Ragamuffin kittens are improving

The tiny kittens born on the straw stack are gaining weight and becoming a bit more lively.   They’re eating well now and tucking in as soon as I put the kitten food out, there’s less of the desperate wolfing it down that we saw when we first fed them.    Two of them (the ones above) are a bit bigger and not as hungry as the rest.  My guess is that these have had more of their mom’s milk.   The others are definitely smaller and eat for longer.   Mum and I have come to a bit of an arrangement.  I leave the kittens with her all day but then shut them up in a cat cabin where she can see them at night.   That way I know they can have as much food as they want and she can’t take them off to be wild cats.   She might mean it for the best but they would surely die.   This mommy cat doesn’t have enough milk to feed her babies and doesn’t seem to have any inclination to catch anything for them to eat.    This makes me think that she is a domestic cat and not feral.   Cats have to be taught to hunt and it’s the ones who live on the edge who become the mousers.  If they don’t learn to hunt at their mommy’s paw, they’ll never learn.

I’ve called her Cilla (didn’t take much figuring!) she really is a lovely jet black with green and gold eyes.   Cilla has a thick and shiny coat as do most cats who live outside.    She isn’t a smiley cat though, her expression is watchful – do I trust you?   No, I don’t. There may have been bad experiences along the way.   She does purr when she feeds her kittens and the only time she looks happy is when she’s with them.    Mommy cats nearly always purr to their kits, it’s a way of bonding and letting them know where she is when they don’t have their eyes open.   They love to nurse their babies.

Cilla seems to understand that I’m trying to help and although she won’t go in the den with the kittens, she sits close by, watching them all the time.   I’m sure she know that I’m trying to keep them safe and the kits have already learned about comfort and food – they eat their supper and then snuggle down in the fleece straight away.