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Last day for Mamba’s pop-up

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Mamba and her kittens are outgrowing the “pop-up” they’ve been living in. It’s a very nice space for them to be confined in, but we’ve been letting them out to explore, and they’re ready to be out all the time.

Part of the reason for confinement is so that we can get Mamba herself used to people. She is not super trusting, and she needed to have people close so we could convey that we were pretty safe to be around her kittens. Now that I can (usually) pet her, she can be out of confinement.

  • The pop-up, which some of the kittens learned to climb and treat like a hammock.
  • Mamba and her kittens, with a whole room to explore.

Kittens down the hall!

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Mouse and her kittens got to run down the hall, and they loved it! Mouse mostly supervised from one end – those are her ears you see in the foreground. But the kittens went nuts, galloping full-speed. George urged them on with a toy on a string, but they just loved getting up a head of steam and leaping anything in their paths.

Mixing litters

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The younger kittens live in the Jiro Palace, which is a pretty nice space for little guys. But they are old enough now to hear exciting things happening outside their area, and they really want to come out! So we often bring them out in the evenings, when they can be supervised. It’s really interesting watching them interact with the older kittens and Mouse, the other mom. After a few times out, they all ended up eating together, and it went well:

Above plate: at 9:00 and 12 are Thomas and April (Mouse’s litter); at 3:00 and 4:00 are Farley and Puck (Hazel’s litter). Lower plate: at 12:00 and 4:00 are Harlind and Pippa; at 7:00 and 9:30 are Smudge and Charlie Pie.

The younger ones mostly ignore their elders. The older kittens are interested in the younger ones, sometimes batting at them, sometimes offering to play. Mouse tolerates the alien kittens, but doesn’t hesitate to hiss and swat at them if they get too close to her. The littles seem to have a good instinct for keeping a low profile. Smudge is especially intent on being out in the big room. She loves to explore.

Hazel’s kittens getting cuter

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Hazel’s kittens still look a little scrawny and homely, but they’re definitely growing and getting cuter. I don’t think Hazel had the best nutrition when she was pregnant – and I suspect they still have some parasite activity going on. They’re very active, and very curious, but I think they might benefit from a deworming regimen.

Clockwise, starting with the little black one: Puck, Farley, Smudge, and Charlie Pie in front. They are almost eight weeks old!

Five weeks today

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Black Mamba’s kittens celebrated their fifth-week birthday by getting weighed and getting their eyes cleaned up and eye drops for their infected eyes. It’s pretty common for kittens to get crusty eyes from a virus, but these have a secondary infection that’s gluing their eyes shut, trapping a lot of pus inside. With warm salt-water and a soft cloth, I gradually soften the crustiness and get they eyes open. Then I apply a drop of antibiotic to each eye. Rinse, repeat. I will clean them up several times a day and apply the antibiotic morning and evening. They’re looking pretty homely, but they’re much cuter – and much happier – with both eyes open!

Third litter!

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There was an urgent need for someone to foster another mom and kittens coming from the same farm as Hazel. It’s not a good situation – new farm owner who was threatening to shoot all the cats. So 9 Lives Rescue got permission to go in and remove as many as they could.

So we said we’d take one more mom and babies. The all-black mom is called Black Mamba, and she has two black kittens, two black with white paws and markings, and one calico. They’re set up in a “pop-up” in our daughter’s old room. Mom’s pretty thin, and the babies are a pretty scrawny lot, but they’ve landed in a better place now. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Three is going to be a lot, but at least these are already born! They were born on May 3, so they’re already five weeks old. I believe it, because they are walking well – strong on their legs – but they’re awfully little for 5 weeks.

Vet day

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Everyone is back from the vet and doing well. Today Mouse and her kittens were spayed or neutered. It is remarkable how minimal the procedure is these days. Incisions are very small and recovery time is quick. They were happy to be home. The kittens pretty quickly assumed normal activities: lurking and pouncing on each other, battling bits of paper, and chasing anything that moved. In addition they had the carriers to play in, especially the soft-sided one that collapsed and made a great tunnel to play on and in.

Mouse was a bit more concerned, and kept talking to them and checking on them and licking them when they can within range. Normally their response is, “Oh, mom, don’t fuss,” but today they responded a little more warmly. I think they felt comforted – and it’s possible they were also comforting her.

They say keep the cat quiet, after spaying or neutering, but even the vets acknowledge the impossibility of keeping kittens quiet! We thought about confining them to the dog cage, but decided they’d get into more trouble if confined. Climbing up the sides is NOT the ideal activity.

Thomas takes his prize to a special spot to play with. Mouse checks on him and gets a gratifying response.
Pippa gets April’s neck band, and Mouse stops to check on her as well.

Two of the kittens had been given neckbands with their names on. The three tabbies, and especially Thomas and April, are hard to tell apart, so those two got labelled. When they got home I took the labels off. Thomas thought his was a great prize and carried it off, and Pippa took April’s.

Another great prize was the disposable liner they put in the carrier. Thomas grabbed it by one corner and whipped it out. All three tabbies had fun playing with it, wrestling with it and with each other.