Hi all,
I've been fostering kittens for a few years but this is my first mama cat + kittens experience. I've had them since they were 2 weeks old (they will be 4 weeks old on Monday)
~I've been weighing them every day and doing a tiny bit of supplement feeding on the smaller ones
~mama cat's milk seems to go in cycles. I can tell when she is full or not so full - is this normal?
~kittens are becoming very active and I have started them on formula mixed with wet food
~3 of the kittens ate out of a plate on their own today
My questions:
Mama is very attentive and protective. She has gone after one of my tiny dogs and scratched him below the eye so now I do not trust her around my dogs. That means she has to stay in the smallish enclosure with the kittens for now. I live in a 200 sq ft trailer so no bathroom and no separate room. I am feeling this will not be fair to mama as the kittens grow but the Animal Control who I am fostering for wants me to foster them with mama until they are 8 weeks. I doubt I can do that bc it seems unfair to either her (she is locked in with the kittens 90% of the time) or my dogs (they are pretty terrified of her and I get nervous one of them will jump off the couch and get hurt again) but they do not have any other fosters so if I bring them back to the shelter, they will stay in the shelter until they are ready for spay neuter and that seems horrible too. Barely any socialization.
I've been trying to desensitize mama to my dogs. She knows she is in charge and she knows they are afraid of her so she just lounges around wherever she wants when I let her out. Any advice on how to create a safe space for my dogs?
Also, now that kittens ate real food, their poop is going to be gross cat poop instead of nice kitten milk poop lol Will mama clean that up also? They are all exploring the cat litter, one kitten tries to eat it (and maybe she does eat it when I am not watching!) It is clay but not clumping. I've tried to feed her the mash but she hasn't quite taken to it. I am pretty sure there were 2 dads bc I can see a clear developmental difference and color difference.
Also, I am going to leave them with a friend Sunday - Tuesday (a fellow foster) but she has little experience with mama and young ones plus she has her own foster litter of 3 so I am wondering if I should stop trying to push the weaning and just let them nurse 90% and ask my friend to supplement with formula.
Whew! So sorry this is so long!
Peace, Maria B
I've been fostering kittens for a few years but this is my first mama cat + kittens experience. I've had them since they were 2 weeks old (they will be 4 weeks old on Monday)
~I've been weighing them every day and doing a tiny bit of supplement feeding on the smaller ones
~mama cat's milk seems to go in cycles. I can tell when she is full or not so full - is this normal?
~kittens are becoming very active and I have started them on formula mixed with wet food
~3 of the kittens ate out of a plate on their own today
My questions:
Mama is very attentive and protective. She has gone after one of my tiny dogs and scratched him below the eye so now I do not trust her around my dogs. That means she has to stay in the smallish enclosure with the kittens for now. I live in a 200 sq ft trailer so no bathroom and no separate room. I am feeling this will not be fair to mama as the kittens grow but the Animal Control who I am fostering for wants me to foster them with mama until they are 8 weeks. I doubt I can do that bc it seems unfair to either her (she is locked in with the kittens 90% of the time) or my dogs (they are pretty terrified of her and I get nervous one of them will jump off the couch and get hurt again) but they do not have any other fosters so if I bring them back to the shelter, they will stay in the shelter until they are ready for spay neuter and that seems horrible too. Barely any socialization.
I've been trying to desensitize mama to my dogs. She knows she is in charge and she knows they are afraid of her so she just lounges around wherever she wants when I let her out. Any advice on how to create a safe space for my dogs?
Also, now that kittens ate real food, their poop is going to be gross cat poop instead of nice kitten milk poop lol Will mama clean that up also? They are all exploring the cat litter, one kitten tries to eat it (and maybe she does eat it when I am not watching!) It is clay but not clumping. I've tried to feed her the mash but she hasn't quite taken to it. I am pretty sure there were 2 dads bc I can see a clear developmental difference and color difference.
Also, I am going to leave them with a friend Sunday - Tuesday (a fellow foster) but she has little experience with mama and young ones plus she has her own foster litter of 3 so I am wondering if I should stop trying to push the weaning and just let them nurse 90% and ask my friend to supplement with formula.
Whew! So sorry this is so long!
Peace, Maria B
