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Tiny steps but important ones
6/4/09 12:33 pmFirst of all, here's a picture from Monday, when the babies came indoors...
Left to right, that's Xena the Warrior Princess, Cap'n Jack with the little white blaze, and Mohawk, so named because we clipped a little mohawk on her head so we can tell her from Xena. I know it looks like an amorphous black ball of fur with three heads, but believe me, it's actually 3 kittens. To refresh, Mohawk and Xena are females, Cap'n Jack is male. He's also the littlest one, and the most timid.
I have a plate of Kitten Chow in there all the time, and fresh water, but twice a day I bring in The Good Food -- right now it's finely chopped leftover roast chicken with a bit of broth mixed in to wet it well. Everyone gets held and hand fed a little bit, then they're allowed to eat from the plate, but they must also be gently stroked while eating.
After eating The Good Food, playtime with the kitty teaser (a bunch of fabric strips on a stick) is de rigueur. The first time they all just sat and stared at it in fear, but two days later they now play actively with it, especially Cap'n Jack.
Generally I sit cross legged on the floor, the plate in front of me, and croon to them until they come up and eat. It usually takes a good 15 min before they'll come up. This morning they came up in 5 min, and didn't even glance worriedly at me once their heads were in the plate. The breakthrough though is that they crawled over my feet to get to the plate!
Playtime with the kitty teaser (aka the Cat Hootling Device -- you hootle their butts with it as they waddle away while saying "hootle hootle hootle butt!" -- they love it) was much fun, too -- lots of rearing up on hind legs, pouncing at it, twisting heads upside down. Cap'n Jack is brave enough to grab the end and gnaw it while looking cutely at me.
They're coming along well. I can't wait for the day they come bouncing out to greet us when we come in with food or just to play!
Left to right, that's Xena the Warrior Princess, Cap'n Jack with the little white blaze, and Mohawk, so named because we clipped a little mohawk on her head so we can tell her from Xena. I know it looks like an amorphous black ball of fur with three heads, but believe me, it's actually 3 kittens. To refresh, Mohawk and Xena are females, Cap'n Jack is male. He's also the littlest one, and the most timid.
I have a plate of Kitten Chow in there all the time, and fresh water, but twice a day I bring in The Good Food -- right now it's finely chopped leftover roast chicken with a bit of broth mixed in to wet it well. Everyone gets held and hand fed a little bit, then they're allowed to eat from the plate, but they must also be gently stroked while eating.
After eating The Good Food, playtime with the kitty teaser (a bunch of fabric strips on a stick) is de rigueur. The first time they all just sat and stared at it in fear, but two days later they now play actively with it, especially Cap'n Jack.
Generally I sit cross legged on the floor, the plate in front of me, and croon to them until they come up and eat. It usually takes a good 15 min before they'll come up. This morning they came up in 5 min, and didn't even glance worriedly at me once their heads were in the plate. The breakthrough though is that they crawled over my feet to get to the plate!
Playtime with the kitty teaser (aka the Cat Hootling Device -- you hootle their butts with it as they waddle away while saying "hootle hootle hootle butt!" -- they love it) was much fun, too -- lots of rearing up on hind legs, pouncing at it, twisting heads upside down. Cap'n Jack is brave enough to grab the end and gnaw it while looking cutely at me.
They're coming along well. I can't wait for the day they come bouncing out to greet us when we come in with food or just to play!
