Here are the kittens...

[Maddy McCall]

A little over a month ago, I asked about care for the pregnant mother cat that my brother rescued.

Well, she had the kittens a month ago today, so here are the babies. See the little kitty in the back--the calico that looks like her mommy? She's going to be mine when she weans. How long will it be until she weans, I wonder?

Anyway, I have always been an outsider to the "Cat Clan" at DU--I guess now I belong. :-)

[BlackVelvetElvis]

1. Not many DU'ers would turn down a thread that had "kittens" in the title.

Cute little calicos.
Run, Ashcroft! Avert your eyes!

[Maddy McCall]

5. I thought about naming the one we are getting "Ashcroft."

But I wouldn't do that to her...we are still trying to come up with a good name for her. My son wants to name her "Little B." Don't ask me why, because I have no idea.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

9. "Little B." sounds good.

He would have a special attachment to her.
Ashcroft would be too cruel for such a cutie.

[meow2u3]

46. Don't abuse the kitties what that filthy name

Calling a calico kitten as cute as she is amounts to animal cruelty. :eyes:

[elruso]

55. Oh, c'mon man.

Name him Fritz. Or Chipotle (smoked jalapeño).

Use classic history, not contemporary crap. For example, one of my cats is named Yuri, as he was born on April 12, the day on which the first human being was shot into space (and successfully landed back on Earth, alive and well). NO "right thinking" american would dare call their child Yuri back in the paranoid early sixties, now would they? Luckily, psychedelics kicked in soon after. Unluckily, son did Vietnam.

Am I being humourless about your comment? Oh well, pokerface is an integral element of highly evolved humour. Ahem.

[SoCalDem]

2. She only had TWO??? What a slacker

:P..

They are precious.. Are you keeping Mommie too??? She looks like a very sweet kitty..:) Two are waaaay better than ONE :)

[SoCalDem]

4. about weaning..

at about 4 weeks, you can start introduciing them to kitten chow..moistened with a little warm water.. They will walk in it, lay in it and make a mess, but as soon as they get teeth, they can start eating.. NO MILK !!!! It gives them the runs..

[Maddy McCall]

10. Thanks for the excellent advice!

I told my brother that he could use milk--thanks for telling me to use water to moisten it. :-)

[barb162]

59. yes no cow milk

farmers actually give stray /dumped kittens cow milk and they have diarrhea til they die. A farmer told this to me as farmers get so many stray cats dumped on their property!

[Maddy McCall]

8. My brother is keeping the mom...

I am getting the duplicate of the mom, and my brother's best friend is getting the tiger-striped one. Mom is a very good kitty--I offered to take her, but she adores my brother, and vice versa, so she won't be going anywhere (but to the vet to get spayed).

She had three, but one was born still-born. :(

[Pithlet]

23. I had a cat once

who had had no litter mates. She had momma's milk all to herself. Before she was weaned, her little belly touched the floor she was so chubby from the lack of competition. It was cute.

[the Kelly Gang]

3. aawwwwwwwwww !

[Maddy McCall]

31. Cute, huh?

:-)

[Rick Myers]

6. Mommie looks just plain exhausted!!!

:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

12. She stays exhausted...

Her babies spend all day climbing out of their box. She chases each down, brings her back to the box, only to find the other, and bring her back to the box, and then, by that time, the first is out of the box again. :-)

[Arugula Latte]

26. Jeez, sounds like my human kids.

nt

[Maddy McCall]

28. Tell me about it.

See my other thread...:(

[tedoll78]

7. They look delicious!

Yum!



(j/k) ;)

[AFSCME girl]

11. Thanks for sharing, jchild...

Momma and babies are beautiful!!! :bounce:

[Maddy McCall]

13. Thanks! If our kitten is as sweet as the mom, then I will be well pleased

However, the kitten we have picked out seems to be a skedaddler--loves to run and play. Very active kittens. :-)

[auntAgonist]

14. How positively adorable!!

Great place to put my first comment :) we have 3 cats and a dog.
Such fun!

peace where there is none!

[Maddy McCall]

16. Welcome to DU, AuntA!

:toast:

I hope you have plenty of photos of your pets. The lounge is a pet palace...we love to show off our feline and canine friends...and some of us have exotic pets, too. :-)

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[auntAgonist]

60. thanks :)

I'll try and get some pics posted!

[AFSCME girl]

19. Hi AuntA...

Welcome to DU :hi: jchild is absolutely right, we love to post pics of our babies (furry and nonfurry!) :bounce: Glad to have you here at DU.

[auntAgonist]

61. Pet people are friendly people!

thanks for the warm welcome! DU seems like a great place!!

[Mikimouse]

15. Awwwwwww...Cute Kitties! Love 'em, love 'em!

I'll show the pics to my babies when they wake up from their afternoon nap (my furbabies, that is). Give the kittens a kiss on the noggin for me.:hi: :loveya:

[Maddy McCall]

17. LOL! Will do.

I am going to visit my brother tonight--so I'll see our kitten. Can't wait until she weans! :-)

[kestrel91316]

18. Keep baby with momma at LEAST until she is 8 wks old.................

tip from cat vet here. You want to be sure she is enthusiastically eating "crunchies" by then so she won't have any nutritional stress when weaned.

[Maddy McCall]

21. I had planned on six weeks...but if you say eight weeks, Ok.

Thanks for the advice. :-)

[ET Awful]

32. KIttens will also generally be better behaved the longer they stay w/ mom

Six weeks is barely enough, 8 is good, 12 is even better.

Mom cat teaches them all kinds of necessary behavior things like when and when not to use claws, etc. Kittens that are seperated from mom too early tend to play more roughly with you and any other cats around. Mom cat won't let them get away with it and will cuff 'em upside the head :).

[kestrel91316]

52. 100% correct!

[Blue Gardener]

20. They're Adorable!

I just love kittie pictures. Is Momma kitty sticking her tongue out at the camera?

[Maddy McCall]

22. Thanks...No, she was cleaning the tiger-striped baby when I surprised...

her with the camera. :-)

[miss_kitty]

24. kittens

kittens, kittens, kittens.

:)

[Arugula Latte]

25. They're all so cute I think I might vomit.

Oh. My. God.

Having trouble catching breath.

Boy, that Mama kitty is a looker! She reminds me of one of my childhood kitties.

Lucky, lucky you.

Kitties kitties kitties :loveya:

[Maddy McCall]

29. LOL! Thanks! I think she's a looker, too.

And the kitten we are getting is a small version of her. Same markings, except where mom is grey, baby is black.

:-)

[ET Awful]

27. What cuties!

Thanks for sharing :)

[Maddy McCall]

30. Thanks for looking...

:-)

[Zomby Woof]

33. SWEET!

:D

[Maddy McCall]

35. Gives you cavities just looking, eh?

;-)

[scarlet_owl]

34. They're beautiful!

I love calicos! Congratulations on your new kitty!

[Maddy McCall]

36. I love them, too...

The mom is so gorgeous and sweet. I am counting the days 'til we can bring Little B home (that's the name my son picked--I am thinking that we have to come up with something more fitting, though :-) ).

[grasswire]

37. you'll love having a calico

My nineteen-year-old calico died just last week. She was a cat with an attitude all her life. Extremely companionable and loving, and yet very "verbal" and no-nonsense from anyone!

Good luck with that sweet bit of fluff!

[Maddy McCall]

38. Ohhhh, thanks grasswire.

I am soo sorry about you losing your cat. So very sorry.

Yes, the mother is sweet, but quite sassy. She let my schnauzer know really quickly that she doesn't appreciate a wet nose near her face. :-)

Yet she will lie on her back for hours and let you rub her belly. And she's a great mom to the kittens. Wish the eight weeks were up so I could bring our kitten home.

Again, I am so sorry about your loss. :cry:

[Kathleen04]

39. Aww, cute kitties

I have a calico too, she's a lap cat..she doesn't care who you are as long as she can sit in your lap. :)

[Maddy McCall]

41. Thanks, Kathleen

Yes, the mom is that way. But when she's had enough, she leaves for her "alone time."

She likes being outdoors as much as in. She refuses to use a litterbox--she goes to the door, like a housetrained dog does, and meows until someone opens it.

If the kitten is half as smart and sweet as mom, I'll be very happy.

[Wcross]

40. Just when you start to think people suck......

You and your brother come along and spoil the notion. I salute you guys for saving these animals! I just found a pair of twin kittens myself and of course they are still here and have names.

[Maddy McCall]

42. Awwwwww....thanks so much Wcross.

You just brightened my day! We love this cat family and are taking the best care of them.

Kudos to you for saving two kittens! :toast:

[rbnyc]

43. OMG! They are so cute!!

I just love them!

:loveya:

[Maddy McCall]

47. Does little rbnyc have a pet kitty?

Congrats to you, by the way!!

:loveya:

[rbnyc]

56. Thanks. We have 3 cats.

They are adjusting pretty well, tho one is a bit pouty.

:hi:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

44. Awww cute!

Momma looks exhausted!

[Maddy McCall]

48. She's not ready for the kittens to leave the box, but they insist...

on crawling out. She spends half her day chasing down each kitten, putting it back in the box, only to have the other sneak out while she's chasing its sister. You should see how funny the whole thing is. Yes, it wears her out. :-)

[Bride of Cthulhu]

45. they are just too cute for words!

n/t

[Maddy McCall]

49. Thanks!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

50. How precious is that?!

Congrats! :bounce:

[Maddy McCall]

51. Thanks!

[KT2000]

53. This is great!

The rescued mom got to have her babies in peace and she gets a new home too. Love to hear this.
They are so sweet and aren't they fun.
Very nice - thanks for posting this.

[elruso]

54. Hey, jchild, congratulations!

I'd love to keep the mother cat, your brother is a lucky man. I got on this board to discuss american politics, and here I am, talking about cats (again).

I love mother cats, they are so completely, peacefully focused onto their instinct, everything else seems like bullcrap in perspective.

Anyway, NEVER take a kitten away from its' mother unless he is AT LEAST 12 weeks old, preferably 18. The kitty learns to socialize by watching the mother and experimenting with the siblings. And ALWAYS consider bringing a brother or sister along. I've got a rescued cat and two of her children, as well as two more rescued cats; I'm also feeding a feral mother and her four kitties. I cannot put it better than Ernest Hemingway himself did: "One cat just leads to another" (he's right, you know).


May I recommend a couple of things for your cat?
1. A Drinkwell water deposit with magnetic pump and carbon filter, so fresh water is always cascading for her (or him), no matter where you are.
2. Make a large, non-sliding noose (a climber's knot) with a thin nylon rope, but put a toilet paper carton cylinder inside the noose, then hang the rope from the ceiling, so the cylinder is suspended five-six inches from the ground.

The best of luck! No, not for you, but for the kitty. :-)

[redpepper]

57. great picture.

Daddy like kitties.

[barb162]

58. give it at least ten weeks; they should stay with mama

longer than most people think; absolute 8 weeks MINIMUM
They are all darling, meow meow, babies