Kitten Watch Part 5: 4 Weeks Old

Daisy.

Daisy's kittens will be 4 weeks old on the 29th March. This means we will split them from mum during meal times to encourage the kittens to start exploring eating on their own. Mum will go in a pen above and get some well earned peace and quiet to eat her food and relax without the kittens. The kittens will be given mashed up kitten food (sometimes with a drop of warm water in) to see if they are interested in eating solids. The 4 kittens have already started putting their paws into mummas food so we think they will be eating solo in no time!

Dewi

 All 4 kittens have been wandering about their pen, drinking water from a bowl and learning to play with their toys. They also love to play with each other, learning new social skills such a 'bite inhibition' which helps sets boundaries during play time - see the video below:



Daffodil

Emma

 

Eira



 

All the kittens personalities are starting to shine through. Eira is the confident one, as soon as the pen door opens she waddles on over to see what's going on. Emma is the scaredy cat but she is also the smallest out of the 4. Dewi is the lazy, laid back kitten and Daffodil is a total mummy's girl, she is often found with Daisy's paw wrapped around her for some cwtches! 

 

The next week is a huge step for the kittens, getting a feel for what life without mummy around will be! We can't wait to document them adapting and see how much they grow and change.

 



 

Daisy is currently our sponsor cat and you can help contribute towards the cost of caring for Daisy, her kittens and other unwanted cats by becoming a Cats Protection sponsor, to get started, please visit here

Alternatively you can make a one off donation to our kitten appeal at http://bit.ly/2GDxM7P or by texting BRKW48 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070. 

 Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care.  Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK.  A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years!   For help with neutering your cat, please click here

Watch this space for our next kitten watch blog!

 

Kitten Watch Part 4, Daisy, a purrfect mum!

Daisy’s kittens are now 2 weeks old and it’s a pleasure to watch her tending her fast growing cuties with a total devotion to their needs. She is very chatty with them and quickly responds to their calls with soft meows and reassuring chirps.

 

All cat admitted into our care are vaccinated before leaving the centre and Daisy is no exception.  She saw the vet again this week during our weekly vet run, she was a very brave girl when she had her vaccination which will cover her for cat flu, infectious feline enteritis and feline leukaemia.  To find out more about the importance of getting your cat vaccinated please click here

Daffodil, Emma, Dewi and Eire have more than double in size and are growing at a very quick rate gaining around 10 grams a day. Their fur is getting very fluffy, they have the curtest of whiskers and the tiniest of nails.  Cat whiskers are filled with very sensitive nerves, they help cats judge distance, and space, feel their way around in the dark and to sense vibrations in the air when hunting. Their ears are almost fully erect and they are starting to respond to sound.  

 

Daffodil, has cute whiskers and tiny nails

 

The kitten’s eyes are now open completely but their vision will still be blurred.  Their eyes are a lovely deep blue colour as all young kittens are at this age, they will change to their adult colour by the age of 6 weeks.  Their baby incisors are starting to come through, their sense of smell is starting to develop, and they will hiss at strange smells.

 

Eire's eyes are open but her vision is still blurred

The kittens are more mobile and are starting to crawl away from Daisy, they are also more aware of their siblings and starting to interact with each other.  All in all, they are a total bunch of absolute cuteness!

 



 

 

You can help contribute towards the cost of caring for Daisy, her kittens and other unwanted cats by becoming a Cats Protection sponsor, to get started, please visit here

Alternatively you can make a one off donation to our kitten appeal at http://bit.ly/2GDxM7P or by texting BRKW48 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070. 

 Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care.  Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK.  A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years!   For help with neutering your cat, please click here

Watch this space for our next kitten watch blog!

 

Kitten Watch Part 3, Daisy's kittens have names!

We can’t believe Daisy’s kittens are 1 week old already!  All 4 kittens are thriving thanks to the devoted care and attention of Daisy, who is proving to be a wonderful mum.  Daisy herself is enjoying motherhood and is looking very proud of herself, she loves showing off her kittens and sometimes seems to have a bit of a self satisfied smile, especially when she’s cwtching (cuddling) her kittens.

Daisy cwtching (cuddling) one of her kittens
 

The moment we were really excited about was naming the kittens, we had lots of suggestions on our facebook page and after much deliberation we settled on names to represent the different events which took part on the 1^st March.  The names we have chosen are Dewi for the male, this is welsh for David to represent St David’s Day.  For the females we chose Emma to represent the storm they were born in, Eira (welsh for snow) as we had plenty of it on the day and finally Daffodil to represent the first day of spring.

Dewi, Emma, Eira and Daffodil (Left to right)
 

Daisy and the kittens have all had vet checks and been declared fit and healthy.  The kittens are very forward for their age, they are already well grown, their eyes started to open at just 4 days of age, and ears are starting to stand upright.  Their fur is starting to grow and they are crawling around, we think Daisy is going her paws full with them in a couple of weeks’ time!

Daffodil having her vet check
 

Keeping 4 growing kittens fed has given Daisy a really big appetite so we are feeding her adlib, this means that she doesn’t have scheduled feeds but has access to good quality kitten biscuits/meat at all times.  She is having kitten food as it is more nutritious than adult food so this will give her the extra nutrient she needs to keep herself and her kittens healthy.  We also make sure that she access to fresh drinking water at all times and plenty of toys, although her favourite past time at the moment is just chilling with and looking after her kittens.

Daisy enjoying chilling with her kittens

You can help contribute towards the cost of caring for Daisy, her kittens and other unwanted cats by becoming a Cats Protection sponsor, to get started, please visit here

Alternatively you can make a one off donation to our kitten appeal at http://bit.ly/2GDxM7P or by texting BRKW48 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070. 
 

Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care.  Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK.  A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years!   For help with neutering your cat, please click here

Watch this space for our next kitten watch blog!

Kitten Watch, Sponsor Cat Daisy Gives Birth!

The weather might be confused as to when spring is starting but Daisy, the star of our kitten watch had no doubt in her mind the 1^st March was the first day of Spring!   As the grounds at the centre were being covered in a blanket of snow and the wind was howling outside, she was calmly giving birth to her kittens.  Daisy went into labour at 8 am in the morning just as several team members who had braved the weather arrived at the centre, and soon after gave birth to her first kitten. 

The secret of being a good midwife with cats is to watch quietly and not to disturb or make them anxious.  From watching Daisy we soon realised that she had everything under control, this was a big relief as the last thing we wanted to do was to travel her to the vets in the freezing cold conditions.

The birth of each kitten takes around 30 minutes, this was the case with Daisy for her first 3 kittens, as each one was born she would lick the kitten to clean it and encourage it to breath.  Daisy seemed to settle after the first 3 kittens but she wasn’t quite done, a couple of hours later she gave birth to her 4^th and final kitten.

Daisy licking one of her kittens clean

Daisy is a very relaxed mum and soon her kittens were all dry, clean, settled and suckling contentedly on her.  We were very glad all the kittens were feeding well as the first milk Daisy produces is colostrum, this is rich with antibodies and will help kittens fight against diseases.  Kittens can only absorb colostrum during the first 16 – 24 hours of life and need to feed within 2 hours of birth, we all gave a big sigh of relief when this hurdle was over.  The kittens will now feed every 2 – 3 hours until they are around 2 weeks old

Daisy settled with her kittens

Kittens are born with their eyes shut and ear canal closed so they are blind and deaf, this doesn’t stop them developing a really close bond with their mum.  You would think that after seeing 100’s of mums give birth at the centre over the years we would be immune to the charm of watching what an amazing bond mums have with their kittens, but this is something which never gets old.

Kittens are born blind and deaf

The kittens can’t regulate their body temperature at this age, they will depend on Daisy and litter mates to keep warm.  Fortunately we have under floor heating in our pens so they are nice and cosy, although we did have a bit of a scare this morning when the power went off.  Thankfully a call to the power distribution board to explain the situation and how important it was for us to have power due to the number of cats in our care soon saw the situation resolved and we could all breath another sigh of relief. 

A couple of last interesting facts about kittens is that they are all born with blue eyes, these change colour around 6 weeks of age. They also need help pottying, the mum licks them to stimulate them to go to the toilet after meals, they are generally ready to begin litter training around 4 weeks of age.

You can help contribute towards the cost of caring for Daisy, her kittens and other wanted cats by becoming a Cats Protection sponsor, to get started, please visit here
Alternatively you can make a one off donation to our kitten appeal at http://bit.ly/2GDxM7P or by texting BRKW48 followed by £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070. 

Daisy is one of the lucky cats who has found her way into our care, sadly every year many cats give birth out doors with no proper shelter and care.  Although we all love seeing mums with kittens at the centre, we would always advocate getting cats neutered as this is the only effective way to reduce unwanted cats in the UK.  A fact which surprises everyone is that one female cat can be responsible for a staggering 20,000 descendants in just five years!   For help with neutering your cat, please click here

Watch this space for our next kitten watch blog!