Hi All,
I'm new here
and have a few questions (WARNING: this is probably going to be a very long post). First a bit of history: In a spur of the moment decision I adopted a rather young (exact age unknown) cat from a neighbor who didn't want her anymore and would have brought her to an animal shelter or worse would have had her put down (the nerve of some people, cat aren't toys to be thrown away after youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re done playing
). We have a house with a large garden and next to no traffic at all which I think is a rather good environment for a cat.
To make a long story short, Leticia (the cat) was pregnant when I got her (though I didn't know it then) and she gave birth to three adorable kittens last month. It was a bit stressful going from having almost no experience with cats to suddenly being caretaker of four but I read up on the topic and I think I managed rather well, the mom is comfortable and the kittens are up and exploring. But now a few questions have come up and I hope someone here can give me some advice.
The three kittens are six week old now, about a week and a half ago I saw that one of them showed interest in her motherâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s canned food so I gave her a bit of canned kitten food and she really loves it. She has been eating it since then in addition to still feeding from her mom. The other two however show no interest at all in the food and are still only drinking milk from their mother. Is it normal for kitten siblings to be so far apart in development? None of the kittens see ill and their weight is normal for their age but still, I'm wondering.
Leticia has always been a paced eater, taking her time and taking breaks, but since on of the kittens has started eating canned food that has completely changed, she gobbles down her own food as fast as she can and then starts on the kitten food, it appears that she is jealous. I tried keeping her away or occupied while the kitten was eating but it didn't work. So now I have started mixing dry cat food into her canned food. She has never liked dry food before but mixed in with the canned she eats it just fine and it actually slows her down enough so that the kitten can eat too because she has to actually chew now instead of just swallowing it down as a whole. I'm just asking if it is in some way harmful for the cat to mix dry and canned food together like that or if it is okay. And is it significant that she didn't like dry food, or is it just typical cat-pickiness ?
And now to my third (and last) question. Our house has a basement, first floor (with living room, kitchen and such) and a second floor (bedrooms). Leticia gave birth in the cellar under an old sofa, two weeks later she moved the kittens one flight up into the living room and two days later another flight up into the bedroom where they are still staying. I bring the food up there and the litter pan is there as well (all three kittens are already using the litter pan already and I have neither seen nor smelled any accident at all
).
But now they have become very mobile and have also learned to use the stairs. I have found them in the living room on two separate occasions. For now I'm just carrying them upstairs again but that is only a temporary solution. Now for the question, what do you think is better, moving them downstairs (including food and litter box) or making some sort of barrier upstairs the little ones can't climb yet? I have heard that cats are very sensitive to change and I'm afraid that the kittens will stop using the litter box if I move it to a different location, is that a possibility? Would they even like to be moved downstairs or are they probably even glad that I move them back upstairs after allowing them some time to explore? I hope someone can give me some advice, none of the questions I have are really pressing or urgent but it would ease my mind if I had some advice from more expierienced cat owners. Thank you very much
I'm new here
To make a long story short, Leticia (the cat) was pregnant when I got her (though I didn't know it then) and she gave birth to three adorable kittens last month. It was a bit stressful going from having almost no experience with cats to suddenly being caretaker of four but I read up on the topic and I think I managed rather well, the mom is comfortable and the kittens are up and exploring. But now a few questions have come up and I hope someone here can give me some advice.
The three kittens are six week old now, about a week and a half ago I saw that one of them showed interest in her motherâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s canned food so I gave her a bit of canned kitten food and she really loves it. She has been eating it since then in addition to still feeding from her mom. The other two however show no interest at all in the food and are still only drinking milk from their mother. Is it normal for kitten siblings to be so far apart in development? None of the kittens see ill and their weight is normal for their age but still, I'm wondering.
Leticia has always been a paced eater, taking her time and taking breaks, but since on of the kittens has started eating canned food that has completely changed, she gobbles down her own food as fast as she can and then starts on the kitten food, it appears that she is jealous. I tried keeping her away or occupied while the kitten was eating but it didn't work. So now I have started mixing dry cat food into her canned food. She has never liked dry food before but mixed in with the canned she eats it just fine and it actually slows her down enough so that the kitten can eat too because she has to actually chew now instead of just swallowing it down as a whole. I'm just asking if it is in some way harmful for the cat to mix dry and canned food together like that or if it is okay. And is it significant that she didn't like dry food, or is it just typical cat-pickiness ?
And now to my third (and last) question. Our house has a basement, first floor (with living room, kitchen and such) and a second floor (bedrooms). Leticia gave birth in the cellar under an old sofa, two weeks later she moved the kittens one flight up into the living room and two days later another flight up into the bedroom where they are still staying. I bring the food up there and the litter pan is there as well (all three kittens are already using the litter pan already and I have neither seen nor smelled any accident at all
But now they have become very mobile and have also learned to use the stairs. I have found them in the living room on two separate occasions. For now I'm just carrying them upstairs again but that is only a temporary solution. Now for the question, what do you think is better, moving them downstairs (including food and litter box) or making some sort of barrier upstairs the little ones can't climb yet? I have heard that cats are very sensitive to change and I'm afraid that the kittens will stop using the litter box if I move it to a different location, is that a possibility? Would they even like to be moved downstairs or are they probably even glad that I move them back upstairs after allowing them some time to explore? I hope someone can give me some advice, none of the questions I have are really pressing or urgent but it would ease my mind if I had some advice from more expierienced cat owners. Thank you very much
