...And Then There Were Two

Cindy, Scruffy, and Sydney have settled into their new foster home, and I hear they are doing well. Sam and Tiny really missed their brothers and sister the first night, but they seem to be doing well now too. Having less competition for the litterbox has just about cleared that hit-and-miss problem right up. Sam has started eating his meals out of a dish instead of a bottle--the key was giving him the food by itself without any KMR mixed in. Tiny still refuses to go near the soft food or KMR outside the bottle, but she's begun sampling the dry kibble a little. So much for that theory that you're supposed to wean kittens with KMR milk on the dish!

With their improved litterbox usage, Sam and Tiny have now graduated from the tub to the bathroom floor. They seem to be enjoying their new-found freedom, although they do need to stand clear of the size 10's. Little black kitties aren't so easy to spot in the middle of the night, especially when your vision is something like -700! Thankfully, there have been no squished tails yet, and with the painter putting the finishing touches on my "kitten room" this afternoon, I can now move them to a safer location.

Afternoon Siestas

This is likely the last photo I'll post of all five kittens together. Cindy, Scruffy, and Sydney are moving on to their next stop on life's train this afternoon. They're weaned, and they've outgrown the only safe place I have to keep them at the moment with large portions of my home still being remodeled. They've become too adept at escaping, and are getting major cabin fever being cooped up in the bathtub. So, with lots of people chomping at the bit to foster kittens, I've decided to send them on their way to another home where they'll hopefully be more comfortable.

Tiny and Sam are probably staying for now, at least until they are weaned.

The Tank is Full But the Gauge is Broken

I am convinced that these kittens have broken gas gauges! At the moment, three are consistently taking food from the muffin pan. Tiny watches the others closely and looks like she's ready to give it a try at any time, but so far she hasn't. Sam has decided after trying it yesterday that he'd rather stick with the bottle a bit longer. However, on the outside chance they change their minds, I've been putting down enough food for all five. No problem - Cindy, Sydney, and Scruffy are happy to eat their share and the other two's as well! All three had tummy aches today, thanks to over-stuffing themselves. I may have to start separating them for their feedings -- enough for three in one pan, and enough for two in the other!

Sam made up for staying clear of the camera yesterday by giving me a darling little pose this morning. I think that's his "May I have a bottle, please" look. (Yes, you may, as soon as I finish taking your picture!).

Tonight, I finally managed to catch all five of them together and looking at the camera. Unfortunately, it seems the only time they can sit still long enough for this is right after they've just eaten themselves into oblivion and are too full to move I guess! The three that are eating on their own are easy to spot in this picture - they would be the ones with wet faces, milk mustaches, and caked on food!

Little Paws, Big Steps

Some major milestones for the kittens today. The first happened this morning - every single one of them pooped on their own, most at least in the general vicinity of the litterbox, though only a couple actually hit it. Still, it was clear they all had the right idea, just insufficient equipment to work with (more on that later).

The second happened at the first feeding. After a week of futilely placing gruel in their dishes only to dump it out virtually untouched later, I got the idea to just put down some plain canned food on a saucer without mixing in the KMR. Cindy immediately started eating it. I repeated the process for their afternoon meal, and this time, everybody but Tiny dove in. Four out of five ain't bad! They'll still need some bottle-feeding for at least a couple more weeks, but this was definitely a major step. They even ate some gruel from the dish tonight.

Tiny had a little milestone of her own. She's been somewhat withdrawn compared to the other four, often just sitting in the corner with her back turned kind of hunched over. She hasn't seemed sick, just sad like she knows she's the runt and feels a little left out. Today she had a lot more energy, and was even jumping up and down in the tub trying to get attention. She also ended up with the cutest picture of the day.

I am happy to report that the kittens are now kid-tested. They spent much of the afternoon with my 10-year-old nephew. He kind of spoiled them a little, apparently! When I got home tonight, they clearly expected to be taken out of their tub and played with some more. When I didn't oblidge right away, a couple of them took matters into their own paws! First Cindy, and then later Sam, finally figured out how to scramble out of the tub. So, now, I'm putting that large box one of my new kitchen appliances came in to use as a soft, inescapable landing spot in case anyone else decides to go "overboard" tonight!

In celebration of their new-found ability to eat and go to the bathroom on their own, I got the kittens a couple of presents tonight. One is a muffin pan, which will be their food dish for the foreseeable future. It's an easy way to give each kitten a separate dish, with some spare ones for water and dry kibble, while leaving room in the tub for other items--such as their new "litterbox". The little salad dish I was using just wasn't big enough for five kittens. So, I got them a bigger pan. It still won't hold all five of them at once, but at least maybe two or three can get in at the same time. I wish I could take credit for the muffin pan idea, by the way, but I can't. I saw a picture on a message board a while back of someone feeding a litter of puppies this way. Great idea. Of course, the kittens didn't line up quite as nicely for a picture like those puppies did!

The kittens had their first weigh-in today. Yes, unfortunately, I'm just now getting around to doing this. My house is undergoing major remodeling, and I was only now able to find where I'd packed away the food scales! As expected, Cindy was the biggest at 13 7/8 ounces, followed by Sydney at 12 7/8, Sam at 12 3/4, Scruffy at 10 5/8 and Tiny at 9 3/8. Unfortunately, I forgot to weigh them until after they'd pigged out on their new canned food diet!

Meet the Quints

It's been a while, but as they say, when it rains, it pours kittens. Or something like that.

My latest pint-size house guests are somewhere between three and four weeks old. I brought them home a week ago to foster. I originally intended to only keep them for a day or two until another foster home could be found, since I wasn't sure I could handle bottle feeding five kittens all by myself while also having major remodeling work done in my home. But these little ones turned out to be no trouble at all. They eat very quickly, and are far enough along in their development that they don't "ask" for food in the middle of the night. :) So, as long as they don't outgrow the tub in my one working bathroom before my regular kitten room is painted, they'll be sticking around until they're weaned, and maybe all the way until their ready for adoption.

For now, their names are Cindy, Sydney, Sam, Scruffy, and Tiny. Cindy and Tiny look like girls, Scruffy and Sam look like boys, and Sydney has an irritated bottom, so I can't tell for sure (I'm guessing boy, but I used a name that could go either way just in case). They're learning to use the litterbox, occasionally sampling gruel, and starting to play. They seem like they're going to be really sociable.