At two weeks of age I became the parent to two baby kittens,
if you can call them kittens. I prefer to think of them as
simply babies. They were so tiny both because of their age.
Both babies are female. I named them Joli and Molli. Joli is
calico with dark blue/gray eyes. Molli is orange/blonde with
light crystal blue eyes. I always use names that end with the
letter I. This is probably due to my name which ends with the
letter I as well, Vicki. Joli and Molli were strays found in
my mother's neighborhood. The birth mother is calico and had a
litter of 7 babies, as far as we know. She gave birth in a
tree and only brought her litter down after their eyes had
opened. According to research, kittens eyes open around 2
weeks of age.
I stopped at the Pet store for formula and bottles. Every few
hours I fed them. At this age, two weeks old, they really
didn't understand the bottle and I squeezed the bottle gently
until formula dropped into their mouths encouraging them to
drink. They did not like the store-bought formula at all and
would not eat. I started to worry about them and decided to
just let motherhood take over. They are very similar to a
human baby so I would treat them like one. I knew how to take
care of a child then I surly could take care of a kitten.
I gave them half/half creamer that I buy for my coffee. It is
organic and has no added ingredients. I warmed it up and
poured it into the bottles. The kittens loved it and drank
right away. I continued to do this for several days until I
felt I could introduce the formula again. I added a little
formula at first to the creamer and increased it as they were
accepting of it.
Each week changes occurred showing me they were growing and
becoming actual kittens. When I first brought them home they
would stay wherever I placed them with very little movement.
They also slept a lot. They even fell asleep while drinking
from the bottle.
We turned my bathtub into the nursery. I filled it with baby
blankets that they could snuggle with. At this age they are
unable to regulate their body temperature and need to be kept
warm. At two weeks of age the kittens are trying to focus and
pretty much just stare. They don't really react to sounds yet
and do not move around very fast. They are just like a human
baby.
Our next hurdle was using the bathroom. I had no idea they
needed help with this. After feeding them and feeding them
without seeing results come out I started getting concerned. I
used a cue tip and gently massaged them until I started to see
pee. This was a highlight during my day, I was so excited
because this signified they were OK. One more step to
kittenhood achieved.
We went from ½ of a bottle to them downing an entire baby
bottle (4 tbsp) at a time by just over 3 weeks of age. Just
like babies, the kittens were having side effects of the
formula. One had loose stool and the other constipated. I
adjusted the mixture again until I had it agreeable to each.
Now 3 weeks old the kittens are more aware of their
surrounding. They notice toys even though they still don't
know how to play with them. They are walking around better and
only losing their balance a few times compared to taking a few
steps and falling over at just under 3 weeks of age. Molli is
trying to nurse off my dog Jacki but she is spayed. They have
become friends and Jacki has started mothering them. She makes
sure they stay in the correct room I put them in and cleans
them. She also patrols their bed when Alli, our cat, comes
around. This is interesting to watch since my dog has never
had a litter.
At just over 4 weeks of age the kittens are now eating solid
foods. They eat pieces of cheese and a little lunch meat,
turkey. They still drink bottles though.
They have started tearing the nipples apart on the bottles
indicating to me they are almost ready to drink from a bowl. I
did attempt to give them formula from the bowl but they still
snort it and cough. I brought out the spoon and simply poured
a drop at a time into their mouths which they did drink. While
feeding them bottles, if they attempt to chew on the nipple, I
simple remove the bottle from their mouth and re-insert it
until they decide to drink.
Several changes have taken place during their fourth week. The
kittens are now running around, aware of sounds, learning to
climb, and actually playing with toys. Another change that
occurred at the just over 4 weeks is learning to scratch the
paper after using the bathroom. In the past the kittens would
just relieve themselves without really knowing what to do. We
used newspaper since they would eat the litter mix too. Last
night was the first time that I saw them scratch the paper in
trying to hide their waste.
My new babies are almost real kittens now. I miss them needing
me but am glad they are perfectly healthy and developing
normally.
Thanks for joining me on this out of the ordinary motherhood
experience. I currently mother two human children, two
tortoises, 2 baby kittens, and a dog. It is very rewarding
seeing babies transform into adults. For more about me visit
http://www.vickistoughlove.com and check out my other articles
on ezine articles.
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