Newborn Kittens

[dogtahs]

The kittens are now 12 weeks old, their weights are ranging from 1.4~1.6kg. We gave Pearl away a couple of weeks ago, the owner (my boss) tells me she was roaming around the house after a day. We have decided to keep Poppy, Pickles and Panda. My wife absolutely adored Poppy and couldn't give her away. They have all had their 3 rounds of shots and been de-wormed, a few of them had worms in their stools so the vet gave them all a 3 day worth of deworming medications. We didn't know which stool belonged to who at the time. Need to get Sabin and Panda neutered and spayed, although the vet is telling us that for Poppy and Pickles that it should be better to spay them at around 5~6 months. We would prefer everyone getting it done at the same time in case one might play a bit too rough while they recover. They all seem happy running around the house. Can female kittens go into heat around 12 weeks, I've noticed that Poppy and Pickles are chirping or meowing but neither of them are hungry at the time.

 

[dogtahs]

It's also cute and interesting to see their personalities. Panda the boy loves to cuddle at times and sleeps on us as well. As soon as pickles hears running water she runs to it, she seems to be very curious. Poppy as soon as she hears any toys will be the first one their, even though she sleeps. An issue I'm having is since we have the dry food out at, we can't control what Sabin eats. The Royal Canin Mother and Babycat dry food is almost finished, I was wondering if it would be okay for the kittens to start eating Orijen Cat and Kitten dry food, the kibbles itself are considerably larger than the Royal Canin.

 

[Sarthur2]

I would not switch food until they are 6 months old, and then do it gradually over 1-2 weeks by slowly mixing small amounts of the new food in with the old.

The kittens can be spayed and neutered anytime now. Females can go into heat as young as 4 months. Since you have males and females, you should go ahead with spaying and neutering now.

It's great to hear they are doing well!

 

[dogtahs]

Should i switch from the babycat to the kitten one? The babycat says its recommended till 4 months of age.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, you can begin transitioning!

 

[trickytree]

Should i switch from the babycat to the kitten one? The babycat says its recommended till 4 months of age.

Yes you should. They should take to it well.

 

[dogtahs]

Any recommendation on which kitten food (dry) I should transition them into? I was thinking either of the following... Royal Canin Kitten, Wellness Core Kitten Formula, Evolve Chicken and Rice Kitten formula or Chicken soup for the soul kitten formula.
They will be eating mainly a wet food diet (Fancy Feast, Wellness Core, Natures Variety).

 

[dogtahs]

The first 5 ingredients of the Royal Canin seems to be mainly grain (Brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, wheat gluten, chicken fat)

 

[dogtahs]

Made an appointment to get Sabin spayed tomorrow. The vets here in Korea are refusing to spay and neuter any of the kittens. They say it is too young for them to have the procedure. They can neuter Panda at 4 months and spay Poppy and Pickles at about 6-7 months. I guess its because most if not all cats are 100% indoor cats here.

 

[Sarthur2]

I hope Sabin's spay goes well tomorrow. At least if Panda gets neutered he cannot impregnate his sisters while they wait to be spayed. They really should be spayed at 6 months though.

 

[dogtahs]

Thank you, oh ok that is good to know then. We will be getting Panda neutered next month, Poppy and Pickles at 6 months. Should we keep Sabin separated from the kittens while she recovers, we are worried that the kittens might want to nurse from her and they aggravate the area. Is it normal for the kittens to be still nursing at 12~13 weeks? They don't do it as much though, I don't know how Sabin tolerates it with their teeth.

 

[dogtahs]

Just got Sabin back from the vet. The spay procedure went well, as soon as we took her back home all of the kittens were scared of her maybe it was because of the cone around Sabin's head. Poppy was hissing and acting aggressively so we put Sabin alone in a room till we go back home from work. Is this a normal type of behaviour?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, the kittens were reacting to the vet smells and the unfamiliar cone!

You can let Sabin out when you get home, and remove the cone so she can mingle with her kittens. Are her stitches the internal dissolving type, or external?

Kittens nurse as long as mom allows! Mine nursed for months, including the day my cat came home from her spay.

Did the vet give you pain meds?

 

[dogtahs]

We let Sabin out as soon as we got home but the two girls Poppy and Pickles are terrified of her and hisses at her when they are near her. The cone is off as well but we are just worried that she might try to groom her stitches. The stitches are external and the vet told us to come back for the next few days to clean her wound; they didn't give us any pain meds but they did say they will give her antibiotics and I'm assuming pain meds when we go to the vets.
She doesn't seem to have much of an appetite, tried to give her wet and dry food but she isn't eating any. Gave her a few treats which she ate but other than that nothing. Hopefully she has more of an appetite tomorrow.

The vet checked her and said that she had some milk left in her system but didn't seem to be producing any milk; the kittens were just nursing for comfort. My wife is upset because how the kittens are reacting. When we go to work tomorrow, should we leave her alone in another room just in case if the kittens decide to get aggressive or just let them be?

 

[Sarthur2]

Mom is still recuperating from the anesthesia. Her appetite should come back in a few hours when it wears off completely.

She needs pain meds for about three days, so be sure to request them. They take the edge off, but may make her sleepy.

I would leave her out. She will go hide if the kittens bother her. As the vet smells wear off, the kittens will stop hissing and begin reacting normally again.

Mom may lick her stitches. It's okay as long as she does not pull on them.

 

[dogtahs]

We would just like to say thanks for your help and replies, our kittens are all healthy. They range from 2.2kg to 2.7kg (Panda), we are waiting to get Pickles and Poppy spayed in a few weeks. Its a great forum considering we were first time cat owners and had absolutely no idea what to expect with new born kittens. I'm kind of sad that they are now growing up as I miss them being the size of my hands.

 

[dogtahs]

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• dogtahs
• Oct 31, 2016

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• dogtahs
• Oct 31, 2016

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• dogtahs
• Oct 31, 2016

 

[Mamanyt1953]

They are absolutely beautiful, and you have done so well with them.  I know, it's bittersweet as they grow.  It's wonderful, but you miss those wide-eyes balls of fluff that you nurtured.

 

[Sarthur2]

Aww, thank you for the update! So glad they are all doing well! The 4 kittens I kept are 19 months old now and fully grown, but I enjoy them just as much now as I did when they were tiny! I hope you continue to enjoy yours! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[dogtahs]

Hey all, I just thought I'd post here again but we need some advice. We gave Pearl our 4th kitten away but we recently found out that the person we gave it too gave her away to someone. From what I've heard she is living outside with the current owner, which is a big problem right now. I'm going to assume that she hasn't been spayed yet because the vets refuse to do them when they are young in South Korea. We're thinking of bringing her back home with us but the problem being. We don't know if she has had all her shots, what condition she is going to be in, money for vet bills will become an issue because we would need to get her spayed. It is approaching winter so it would be getting really cold for her to live outside. What are the chances that her littermates and Sabin would accept her again. Would we need to assume it is going to be the same as bringing home a new cat or would they recognise her? It has been about 3 months since they were apart. We really don't think we can keep her but don't like the fact that she is living outside when it is approaching negative Celsius temperatures soon.