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Beckiboo
- Thread starter liza24
- Start Date
Well, its going good and bad. Good because the babies have settled in nicely. I did get a few pics, but haven't developed them yet.
Bad, because since the kittens are in the cat cage, I cannot reach into it, or even really look at them too close. The previous owner, her daughter, and even the neighbor kids were handling the kittens at her house. I did check each out briefly last night before placing them in the cage, but now Momma CoCo hisses at me if I get near. She has bitten me twice, both warning bites, not breaking the skin. The second bite was when I was simply pulling back the huge towel covering the cage, so I could look at the litter!
So while I am glad she is such an attentive mother, I am truly itching to cuddle the babies a little! But usually, at two weeks, I didn't do much handling of the litters I had before. Maybe it is due to the new home, with smells of other cats. Maybe it is that she finally has a space she is able to defend.
But she is feeding them regularly, and they are all sleeping contentedly. They move into different positions, and I have seen them breathing. So all are well, just a little too well protected!
Their eyes are open, they are soft little fuzzballs, about as long as my hand is wide. All seem to be shorthaired. Soon enough they will be as crazy as Red and Blue who are jingling (bells on their collars) as they chase each other around the front room, as Aunt Festus finishes off their dinner. I pet them both as they ate, so that will have to be my kitten fix for today!
Bad, because since the kittens are in the cat cage, I cannot reach into it, or even really look at them too close. The previous owner, her daughter, and even the neighbor kids were handling the kittens at her house. I did check each out briefly last night before placing them in the cage, but now Momma CoCo hisses at me if I get near. She has bitten me twice, both warning bites, not breaking the skin. The second bite was when I was simply pulling back the huge towel covering the cage, so I could look at the litter!
So while I am glad she is such an attentive mother, I am truly itching to cuddle the babies a little! But usually, at two weeks, I didn't do much handling of the litters I had before. Maybe it is due to the new home, with smells of other cats. Maybe it is that she finally has a space she is able to defend.
Their eyes are open, they are soft little fuzzballs, about as long as my hand is wide. All seem to be shorthaired. Soon enough they will be as crazy as Red and Blue who are jingling (bells on their collars) as they chase each other around the front room, as Aunt Festus finishes off their dinner. I pet them both as they ate, so that will have to be my kitten fix for today!
P.S. If I sit a few feet from the cage, CoCo is all love and cuddles. And she is eating kitten food like crazy! And loves to drink her water. But I just have to follow her ground rules!
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2001
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Be careful Becki- feral moms are quick and they strike before you even know they have got you. I have luck in just lying on the ground near the litter with my eyes closed and just talking to the momcat quietly. I just talk about whatever is in my head, but I do this a few times a day and usually by the third day she is willing to allow me to handle her babies. I try not to handle the kittens if the mom is truly feral until they are around two weeks old. And then, I just move in with assurance, don't make eye contact with momcat and gently pick up one of her babies, staying right there. I have found that if I hesitate or think about it, she will strike me-
Good luck!
Good luck!
Thanks for the tip, Hissy, but luckily this Momma is a very tame pet. The babies are two weeks old, and the previous owner and her kids, and even the neighbors had been handling them. So I didn't realize she would be so protective.
But she has had a huge change, and so long as she is caring for the babies, I can wait to handle them. Since Momma is tame, and purrs and rubs on me if I leave the babies alone, I'm assuming when they get a little older she will let me handle them.
I plan to lock her in the carrier for a few minutes this weekend so I can clean out the litterbox! I put it in the cage in case I needed to keep her shut in there! And I'll give her a second litterbox away from the cage. I've already taken her food and water out of the cage, so I don't upset her when I feed her!
Even though she did bite me, she did not break the skin. It was more of a firm warning than a viscious attack...so I will respect her wishes.
But she has had a huge change, and so long as she is caring for the babies, I can wait to handle them. Since Momma is tame, and purrs and rubs on me if I leave the babies alone, I'm assuming when they get a little older she will let me handle them.
I plan to lock her in the carrier for a few minutes this weekend so I can clean out the litterbox! I put it in the cage in case I needed to keep her shut in there! And I'll give her a second litterbox away from the cage. I've already taken her food and water out of the cage, so I don't upset her when I feed her!
Even though she did bite me, she did not break the skin. It was more of a firm warning than a viscious attack...so I will respect her wishes.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
She let me pick each kitten up last night. They are all doing well, and the orange one is BIG! I only kept each baby out for few minutes, so Momma CoCo wouldn't get upset. I got pics of each baby, so I can watch them grow. I'll post when I finish the roll of film and get them developed.
Momma CoCo holds one ear down a little, and I looked closer. It has a lump inside, almost like an extra fold of ear. I don't know if she was born with it or had an injury along the way. She kind of scratches at that ear some. Since reading the health forum posts about ear mites I was a little paranoid, so I checked her ears close and inside they seem alright. But I cleaned the folded area with a few q-tips and peroxide, and did get some brown on the q-tip. I don't think its mites or they would be in the ear canal, too. But I'll keep working at getting that ear fold really clean. It will probably need to be looked at when she gets spayed, to make sure it isn't accumulating dirt.
The babies crawled out of their little nest last night-it won't be long before they are running around, will it? I believe they were born Tuesday Nov 29th, so they are 18 days old today.
Momma CoCo holds one ear down a little, and I looked closer. It has a lump inside, almost like an extra fold of ear. I don't know if she was born with it or had an injury along the way. She kind of scratches at that ear some. Since reading the health forum posts about ear mites I was a little paranoid, so I checked her ears close and inside they seem alright. But I cleaned the folded area with a few q-tips and peroxide, and did get some brown on the q-tip. I don't think its mites or they would be in the ear canal, too. But I'll keep working at getting that ear fold really clean. It will probably need to be looked at when she gets spayed, to make sure it isn't accumulating dirt.
The babies crawled out of their little nest last night-it won't be long before they are running around, will it? I believe they were born Tuesday Nov 29th, so they are 18 days old today.
