cuter.

Sorry for not updating today or yesterday, I totally forgot!
Everyone is still doing great. Alice is really skinny, but she eats so much and drinks a lot too, so I am not worried about her. Still some sneezings here and there, but definitely better. I was so scared of URI hitting them all, but it seems they will get away with only a bit of sneezing.
Loic (the one with the eye problem) is doing great, but I fear his socialization will be impared by the fact half of the time I pick him up is to give him meds. He doesn't fear me, but he doesn't enjoy my presence like the others. I hope he will have forgotten all about thi in a little while.
Xavier and William are the most social ones. They even fall asleep in my hands sometimes! Overall they are a bunch of love and cuteness in my day. Always doing cute kitten stuff! And Alice is just wondefullé She has started spending a bit of time outside of the crate, something she only did to eat and go potty before!
Here are some pics (featured member of the family for today being Xavier.)

This is Mathéo, sad because he can't get out of the crate by himself yet!


This is Loïc with his eye full of medication! It looks worse than is actually is. When there is no goopy meds in there the eye looks quite normal. This was taken a few days ago, now it is even better.


William is the cutest kittens I've ever seen. Chubby, soft, social, full of cuteness and these dropping ears, he is adorable! They all are, but he is so... round! lol


Xavier was half asleep yesterday and he was just full of cuteness, so I put him on a blanket and took a few pictures. He is the lightess of all, but strong and healthy.




Then he woke up and wanted milk from mommy, so I put him back in the crate!

I haven't updated in a little while, but so far everything is still doing great. Today I will buy KMR because I will soon start offering them dry food mixed with KMR and see what they do. I will also set up a small litter box (with corn litter in case they eat it) accessible to them. I don't know what is their exact age, so I prefer to be ready. I think they should start eating food in about a week. They have started to explore for the first time yesterday. Two of them got out of the crate by themselves. It is so cute, because as soon as they go a bit too far Alice grabs them by the neck and brings them back in the crate! Loïc went out of the crate, snuggled on me and fell asleep. I was so happy, I almost cried (after all I am the one who gives him his meds, he could very well hate me by now!) I think they love me, because they scream for cuddles when I go in the kitty room. They will cry until I am near them and kiss their little heads and pet them. Often they will come near me and play (inside the crate, but near the exit where I am). Of course, they still don't know much what is going on around them and their play is pretty basic. Theyr will throw their little paws in the air, while laying on their back, and that's pretty much it! Sometimes they don't mind when I hold them and they even fall asleep in my hands, other times they cry as soon as I pick them up. I make sure we spend positive time together, so as soon as they seem upset I put them back with mommy. I just love to put my head in the crate and kiss them all. Sometimes they will try to suckle my nose or my fingers. Alice seems like such a happy cat. She adores her baby and is always purring. I think she is pretty happy to be in a calm and loving place to raise her kittens (compared to the noisy and crowded shelter or the streets).

Done!