Mackerel tabby kittens

These little kits were born two weeks ago and just have their eyes open.   There are four of them and alike as peas in a pod!   They are all ‘mackerel’ tabbies and stripey, just like little fishes.   This is a quite rare and beautiful coat marking.   Most have white bibs too so they are very smart.   Their mother is a wild cat who was dumped here, we found her wandering around outside.   She is a lovely creature, black and fluffy and has only just become tame.    I coaxed her indoors first and then managed to get her into a pen.

She resigned herself to captivity as she was heavily pregnant and began to enjoy being bribed with sardines and chopped chicken.    She is a good little girl and when I provided a cardboard box, she obligingly had her kittens in it.   Now she’s stopped hissing at me and will let me stroke her a bit.    I’m not quite going to go so far as to pick her up yet but she lets me fuss the kittens.   Slowly does it.   So far, so good.    She must have plenty of milk for them because the kits are doing well and have fat little tummies.   She’s a good eater though.   

They all snuggle together and then nurse as soon as she comes back to them.   Her pen has an outside run and every so often she leaves them for a while to go and look at the wild world she’s left behind.    These wild cats do usually become very tame and affectionate when they’ve been spayed and if they are hand fed until you have their confidence.    If this is her first litter it’s a wonderful achievement.    We need lots of food – kitten pouches especially and funding for vaccination when they are old enough.    We have a lot of kittens at the present time – any help is most gratefully appreciated.   [donate]