Tiny kittens come out to play

These tiny kittens have stayed in the nest safe with mommy, until today when they decided to come out and play hide and seek with the older kits.  Inside a stool is the perfect hiding place!  They are five weeks old and both torties so they are little girls.   Some of the kits are a bit smaller than normal, perhaps because their mothers didn’t have enough nutrition when carrying them. It is stressful for a cat to have no home and have to find her own food at the best of times but when she is in kitten as well, it is a real ordeal.

The kittens are eating well and like their Baby Cat biscuits and kitten pouches, so they’ll soon catch up.   We keep the tinies on Baby Cat (made by Royal Canin) until they are at least four months old.   It’s very palatable and is very small kibble just right for tiny mouths.  We’ve tried all the brands of kitten biscuits but always come back to Baby Cat as it’s perfect for the kits that aren’t just as robust as they might be.

Rearing kittens is more difficult than you might think, if they’re out in the wild with their mothers they will do well so long as they have enough food.   The mother will keep moving them to a new den so that they are always kept clean.  When they stay in the same indoor environment, cleanliness is one of the most important factors.   Clean dishes for every meal are essential.   The water dish must be shallow so they can lap from it easily and the water should be changed twice a day at least.

We like stainless steel or pot dishes and avoid plastic if we can.  We feed all growing animals to appetite and healthy, hungry kittens will eat up everything you give them.   If they do leave any food (apart from kitten biscuits which we leave down all the time) it’s best to take it away and give a little less next time.  Feed fresh is the rule.

These two little kittens stick together, perhaps because they are the same size and might even be twins.  They have sweet personalities and are dainty little girls who are already litter trained.   We’ll be looking for good homes for them when they’ve been vaccinated and had their health check.