Feral kittens in Ireland - rescued last night

[cc12]

I am glad I could be helpful.

My English friend is a total cat person.
Those cats are so lucky to have you. You give a lot of yourself to them. They look so happy and totally comfortable there. They remind me of Felix the cat.

Whatever happened with that mother cat?

 

[wendyr]

Another week with the kittens, and they are all still as happy as could be. It has been quite warm here this week, so they have been eating a bit less and are more active during the morning and night. Luckily, we close our bedroom door at night so there has been no disturbing our sleeping! Some kitten re-decorating goes one at night - chairs are moved - and Conor has discovered a new toy. She loves chillies. It is so weird. We would wake up in the morning and discover all of our chillies scattered around the house. Originally, we thought they were just knocking them off the counter (they love to watch things fall) but then one night last week, the husband was away in London so I stayed up a bit later reading. I witnessed Conor's play time with her chili friends! So funny. But, we eat those things and I don't want her to bite into one (we like hot chillies!), so we have put them in a bag secured with a rubber band. Conor still sits by the vegetable bowl, trying to get them, but at least they are wrapped up tight!

I bought some catnip the other day as well - they are fans. We have a carpet square that we bought for them to scratch/sleep on and they all three like to have a bit of 'nip sprinkled on the carpet so they can roll around.

Steve is getting more curious about us. I had a bit of a stomach bug last week and so I slept down on the sofa to ensure they husband could get some sleep. I woke up to find Steve's little face in my face! Also, one night before bed, I was giving Paddington a little pet on his chair when Steve came down. Paddington jumped down (to chase a bug or a ball or something) and Steve immediately jumped up right where Paddington had been sitting. Hm...I think he is starting to get stuff. He also spends a good 50% of his time downstairs with us (the other kittens spend about 90% of their time with us) and doesn't run away in a blind panic anymore (unless we surprise him). I really honestly see a change in him - it's funny because it is very subtle, and since the other two have made such radical changes, it may not seem like much to those not fluent in feral (like my friends) but to us it's a really big deal.

Health wise they are doing great. The food is very popular with them, and I have noticed a change in their litter box habits - less eating, less waste. I only have to clean the boxes once a day now. Before, if I didn't do it morning and evening, the boxes would seriously, seriously suffer.

As for the mother cat....we do see her. I am worried about her kittens (she is not pregnant anymore)- we haven't seen them yet, but I know when they are ready, she will present them to us. I have a place I am going to call and discuss the situation with them.

 

[mrblanche]

I was wondering how you and the kitties were doing. Good to hear it's progressing well.

On another subject, what kind of chilies do you like? What kind are readily available there? We used to go through New Mexico all the time, and we have seen and tasted the Hatch chilies over there. Since we live in Texas, we have a lot of different ones available here.

 

[wendyr]

I like all chillies! The husband (who is English) was never a fan of the heat until he met me, but he has got used to it (maybe even likes it...). I miss the variety of the US - whenever we go back to visit, I am constantly buying varieties we can't get here.

In London (where we lived before we moved to Ireland), you could get a pretty good variety. But here...well, we tend to get kind of generic chili mixes. We can occasionally get Scotch Bonnets and jalapenos, but other than that chillies are kind of just classified as generic chillies. I get the smallest possible for the most heat - so you can understand why I would be concerned about our little crazy kitten sinking her teeth into one.

 

[wendyr]

Another quick update. It is just going to be just the kittens and me for a few days, as the husband is off traveling for work. I think Conor is going to miss him - they are really, really bonded.

I am going out of town for less than 48 hours as well on Friday. It is my brother-in-law's 30th birthday, so a surprise party is being thrown in his honour. I am a bit nervous about leaving them alone (as is natural), but I will have a friend come by on the Saturday to check their food and water levels. I am going to put out extra litter boxes and loads of dry food and water. Kitten-proofing the house is also going to be necessary! I know they will be fine, but I am a worrier by nature, so I suppose it can't be avoided!

We are happy with the dry food that we ordered on the internet (thanks CC12 again for the recommendation!). We are going to order some wet food from them as well. We recently changed their wet food, and I am really unhappy with it - and all the varieties on sale here. Conor gets a real sugar high immediately after she eats it and I just hate to think what it is doing to her. We are just waiting for the website to get a restock of the brand we want and then we are ordering. It took a bit to convince the husband, but for the past few days he has been coming home a bit early so he has seen how she acts immediately after she has eaten. We are extremely health conscious (my mother is a dietician - healthy eating is in my blood!), so it is really an issue to us. The cost factor gets my husband as well - with this lower quality wet food, because of all the fillers and lack of protein, they eat more of it to fill up. With the new stuff - which will have no additives or fillers - the high protein content should fill them up so when we feed them, there should be little to no waste (currently, they leave quite a bit of food). I did a cost analysis and based on what we are currently paying compared with what we will pay for the other stuff - it works out to be almost cheaper. Anyway, we are still finding our way, and I really wish I could just go into my local pet shop and get the stuff we need, but alas, that is not going to happen anytime soon!

When the husband came home from work a few days ago, Conor and Paddington were sitting in the window. Our neighbour was also coming home at the same time, and he commented to Alf that our kittens were waiting for him. Alf smiled and the neighbour asked if they were the kittens that used to live outside. Alf said yes, and the neighbour said he was really happy we had taken them in. He said he had wanted to, but his girlfriend has allergies, so he had been really worried about them. He said they looked really happy. This made Alf really happy!

 

[wendyr]

So, off to England in a few hours, and just thought I would post a few observations from over the past few days! They are all doing well, which is good. My friend came over yesterday to check out where the food and such is stored (she is the one who will be checking in on them) and the only kitten to come out of hiding was Steve! How funny. The most nervous of them all. My friend is in LOVE with Steve - he is a very pretty little cat. Again, he gets more and more curious about me everyday, so hopefully we can continue working towards developing trust.

I tried giving them the higher meat content grocery store food the other day, and they hated it. I think it might have been the flavour, but little Steve got sick - the first time any of them have ever thrown up. We are still going to get the better quality of wet food, but hopefully there won't be any problems. They are very good about eating what we put down for them, so hopefully they will love the new food. Alf says they are mad at us because we keep taking away their kitten junk food

Another thing I have noticed about little Steve - he has a totally different appetite than the other kittens. Conor and Paddington like to eat all their dinner at once, but Steve would prefer to eat a little, go away, come back, eat some more. Unfortunately, by the time he comes back, Conor or Paddington have eaten all his food. This is why we are going to continue to free-feed for the time being. Steve is slim - but not underweight- and I want to make sure he gets all he needs.

We have two unwell pigeons in our back garden, and the kittens spend all their time at the kitchen window watching them. At least I know they will be entertained while I am away....

 

[cc12]

You may find that Steve has a major breakthrough once you get back. He may miss you and be so happy to see you that he forgets to be shy.

Have fun.

 

[wendyr]

Not too much to report from Ireland! The kittens (we will probably have to start calling them cats soon...) are doing very well indeed. I am going to post a few pictures - they are a bit old, but still lovely...

The trip was great - my friend came over and took care of them and when I got home they were all happy to see me. No Stevie breakthroughs, but we are getting there, I'm sure!

Conor is officially a lap cat. We kind of started picking her up and putting her on our laps for affection, and now she climbs up on her own. Of course, she always seems to do it right before you are about to get up...oh well. She loves attention - she has turned into one of the most affectionate cats I have ever met. She demands attention. It is lovely.

Stevie is doing well. He is looking beautiful and is more and more curious. He came over to Conor and me one day while I was petting her and just sat and watched. Both the husband and I are working with him to develop trust. It will happen.

Paddington is as wild and crazy and cheeky as ever. He makes us laugh all the time. He is fearless and constantly jumping and falling off things. Who needs to go out when you have kittens? Good thing we have the entertainment - the weather has been horrible the past few days!

We got DaBird! It took us ages to get - we had to order it from the UK and then there were some problems getting it delivered. We actually ended up with two. Paddington LOVES it. He goes crazy. We have to limit his play with it as he gets far too worked up and gets way too tired and puffed out. So we are spacing it out. The other two aren't as interested. Steve is a bit weirded out buy it and Conor will play, but she prefers ping-pong balls and stuff mice.

Okay, on to the pictures.

Stevie, sleeping on the chair...



Conor likes to rest in the most uncomfortable places. Last night, she slept in a little nook behind the tv. This shelf used to be a favourite place, but then I had the gall to tidy it up. Now, she shuns it.



And last but not least, Paddington. I love this picture. The husband has it as his wallpaper on his computer. That must have been interesting last week while he was at his academic conference!

 

[wendyr]

Just a quick update from the last week. We are going to be busy for the next few days (wedding anniversary, husband's birthday party....), so we shall see how the kittens cope (going to have to start calling them cats soon...). We are going away for the night tomorrow to celebrate the anniversary and then on Saturday having a little bbq at the house for the birthday. We are going to just keep the kittens in our bedroom with their toys, food and litter box that night - makes things easier, and also means we can open the front and back doors for easier bbq access.

The husband thinks Steve is going to come round within the next two weeks. He is giving all the same signs as the others did right before they really started to trust us. In fact, I think he trusts the husband more than he trusts me. He has managed to get two or three pets in when Stevie has been sleeping on a shelf, and often just sits with him. I try to spend time with him, but he just hasn't connected with me on the same level. he likes to come downstairs and sniff my husband's feet! Steve is so much less skittish than he used to be as well and he eats his dinner downstairs with the other cats on always now (he used to only occasionally come down). He also doesn't run away all the time now, but 50% of the time will just stay put and the other 50 just kind of calmly walks away. I will keep updating on the Steve situation!

In feeding news, we have finally established our wet food. Yeah! It is a German brand called Cosma and we are happy with it. The cats love it and we don't have the same carb-high we used to get on the junk food we were feeding them before. Ordered from zooplus.co.uk and we are thrilled. The husband thinks it looks so good, he could almost eat it (I am a vegetarian, so I won't be going down that route!).

 

[cc12]

Lol.

Weruva cat food looks like human stew and a few times I thought well danhg that looks better than my sandwich I am eating now.
Tell hubby to resist the urge.

Steve is warming and that is great.

 

[wendyr]

Today marks six months since we took in Paddington, Conor and Steve. It is amazing how far they have all come. Steve is still skittish, but the husband has noticed (as have I) that he is making progress - he is just about 3 months behind the others.

There is not really anything new to write, I just wanted to celebrate how far they have come. It is so great to have them so integrated into our lives and to know their little crazy personalities. Paddington is a crazy little boy, but very particular. Everything has to be in its place. He often goes into the litterbox after the other cats to clean up after them and he likes to know exactly where all his toys are. He has a new absolute favourite thing - this started a few weeks ago when I was going to bed and there was one of his foil balls on the stairs. I threw it down and he loved it. Now, before the husband and I go to sleep, we gather up a load of foil balls and bouncy balls and throw them down the stairs at him. He loves it so much and at night time, every time we go upstairs he is convinced it is 'time'.

Conor is a little princess - she demands attention and gets very diva-like if she doesn't get it. And to think - a mere six months ago she wouldn't even let us close to her.

Stevie spends a lot of time downstairs with us. He likes his routines though, and if they get disturbed, he gets upset. A few days ago, the husband stayed home from work and spent the morning in bed, reading. He closed the door as he had the windows open so the kittens couldn't come in. Steve hated this and he hid under the kitchen cabinet all day. He is becoming very playful, though, and he is our master bug-killer. The others don't even come close.



A picture of Paddington from Sunday. The husband has loads on his camera, but it is at work, so this will have to do.

 

[ldg]

Oh Wendy - it's been six months??????????? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's amazing how far they've all come - even Steve!

Paddington is just too cute for words. He reminds me so much of our Shelly (also B&W) - that expression is priceless! (Shelly also sleeps with his paws over his face like that).

I'm really glad you got the food worked out.

...and that's too cute that they were at the window the day Alf saw them!

They were sooooooo lucky to find you.

Laurie