Kittens fight for survival

That tastes good!   Life is a survival effort for the wild cat’s kittens.   These little fellas were born on the straw stack, we don’t know where mum came from.   Either she was brought here and released or found her way to sanctuary on her own.   The desire of a pregnant cat to find safety is very great, she knew that she could find shelter, food and safety with us.   Touching her is out of the question at the moment though. There’s such a difference between these little ‘ragamuffin’ kittens and the ones born to the cats whose pregnancy has been helped by comfort and good food.   These little kits are different sizes and are smaller than average.   We’re handling the kits and keeping them tame with lots of fuss.   Although they are light in weight, they make up for it in survival spirit.   A bit of the Bear Grylls about some of them! Already, the tiniest has learned to eat and although his little teeth are barely big enough to tackle kitten food, he keeps chewing away.

He eats with lots of determination – it must be a good feeling to be full now he has learned to feed himself.    Mum comes to eat when the babies are finished and she nurses them as soon as we move away.    This is how wild cats live and the smaller the litter and the more feisty the kitten, the better the chance of survival.

The others are getting the hang of it by copying her.  The little girl kit above is only just starting to nibble.  It would be great to snatch them away and take them to a pen where we could feed them more intensively, but …… we couldn’t take mum too and at this stage they need the help that her milk gives them.   The kittens’ immune system won’t be fully developed until at least twelve weeks and they will receive protection from their mother’s milk for a while longer.   It’s a balancing act but so far so good.

We’re trying to teach them to come to the den we’ve made for their food – but as soon as they’ve had enough they’re back to mum and their nest in the straw bales.   [donate]