Milla had her kittens

[bobbys girl]

A real 'Daddy's Girl' then?

[Joe_Danger]

I had to put a window screen in front of my computer room, put it horizontally so she won't accidentally get in and get caught in my computer chair, I'm careful but you never know.
I don't know maybe it's too early but I think she even responds to her name or maybe just my voice.

Her brothers are all 450g, Marco is I think 430g and Kala is only a mere 270g or so, she is small but very agile and first in everything...except using the litter for anything other than snacking, but we do our best to make sure they don't eat litter as much as we possibly can.
We can't remove the litter tray now that Casper and I think Medo started using it But they'll be fine I'm sure

[bobbys girl]

She won't be far behind!

[Joe_Danger]

Good news is, they have this very particular call/meowing right before they pee so they're easy to catch on time
Bad news is, sometimes a kitten will hide somewhere and we can't find them on time lol

I spoke too soon, I thought Medo had gotten down the litter thing right but it seems poor kitten can't tell the difference between food and litter just yet, so he went inside Milla's dry food bowl, started digging and before I could pick him up and take him to the litter he dunn peed inside her food
XD

How do you mistake food for litter and litter for food is beyond me

[bobbys girl]

Seems we are both experiencing the joys of cat ownership (servitude?) this afternoon.

[Joe_Danger]

I should probably move my consoles and games from the living room floor before they decide to pee on some of my very very expensive stuff, earlier Kala was climbing the PS4 and they all have a strange fascination with my SNES

http://i.imgur.com/9XKMAq4.jpg < - pic is from 5 days ago
not things are even more hectic

and that thing isn't cheap nowadays and neither are most of those games I have

yeah imma do that now before someone does something I'll regret

[MarySkater]

Yes, the problem with all these electronic gadgets is that they tend to be flat-topped, and pleasantly warm. What else would a kitten want!

[Joe_Danger]

Hey guys, got a bunch of new pics I took today while taking a break from preparing my exams they're in February and March and it's a TON of work, I'm illustrating entire books and studying a ton of illustration and animation theory.

Casper, Marco and Medo
http://i.imgur.com/eXywGBe.jpg

Marco and Medo
http://i.imgur.com/UAUcaMs.jpg

Kala is the only one who genuinely knows and responds to her name, finally caught her in the act as she is coming towards me when called
http://i.imgur.com/UPijHdp.jpg

Milla and a blurry Kala
http://i.imgur.com/U7N4sa5.jpg


- Kala seems to officially know how to use the litter box now, she goes in and out by herself
- Casper seems to get confused, he sits besides the litterbox with his paws inside, so since I keep a close eye on them I simply move him in and he is good
- Medo seems to be using the litterbox fine
- Marco used it for the first time today I think this was his very first peeing without assistance from his mom too, caught him on time while he was making that call and put him in the litterbox, the others don't seem to make the call anymore
- They all still eat litter but won't touch wet or solid food or boiiled chicken litter and their mom's milk seem to be the only things they eat

They all have extremely distinctive personalities, I swear guys everything I'm about to type up is true and as it happens I love these kittens so much

- Medo is a fighter, he picks fights with me all the time and likes to wrestle with his brothers, he also seems to do as Casper commands, more than once I caught him propping Casper up so he can get inside the nest lol and he always follows Casper around. He also appears to be a hunter, he plays with balls and pounces at things, even tries to catch his own shadow.

- Casper is a literal prince, he never starts fights but he never backs down from them either, he usually likes to sit on the side observing everyone but when interacted with lovingly accepts attention, he carefully watches everyone and loves wrestling with Medo and sometimes with Marco. He keeps his white coat as clean as possible and thoroughly and slowly grooms himself, especially if he thinks he got his coat dirty.

- Marco is still the most gentle and tender of the bunch, he takes some time to get the hang of things, is VERY loving and affectionate and if he isn't by his mom's side he tends to keep to himself or interacts with me, he loves curling up on my lap and falling asleep, today he was more playful than usual with the other kittens.

- Kala is...well Kala, she is the smallest of the bunch and the most agile, already climbing things and constantly follows me around, she likes climbing on me but doesn't stay put, she'd rather climb up, then fall down and go for another climb. She likes sitting besides me a lot.
Today she discovered a bubble wrap that fell under the table last night and I swear to god she is popping it on purpose, she keeps going to it all day today and pops the lil bubbles by hitting them with her paws.

[Mayday21]

Gorgeous. Put a smile on my face. Vivian

[Lilith]

Joe, they are just magic! Incredible how they change and grow in only a month/5 weeks.

I'm not surprised you thought Marco was a Masha - he does look dainty compared to his brothers, though there's every chance he'll suddenly catch up. As for Kala, bless her, she sounds like a kitten I once had, who chose me. I kept her. I read somewhere that such young kittens don't respond to humans - but they do.

Again congrats on a very fine litter - and to Milla too - oh and good luck with the exams!

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks
Marco being slightly slower and sleeping more does worry me a tad, but maybe that's just the way he is, he eats and uses his litterbox now

None of them poop but I assume that's either because Milla eats it or because they still only drink milk...and eat litter
They have yet to show interest in food, water they do drink, well all 3 except Marco he hasn't discovered the water bowl yet.
He still plays and all but is slower and would rather sleep or just chill than roughhouse like Medo and Kala.
I hope all is well with him

[Mayday21]

Hello is it Marco who has a worried look on his face in the 2nd pic? Hope your exams go well & what happened with those dam 'roaches'? Vivian

[Joe_Danger]

yeah, Marco is the white/brown one, kind of like a cow pattern
I'm very attached to him, well I am attached to all of them lol

As for the roaches they're gone now, maybe some of the stuff we used helped a little, maybe it's just the weather getting warmer, they usually come out during extremely low temperatures. I haven't seen a roach in days

[Lilith]

Glad the roaches have gone! Did you know there's a spell you can use, nothing complicated, just ask roaches, or mice or whatever, politely to leave. I use it on bluebottles and wasps - bluebottles often take no notice but it works like a charm on wasps...honest!

I'm certain Marco will be fine. In every litter there are mixed sizes, abilities, rates of development...the tiniest kitten I ever knew, who I actually gave up for dead shortly after he was born (and so did his mother) was a total runt until a month or so old - and then he started to grow. He ended up being the biggest kitten I ever bred. In the feral litter that Emily brought to me when they were a month old, one of the boys was smaller, slower and quieter at first - but he was a crafty little git. Always on the best teat, and the first to be weaned. He soon caught up with the rest

[Joe_Danger]

Here are some pics I took, I was originally going to take pics of Casper since I don't have a suitable color background for the others atm, but whatever they all ended up having their pics taken

Marco
http://i.imgur.com/LEkUa5a.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SX6AwjU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zCdyCqg.jpg

Kala
http://i.imgur.com/w3zSjLR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rAsHPtS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/P2tRpyj.jpg

Medo
http://i.imgur.com/9MkITMn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/mC5YCc9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JjVpugV.jpg

Casper
http://i.imgur.com/MfBPpCp.jpg
Kala and Casper
http://i.imgur.com/qGM77r5.jpg

I actually took the least amount of pics of casper because and medo because they just wouldn't sit in the chair lol

[Mayday21]

Hi Joe very artistic - love the backdrop so vibrant & as for the 4 babies magnificent. Karla's such an actress. Congrats o you & Milla on a job well done. You should be very proud. Vivian

[Joe_Danger]

Man I thought everyone got the litterbox thing down perfectly, but Medo just mistook the dry food bowl for litter again
Both Marco and Medo eat dry food now so how he keeps confusing food for litter I just don't understand.

[Lilith]

Lol I'm afraid they do do silly things like that - that kitten who I thought would die, the little git once FILLED a canvas desert boot with wee They grow out of it - no consolation while it's happening though.

Loved the photos - especially the ones of Casper and Kala lying down and waving their paws. Talk about adorable and they know it!

[Joe_Danger]

I have a feeling Marco has a bit of a hard time pooping, haven't seen him poop yet but he pees just fine in their litter box, in fact only kitten I've seen poop is Medo, earlier today in the litter box.
Marco seems to want to as he eats a lot both dry food and boiled chicken, but nothing seems to come out I hope he didn't get himself constipated from all that litter they were eating, they still eat litter from time to time but not nearly as much.

Only Marco and Medo eat solid food, the other two are still on Milla's milk exclusively

I was thinking maybe giving Marco a bit of regular cow's milk to soften his stool up if there is any?

[Lilith]

I wouldn't worry - Marco will get there. There's every chance Milla's cleaning him up still - many mothers do even with weaned kittens and she's very conscientious.

I'd be reluctant to give kittens milk, especially cows' milk, as it can cause diarrohea, and believe me a firm backside is vastly preferable to a runny backside, because if they start for whatever reason, they can go on for ages. Litter eating doesn't seem to cause constipation - the litter mine passed came out pretty soft and sludgy. Dried food's more likely to cause firm motions, but if that's all he'll eat at the moment, there's no arguing with him lol. You could always soak a bit of dried food in warm water, or the juice the chicken was boiled in, and see if he'll eat that, but honestly they sound to be doing fine - and they look fine too

[Joe_Danger]

yeah, you're right

Also Milla now started using the kittens' litterbox exclusively herself, it all started yesterday and she fell in love with the thing and now won't use her own in the bathroom. She might like this litter better I dunno but this litter is twice as expensive as the one we normally use and have been usin for like 10 years now and it comes in half the amount hers comes so yeah
A few more weeks and the everyone is going in the bathroom, there's no changing this now since disturbing a cat in her litter ain't right.

Kittens are all doing well, very active, very playful, they all started running around and jumping and what not it's amazing. Marco and Medo eat a ton of food now, Casper and Kala still only like their mom's milk and nothing else but they'll come around.

Milla isn't weening them yet but IMO it's high time she starts, they're biting her, it hurts her yet she lets them do it for now, she is very devoted and loving. Since they're much bigger now they also nurse more than ever so that seems to make Milla even hunrtier than usual so she too eats a ton more lol
All that matters is that they're all happy and healthy and that they seem to be

[bobbys girl]

Joe, they are gorgeous, SO cute and you can see the different characters starting to appear, lovely

Very best wishes with your exams.

Sue

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks!

They're all doing great, Medo has a hard time remembering he needs to go in a litter box for some reason, but we manage to catch him on time and put him in there, he usually meows if he is about to do it outside the litter box, dunno why he is so difficult about this, when he remembers and gets in by himself he does his business nice and quiet and all is well.

The other 3 are perfect though

Casper is extremely attached to my mom now, we don't know what to do, he won't leave her side, he always sits in her lap, deciding who is going to stay is very difficult but the times we all have with these kittens are filled with nothing but fun and joy

[Joe_Danger]

Great, my vet is asking when they can take a kitten, you see here in Macedonia people usually give kittens away at a mere month and a half, heck people often don't want to buy kittens if they're too old (4 months) or so we are told.
The vet says the earlier we give the kittens the better, naturally that goes against everything I've ever read about cats.

I got Anastasia at a little less than 2 months and she was fine alright, but we got Milla at 4 months (the girl who sold her to us lied she was two, even gave a fake birthday but fortunately her mom tod the truth, supposedly the girl didn't know...right) anyway I dunno we were originally going to keep them to three months but we might have a hard time finding a home for them so we might have to start homing them at 2.5 months.

I'm so tired of fighting with people and with different cultures and views on everything, everybody insists that their way is right and even meeting people in the middle doesn't work.

I refuse to give any of these kittens before they're at least 2.5 month, period.
The vet says they adopted theirs when he was only 33 days old...dude 33 days old isn't old enough IMO

[Joe_Danger]

I'm not sure if this is a reason for concern or if Marco just ate more than he could handle

He ate some of Milla's boiled chicken again, I have yet to see this kitten poop I don't remember ever seeing him poop but just now he went in the litterbox to do it and all he passed was completely intact, undigested chunks of boiled chicken breast, he's been eating this by himself for a while now and I've never seen him poop anything out, what if this has been happening all along and Milla was just eating it.

Is this a reason for concern? He is putting on weight just like the other kittens and doesn't fall behind at all

It was completely intact, smelled of meat too, guess he didn't even bother to chew it tho he normally does, but it is worrying me

[Lilith]

Hi, if he's putting on weight and carrying on as normal, I wouldn't worry too much, but I've never known this happen - you'd think the food would be digested or at least slightly altered after the journey through his gut. Sorry to fuss and question, but did you actually see it come out of him? Could it have been vomited? (Some kittens/cats do go to their trays to puke.) If vomit, then he probably did just overeat - he'll learn. If it did come out of the other end, I'd be inclined to have a word with the vet just to shed some light on the incident, but as he's obviously getting nourishment there can't be much amiss. Perhaps other people on here have seen this happen.

As to the question of age, oh dear. Yes, it used to be like this in the UK - 6 weeks and kittens and puppies went to new homes...if not younger. In some cases it still happens. But 10 weeks isn't too bad. Stick to your guns

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks
Milla does go to her litter to vomit hair and such, but Marco was definitely acting like he was pooping, he wasn't making any vomiting noises or anything as the udigested food just appeared under him. Maybe he vomitted it out, but who knows.

I remember years ago reading something about a condition where kittens or puppies can't digest their food but that only starts showing after they start eating solid food. I can't find anything online now on this...and given how easily worried I am i might be better off not finding anything for the time being, calling my vet over it would just result in her telling me not to worry and I think I'd rather see how this develops if possible since I feel she is annoyed at me asking stuff, tho I rarely do but still.

The food was completely unaltered, didn't even smell of anything other than regular boiled chicken

And yeah, 2.5 months should be ok for giving the kittens away
3 would be ideal but that's the way people are here

[Lilith]

I have that gut feeling (sorry - terrible joke!) that he might have vomited. They do do these daft things when they're learning to eat. Like kids at parties.

Yes, I've heard of that disorder when they thrive on mother's milk but 'fade' on weaning, but it's very rare. I heard of a couple of cases in the breeding world; one was with a very experimental (and very interbred) breed but the kittens (with a bit of tlc) survived; the other was with a certain bloodline that the breeder complained that these particular kittens faded...BUT. He had a theory that kittens, as in the wild, were best left to tackle their food in big chunks, like lion cubs...he'd throw down a chicken breast in front of the little things and expect them to gnaw at it. They didn't; they just gave up. I don't understand this as his care for his cats was superb in every other respect. If those kittens had had a plate of mushy or chopped up food I feel the story could have been different...

However. These things do go through your head and haunt you, but I don't reckon that's the case with Marco - especially as he's been munching on the dried food too. He looks like one tough guy to me

[Joe_Danger]

yeah, Marco is probably fine, but still keeping an eye on him is a must, he is so clumsy and generally less articulate in his movements compared to the other three, tho he is just as active.
I mean he put on so much weight over the past week there's no way all that weight is from milk alone.
Kala and Casper still refuse any and all solid food and while Casper may the biggest/longest at the moment even he isn't as plump and chubby as Medo who is also huge and VERY tough being a fighter and all and Marco who eat a lot of solid food.

[Joe_Danger]

Everyone is doing so well, they're all gaining weight and are very very active, but Kala and Casper just won't eat solid food and won't even attempt to
I fear I may have caused Kala to be afraid of food by trying to put some on her lips and paws like the internet suggested.

They'll be what 7 or 8 weeks come Tuesday, I think 7 and these two show no sign, whatsoever of even remotely being interested in food, I know they have one more week or so to go since some kittens actively nurse until 8 weeks or 9 even I guess but seeing Marco and Medo constantly eat dry and wet food like pros and Kala turning her nose at anything that's not her mom's milk is worrying.

She isn't interested in anything, I even tried mixing dry food with cow's milk to hopefully attract her to the food since her mom goes crazy for cow's milk but we don't give it to her except very very rarely, I tried yogurt and food, yogurt alone, Milla loves yogurt and it doesn't cause problems for her, but all to no avail.

I hope I didn't mess Kala up and conditioned her to avoid food every time it's placed in front of her.

The closest she's gone to interacting with food was playing with kibble but not even remotely attempting to eat it.