Cat update

[conuly]

She moved them upstairs after one too many visits from the nieces. I was going to do that if she didn't, for the same reason.

I would've picked a better spot than the well overcrowded yarn room, though. The first place she picked was surrounded by such precarious stacks of boxes of yarn (and books!) that it was actually unsafe, and I spent half an hour clearing the boxes out. But then she felt they weren't hidden enough (because they were no longer hidden at all, although just getting in that room is a challenge) and moved them again. And now they're actually inaccessible for the moment. I mean, I could move all the boxes out of the way, but I figured I'd give her a day. I want to make sure I've cut off all unacceptable locations first!

Now, every time I post about the kittens you guys give me scads of advice, and while I appreciate it (and a lot of what you say is helpful and stuff I either don't know or hadn't remembered, it being a while since we've had a cat for any long term), I do want to let you know that I actually know a lot about cats and kittens, both through lots and lots of reading and personal observation. (In my middle school years, certainly, I felt (rightly or wrongly) that my understanding of cat behavior and body language far outstripped my understanding of human behavior and body language*, but this is because cats make sense.)

The nieces love nothing more than opening a can of food for the cat. This cat prefers dry food, which ought to be NO PROBLEM but I like the nieces to feel they can help out. So I went out today and bought a week's worth of little cans instead of the big cans we'd been using. Used the chance to a. get a higher quality cat food (now, THAT is something I urgently need advice on!) b. talk to the cat adoption people in case I fail to find five (!) homes for these kittens when they hit three months and c. snag a box top (for education!) from the box of hefty bags on the table. Yes, I do ask total strangers if they need those. (And yes, you can mail some to me and I'll pay for the stamps!)

Of course, the real problem with having a cat is that once you saved one pregnant kitty you start seeing cats everywhere that could use your help. I've had no luck re-tracking down the 3-legged one. Ana saw a mama cat with her three semi-feral kittens the other day, about four months, and asked if I could help them too (I'd like to, they're at an age where it's still easy enough to acclimate them to humans and it won't harm them to remove them from their mom, but I had nothing to lure them and they wouldn't come near. At least they seemed healthy). And it gets ridiculous. I really couldn't bring one or four new cats into the house. I still haven't worked out where I'm shifting the ones I've got! And all the shelters have waiting lists, and waiting lists for their foster owners too. There are cats all over the place. I'm starting to remember now why I gave up on the whole having cats concept. I could easily become the crazy cat lady, and this block already HAS a cat lady. (I need to talk to her about these kittens. She'll know the cheapest place to get their shots done, and is better able to find homes for cats than I've ever been.)

Anyway, you don't want to hear this, you want to hear how cute they are. The answer? Very, and they all have their eyes opening. One has them ALL the way open!

*It's important to remember that cats, even if you intend them to live in a one-cat household for their entire lives, need to be socialized with other cats as kittens. When I hear people talking about giving away kittens at two months, or six weeks (which is positively criminal and there is NO justification for), I get so mad. Kittens are in the most danger during the weaning period, health-wise, and they need those last months to learn how to act as cats. They shouldn't be separated from their mothers at that age unless there is a truly compelling reason to do so and it can't be avoided. Cats that aren't socialized properly or aren't weaned properly will show any number of behavior problems, and even if YOU think it's cute that your cat chews on all your shirts while sitting on your lap, it's not. It's sad.

Of course, all pet animals have to be socialized from a young age with humans as well, so they can be bilingual in a way (except for the lingual part - and yes, this is why, if you're saving a wild animal, you should give it to the trained professional who knows how to raise it so it doesn't get too attached!), but they still need adequate time with their mother and littermates to grow properly.

Sorry for the rant there, I'm sure you all know this already, but there are so many people who think kittens are adoptable when they're still just babies, not even, like, preschooler kittens! And it's not right.

Comments

[conuly]

Not much use now, but cats won't generally abandon their litters just because of human meddling. Sometimes very young cats will, but then their care is likely to be haphazard and bad anyway. If you find a bunch of kittens in a place where you simply can't HAVE kittens, you can usually put them in a box and, when Mom shows up again, move the whole lot out to a more acceptable place. She'll still care for them (probably move them, but not back into wherever-it-was you couldn't have them), and you'll know none are left behind.

[leora.livejournal.com]

There was no easy way for us to get in and search in there either. It was too much a pile of stuff and we weren't generally supposed to go into it, because it was considered dangerous. But since it was a feral cat, we figured we could encourage the mother to move the kittens by making it clear she was discovered, which did work. We only went in, because after she moved all of the kittens and had been gone for a bit, we heard a tiny meow and realized one had been left behind.