# kittens help please



## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

sorry if this seems long but best I say the whole story. 

5 weeks ago a cat wandered into my daughters house, she was sat on the top of the freezer the weekend I stayed over. she has 2 cats and 2 dogs so asked if ok to feed her. yeah course she said. she ate like it was the first food in a while. she came back for the next 3 nights for food. on the 4th night she just stayed. we took her to the vets to get her checked out, she told us she was around 12 months old and was having kittens and could give birth within the next 2 weeks with perhaps 2/3 kittens. we were due to go on hols 3 weeks later so she took her to her dads who said he would care for her while we were away. in the end she went 5 weeks and had 5 kittens. now my question is, the kittens are now a week old, at what age can we move them to my house. I have more time and am about more to help them but dont want to do anything that will endanger either mum or the kittens. she is a lovely cat and seems to be a great mum.

we did find a message posted on the net regarding a missing tortie which sounded so much like slinky, missing within 2 miles of debs home (thats wot we called her cos of the way she was when she arrived) but they never replied to our text or email. their loss sad to say cos she is such a lovely lady.

thanks for any help you can give.


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## kateyblue (Aug 2, 2008)

Hi Lesley, as long as you move them all together in a box maybe, and keep them warm you can move them now
Just keep mum in for a few days with a litter tray and they should all be fine



Btw welcome to the forum


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## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

thanks so much for the quick response hun, hopefully gonna bring them all here on Wednesday then, its only a 5 min drive away so fingers crossed all will be good. hubby is at home with them till then and I will have finished my night shift so will be here for 4 days.

think I might just gonna be asking loads more stuff on here cos I know nothing about trying to wean kittens. been there with my dog about 15 years ago but I spose kittens are a totally different thing.


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## lauren001 (Jun 30, 2008)

She might get a bit worried if you move her now, cats can just desert their kittens if stressed and you would be left with 5 to hand rear. She has never been to your place so she might get very stressed indeed.
I personally would leave well alone until they are say 3-4 weeks old or even older.
When you move them take all the old bedding with them so at least something is familiar.


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## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

thanks for the reply hun.

she appears to have taken a shine to me maybe cos I was the one that found her and fed her. been to see her a good few times and hubby said she appears to come and look for me when I have left. I just dont want to do anything that will distress her cos she is such a sweetie.

he bought a new large bedding basket which I would be bringing here.


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## kateyblue (Aug 2, 2008)

lauren001 said:


> She might get a bit worried if you move her now, cats can just desert their kittens if stressed and you would be left with 5 to hand rear. She has never been to your place so she might get very stressed indeed.
> I personally would leave well alone until they are say 3-4 weeks old or even older.
> When you move them take all the old bedding with them so at least something is familiar.


What rubbish, people move kittens all the time without repercussions
Lesley if the mother is happy enough with you go for it!


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## Siamese Kelly (Jan 6, 2008)

Hi Lesley and welcome to you and new mum Debs,agree with KatyB on this,i'm sure mum and kitts will be just fine,looking forward to hearing how she and they get on


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## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

quick update.

moved slinky and the kittens last Thursday afternoon. everything went good. had a small problem with mum not using the cat litter tray and going into my bathroom and using my bath towel instead  soon sorted, rang hubby and he brought the litter tray she had used at his and no probs from then on. mine is blue so must have a cat with attitude.  she is so good with them for such a young cat

all the kits eyes are now fully open and they are starting to wobble round the bed they are in so I dont think it will be long before they are climbing out and having a look around.

next task I spose is the weaning and the litter training, lets hope they are as co-operative as mum. 

I think I have 4 girls and 1 boy. 4 torties and 1 ginger. the ginger being the boy


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## rottiesloveragdolls (Nov 2, 2007)

*aww thats brilliant news well done  *


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## Biawhiska (Mar 28, 2008)

Great news  Nice happy little family, glad the cat found you!!!!!!!


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## bee112 (Apr 12, 2008)

aww how lovely.. when can we see pics?!


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

awww yes pics please,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


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## Saikou (Apr 2, 2008)

Congratulations on your new little family, they sound wonderful. Mum fell on her paws when she wandered into your daughters, you saved her babies. Imagine if she had been forced to give birth outside with no one taking care of her or her babies.


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## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

will try and post pics tomorrow. they are all sweeties. ginger is def the largest. mum seems to be getting a tad cross with them at times, they cry and she screams even louder, oh wot fun. she is still good though, they cry and she cleans and feeds. dunno if maybe time I should be doing something to wean them.


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## Soupie (Sep 2, 2008)

So glad all is working out - she definitely picked the right people!


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

lesley said:


> dunno if maybe time I should be doing something to wean them.


No no certainly not - their Mum will wean them when she is ready to. They're only three weeks aren't they?

Liz


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## Selk67U2 (May 5, 2008)

*I start to wean kittens from 3 weeks, I leave a bowl of kitten biscuit near them, quite often mam will eat it, but the kittens will copy her and start to try it I also offer them bits of raw mince beef, some snatch it off your finger at that age.*


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Selk67U2 said:


> *I start to wean kittens from 3 weeks, I leave a bowl of kitten biscuit near them, quite often mam will eat it, but the kittens will copy her and start to try it I also offer them bits of raw mince beef, some snatch it off your finger at that age.*


All mine do at three weeks - and often even four weeks - is walk straight through the food dish!

Liz


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## Selk67U2 (May 5, 2008)

*Yea, well they all do that, it's normal kitten/puppy behaviour, but they still eat it, even if they are standing in it*


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Selk67U2 said:


> *Yea, well they all do that, it's normal kitten/puppy behaviour, but they still eat it, even if they are standing in it*


Mine don't, perhaps it depends on the breed - I hardly ever have one that will eat any solids before four weeks. Even the litter I had to hand rear recently wouldn't, and I would have expected them to be really hungry. In fact they were five weeks before they would try anything solid at all. Mind you, they have made up for it since! 

Liz


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## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

hope I did this right. only managed to get a couple then the battery went flat on the camera. lol will try again tomorrow.

they are now all climbing in and out of the basket. a couple will go over to the food dishes but arent attempting to eat anything yet but then they are only 4 weeks old today.


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## Selk67U2 (May 5, 2008)

*Awww, Lesley, they are gorgeous*


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## Rraa (Apr 15, 2008)

aaawww - so sweeeeet!!!


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Little sweethearts! Ginger is gorgeous! good luck with them. I think 3 to 4 weeks is about right to start weaning them. I had a moggy years ago and her kittens were ready to join her at the food bowl about then. She used to bring live mice or birds in for them when they were a bit older!  Hope you can find good homes for them all later.


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## lesley (Sep 18, 2008)

thanks for the comments, really appreciate it.

they have just started to eat the scrambled egg and carnation milk recipe I got off here, was so funny watching them, ginger thought it would be a good idea to walk all over it first. mum enjoyed cleaning him up though.


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## Biawhiska (Mar 28, 2008)

ahhhh beautiful kittens


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