Our foster cat had her babies two weeks ago, and they are doing great. Mama cat had some issues for the first week (I posted questions about that), but has recovered well now. She must have done something akin to pulling a muscle, but now she's all over the place again. I've fostered kittens from 5-6 weeks on before, but this is our first newborn litter. What is the usual progression over these next couple weeks as far as the kittens making their transition to moving around and exploring more, and what is our role in that? I've started handling the kittens a bit beyond just their daily weight check, and mom is pretty comfortable with that, even leaving the room to take a break sometimes while I'm holding one (she's right back in there if they as much as squeak). They are large for their age (nearly 400g) and seem somewhat precocious--they are doing wobbly walking around their box, and starting to wrestle with each other a bit. One almost made it over the opening on one side of the box the other day, which seemed to alarm the mom. She was outside the box, and repeatedly batted and the kitten to get it back in the box--is that normal? I have made that side higher now. At what point do they come out of the box, though? Do I do anything to facilitate that? They still seem to young for it at this point, but i would think that will change over the next week or so.
I also have some litter box questions as far as mom goes. I have a small tray to use when the kittens are ready for it, but I'm wondering how much of their learning is from watching mom use her box. Is it important that they can see her? I ask because since giving birth, her litter box behavior has become strange, and I'm to the point of wanting to put a cover on her box. She digs for ages before and after going, so that half the contents of the litter pan are on the floor by the time she's done. It's at least a 5 minute ordeal, if not more. She obsesses over it. Could I cover her box now, or would that be a bad idea in the long run? She never did this in the 4 weeks we had her before she gave birth. Incidentally, she also obsesses a little over scratching around her wet food bowl before and after eating. Is there something she's wanting me to do that I'm not doing? Today I tried putting less in her bowl at once, so she wouldn't have any leftovers. I can't do that on days when I'm not able to feed her every couple hours though.
I also have some litter box questions as far as mom goes. I have a small tray to use when the kittens are ready for it, but I'm wondering how much of their learning is from watching mom use her box. Is it important that they can see her? I ask because since giving birth, her litter box behavior has become strange, and I'm to the point of wanting to put a cover on her box. She digs for ages before and after going, so that half the contents of the litter pan are on the floor by the time she's done. It's at least a 5 minute ordeal, if not more. She obsesses over it. Could I cover her box now, or would that be a bad idea in the long run? She never did this in the 4 weeks we had her before she gave birth. Incidentally, she also obsesses a little over scratching around her wet food bowl before and after eating. Is there something she's wanting me to do that I'm not doing? Today I tried putting less in her bowl at once, so she wouldn't have any leftovers. I can't do that on days when I'm not able to feed her every couple hours though.
