# Feral Kittens



## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

Hi, just wondering on your thoughts etc:

Recently 2 kittens were found at one of our plants (warehouse in middle of nowhere) One of the truck drivers brough the kittens to me and they were covered in an oily substance and are very young (around 3 - 4 weeks) after a bath and feeding on kitten milk for a week they are both doing really well. 

Do you think they will remain wild and stressed or is there a good chance they will just accept domestcated life in time?

I have had mixed answers so would be interested in what you guys think, if need be ill find them a farm type home once they have been beutered etc but ideally i would like to keep them?


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

Hey Dax, we have an ex feral cat, she was trapped and vaccinated etc before we got her and we re-housed / rescued her and she is great she is very timid towards strangers but completely fine with me and the OH unless we move to fast.

When we first got her she hid for around 2 months and would only feed wen we were asleep but now she will sit on our knees happily and get lots of attention. 

This is of course my experience and "Piper" was an adult cat at the time of being trapped etc so slightly different than having 2 feral kittens. let me no wot u decide, if u struggle to find a home or u dont want to keep them both let me no as we have been thinkin bout getting another cat for a while now.

Dan


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

i advise moving this to the cat section 
they will be somewhat 'wild' from not having their mother at the most important stage of their lives.
I have fostered kittens, and kept 3 of them, one of which lost his mum very young, and because of this, he is a little sod
/ somewhat feral.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

Darth_Vandal87 said:


> Hey Dax, we have an ex feral cat, she was trapped and vaccinated etc before we got her and we re-housed / rescued her and she is great she is very timid towards strangers but completely fine with me and the OH unless we move to fast.
> 
> When we first got her she hid for around 2 months and would only feed wen we were asleep but now she will sit on our knees happily and get lots of attention.
> 
> ...


 
hey dan!

there both doing really well, the little boy jumps and hisses everytime you try to get near him but will tolerate a cuddle and picking up if he comes to you, the little girl is lovely, she comes to you, lets you pick her up etc and is much more tolerant. As i speak there taring round the living room trying to kill my other cat who is very tolerant to them thankfully!


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

dax said:


> hey dan!
> 
> there both doing really well, the little boy jumps and hisses everytime you try to get near him but will tolerate a cuddle and picking up if he comes to you, the little girl is lovely, she comes to you, lets you pick her up etc and is much more tolerant. As i speak there taring round the living room trying to kill my other cat who is very tolerant to them thankfully!


Heya 
Awww am glad they are doing ok am sure with lots of love n attention they will do gr8. Wot were they covered in oil or sumfin? poor things i take it they are both in gud health as they were found quite soonish?

Awwwww just thort id let u no my nic boa struck fed from me tonyt after like 30 secs or so soooo pleased ive almost finished doin his viv out now as well just need the new bulb n sum more foliage and im done 

Hows u neways ?


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

freekygeeky said:


> i advise moving this to the cat section
> they will be somewhat 'wild' from not having their mother at the most important stage of their lives.
> I have fostered kittens, and kept 3 of them, one of which lost his mum very young, and because of this, he is a little sod
> / somewhat feral.


 
hhi, i do have a nine month old female who is grat with them. they are using teh litter tray and follow her around so im hoping they will learn a lot from her. I know she cant feed them etc but to me leaving them with their mother wasnt really an option, the "locals" drown the kittens as and when they find them as apprently the place is over ran with feral cats. the nearest villagey place is about 2 miles away and the general belief is that its kinder not to have more wild cats running around un neutered etc, whisch in a way i agree with although i think the cpl or rspca should do a sweep of the area to cath and neuter the cats would be a little less barbaric than drowing kittens!

I called the rspca but theyweer not really interested. there is one kitten remaining and i requested they go and see and they said they could over next few weeks :bash:


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

dax said:


> hhi, i do have a nine month old female who is grat with them. they are using teh litter tray and follow her around so im hoping they will learn a lot from her. I know she cant feed them etc but to me leaving them with their mother wasnt really an option, the "locals" drown the kittens as and when they find them as apprently the place is over ran with feral cats. the nearest villagey place is about 2 miles away and the general belief is that its kinder not to have more wild cats running around un neutered etc, whisch in a way i agree with although i think the cpl or rspca should do a sweep of the area to cath and neuter the cats would be a little less barbaric than drowing kittens!
> 
> I called the rspca but theyweer not really interested. there is one kitten remaining and i requested they go and see and they said they could over next few weeks :bash:



did you not go and get it yourself? you left one?


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

dax said:


> hhi, i do have a nine month old female who is grat with them. they are using teh litter tray and follow her around so im hoping they will learn a lot from her. I know she cant feed them etc but to me leaving them with their mother wasnt really an option, the "locals" drown the kittens as and when they find them as apprently the place is over ran with feral cats. the nearest villagey place is about 2 miles away and the general belief is that its kinder not to have more wild cats running around un neutered etc, whisch in a way i agree with although i think the cpl or rspca should do a sweep of the area to cath and neuter the cats would be a little less barbaric than drowing kittens!
> 
> I called the rspca but theyweer not really interested. there is one kitten remaining and i requested they go and see and they said they could over next few weeks :bash:


Its such a shame ppl drown them its horrible, and i agree they shud if they cud do a sweep of areas like that which are populated by a lot of feral cats etc and OMG if i could drive id go now to make sure the kitten is ok rather than them taking weeks to get to it.

Dan


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

awww and u will have to post up sum pics of the kittens hun


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

ill put some up now


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

freekygeeky said:


> did you not go and get it yourself? you left one?


please tell me you didnt..


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

dont worry its with the mother and i have people trying to catch them both. I would never have left it! these two were on their own when found and its only the last few days we even knew there was a mother!

these guys were delivered to me, in a box, to my office by a lorry driver!


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

dax said:


> dont worry its with the mother and i have people trying to catch them both. I would never have left it! these two were on their own when found and its only the last few days we even knew there was a mother!
> 
> these guys were delivered to me, in a box, to my office by a lorry driver!


a ha! ok, i wwas going to say the other will definitely die in this cold, alone.
go to the RSPCA blue cross etc and get a cage/ trap.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

have asked rspca and they will go in a few weeks. the guys askedthem to take kittens initially but they said a few weeks. cpl are calling me back about traps, that was 4 days ago and they have both my mobile numbers and my office and home phone and nothing as yet. 

im hoping that they will be found like these two and not crushed by forklifts etc, these were in a pallet being moved, thats the only way they were found


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

dax said:


> have asked rspca and they will go in a few weeks. the guys askedthem to take kittens initially but they said a few weeks. cpl are calling me back about traps, that was 4 days ago and they have both my mobile numbers and my office and home phone and nothing as yet.
> 
> im hoping that they will be found like these two and not crushed by forklifts etc, these were in a pallet being moved, thats the only way they were found


Yeah i hope they get found as well keep us posted hun


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)




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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*little boy bathed*


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*little girl bathed*


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

oh gwad! CUTE!


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*after a few days*


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*ten mins ago .....*


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

oh god they are stunning, what are you feeding them?
have they been to a vet yet?


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

have seen my vet and no obvious signs of illness but maybe the little girl is slightly blind or has a prob focusing but, she been in dark warehouse since birth so not worried! there on kitten milk now but were stealing my cats food so also eating complete kitten food dampened and loving it! was a bit of a nightmare at first as they were only sucking so were being fed from syringe..... they went to bowl of milk on their own so i was over the moon!


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## Crab Man (Oct 3, 2009)

dax said:


> image


Naawww :flrt::flrt:

I agree with what you said in your first post. If it was me they'd definitely be for keeps. They're well cute. Well done to you for the progress you've made with them and best of luck with them in the future : victory:


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## TonyToca (Oct 6, 2010)

I found a couple like that!


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## steve d (Aug 9, 2009)

dax said:


> Hi, just wondering on your thoughts etc:
> 
> Recently 2 kittens were found at one of our plants (warehouse in middle of nowhere) One of the truck drivers brough the kittens to me and they were covered in an oily substance and are very young (around 3 - 4 weeks) after a bath and feeding on kitten milk for a week they are both doing really well.
> 
> ...


you should have a better chance of them being a calm domesticated animal if you,ve got them as kittens, ive had loads in the past from a huge local pig farm,myself and one of the night hands that worked there saved quite a few as the farmer himself wanted them dead,even some adults calmed although they were always wary of people


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

wow there gorgeous !!

I so hope these guys settle in and are ok

This is def the end of pets now though.... def no more animals ..........


ever

ever .........:whistling2:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Looking at the size of them I would say they are about 6 weeks old The ear size and placement is wrong also for a 3-4 week old kitten at that age they have tiny ears still reasonably on the side of their head. Those ears belong to a kitten well over 3-4 weeks. Also the eye colour is already beginning to change - they're blue until the kitten is about 6-8 weeks old and then they go a kind of muddy brown colour and don't get to their permanent colour until they're nearer 10-12 weeks, so I would say those kittens are easily 6 weeks old.

To be honest I wouldn't feed them kitten milk - it's a complimentary food, not a nourishing one. If you want to feed them milk you would do better to just buy Carnation and dilute it 1:1 with water. What they need now is a good quality kitten food to nourish them.

The socialisation age for kittens is 5-12 weeks, so if you work hard with them now, there's no reason to suppose that they won't 'tame' down. They may never be as 'outgoing' as a home breed kitten, but you've a good chance of turning them into house pets. Also the fact that you have an older cat is excellent, because she can teach them how to be cats instead of them ending up too humanised by having no mother to teach them.

I hope you can get a trap from CP and catch the mum and other kitten. Then maybe you could get the mother neutered and start getting the kitten tamed - the longer it is with its mother at this age the harder it will be to tame it down.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

hi, the kitten milk is a formula for orphaned kittens, I thought they were older when i first got them but they had no idea how to lap etc so i thought they must just be big for their age. Your right in what you say about the big cat, ihave seen such a difference in them since they have met her, they tare round teh room with her and are using a litter tray and now follow her to the food/water bowls etc. sher plays with them and has started to clean them. because they are mostly white they still look dirty but dont want to bath them too often, i just wanted to get the oily stuff off them.

Thanks for your comments and fingers crossed for mum and other baby. If i go tthe mother i dont know what i could do other than get her neutred and maybe find her a farm home or something. Its not ideal where they are with big machinery in and out etc apparently there are lots of fatalities with kittens etc


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

dax said:


> hi, the kitten milk is a formula for orphaned kittens, I thought they were older when i first got them but they had no idea how to lap etc so i thought they must just be big for their age. Your right in what you say about the big cat, ihave seen such a difference in them since they have met her, they tare round teh room with her and are using a litter tray and now follow her to the food/water bowls etc. sher plays with them and has started to clean them. because they are mostly white they still look dirty but dont want to bath them too often, i just wanted to get the oily stuff off them.
> 
> Thanks for your comments and fingers crossed for mum and other baby. If i go tthe mother i dont know what i could do other than get her neutred and maybe find her a farm home or something. Its not ideal where they are with big machinery in and out etc apparently there are lots of fatalities with kittens etc


Ah I see - I thought you meant "kitten milk" as in off-the-shelf Whiskas kitten milk, which pops up here very often when people say they have very young kittens.

The inability to lap will be because kittens raised without human intervention are fed by their mother and so they more or less go from sucking to chewing and don't think about lapping until the mother's milk dries up and they need to drink water.

I weaned my own kittens at anything from 18 days and I actually never gave them milk to drink unless I had an awkward "breast is best" kitten and then I would put some Carnation on the mashed up kitten food to persuade it to get the taste, so by the time they were 6 weeks old they were on wet kitten food and water, with the occasional "comfort suck" from mother. :lol:

Your older kitten will make a helluva difference to the cats they grow up to be, as she will teach them all about bite inhibition etc, which is one of the biggest problems in kittens taken away from their mother too soon.

If you've contacted CP and they are going to lend you a trap, they will surely give a voucher to have the queen mated - you could try asking them if they know of a farm or stables who would be willing to have a feral cat around?

It's such a very difficult time to rehome cats though, that's the problem.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

thats the thing. I know a few people with land etc so would prob start with them. 

i hope i get the other kitten, shame about teh queen but she has been around for years apparently so doubt she would take at all to domestic life!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

feorag said:


> Looking at the size of them I would say they are about 6 weeks old The ear size and placement is wrong also for a 3-4 week old kitten at that age they have tiny ears still reasonably on the side of their head. Those ears belong to a kitten well over 3-4 weeks. Also the eye colour is already beginning to change - they're blue until the kitten is about 6-8 weeks old and then they go a kind of muddy brown colour and don't get to their permanent colour until they're nearer 10-12 weeks, so I would say those kittens are easily 6 weeks old.
> 
> To be honest I wouldn't feed them kitten milk - it's a complimentary food, not a nourishing one. If you want to feed them milk you would do better to just buy Carnation and dilute it 1:1 with water. What they need now is a good quality kitten food to nourish them.
> 
> ...


 

I agree with the above. Feral kittens up to 7 weeks old tame down into lovely soppy pets, any older and they always remain cautious. 13 years ago I trapped 3 feral kittens at around 8 weeks old and to this day they are very worried about strangers. Izzy was pts a while ago due to kidney problems and she was adorable, Inky will lie upside down on your knee when hes in the mood but you cant approach him or he reverts back to feral and Inka even after all these years still wont be touched. When its flea and worming time I have to ambush them but all they do is go rigid when handled.
Your 2 kittens will make great pets ex ferals are the best:no1:
Good luck with mum and the other kitten


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## Darth_Vandal87 (Mar 2, 2008)

Lyndsay the kittens are sooo cute keep us posted and gud luck with them 

Dan


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

Kitten number 3 was found this morning, soaking wet and shivering by the wheel of one of our trucks :gasp: 

There has been no sign of mum for a few days so slightly concerned about her..... The kitten was dropped to my office again this morning and is currently wrapped in a blanket in a box in car until i can get out and get her/him home! 

Im wondering how the other 2 will take to this one now, he/she is obviously a lot smaller and timid and very very lethargic, i dont know if mum has been gone a few days and he has been on his own maybe. he was shivering and is agin full of the oily substance the other two were.

Dont know how my Oh is going feel about 3 kittens along with our own cat running around the house!


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

dax said:


> Kitten number 3 was found this morning, soaking wet and shivering by the wheel of one of our trucks :gasp:
> 
> There has been no sign of mum for a few days so slightly concerned about her..... The kitten was dropped to my office again this morning and is currently wrapped in a blanket in a box in car until i can get out and get her/him home!
> 
> ...


if you ahve 2 one more wont hurt  thats what i told dad anyway!
maybe a vet check is needed on this one if he/she is really lethargic ?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Poor little mite , Im so glad you have it now. Mum could have come into season again which is why she isnt about.
The lethargy is hopefully just a short time without food, fluid or heat. Hopefully once he/shes cleaned up and warm and has a full belly it will pick up. Any idea what substance the kittens had on them as oil and such is very toxic


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

You took the words right out of my mouth Shell! :lol2:

It was a lovely sunny day when I walked out of my house at 10:45 this morning, but the temperature was 1oC !!! 

Being wet in temps like that will bring on hypothermia, so he really needs heating up and lots of liquid. 

First thing I thought when I read the thread, was that mother was probably back in season and away looking for a bloke!

Poor, poor kittens - I'm so pleased you've taken them! Fingers crossed for the little one - I hope he makes it. :sad:


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks guys, 

baby (mig:blush has been bathed and wrapped in a towel since about 13:00 today. He is cold to the bone, like freezing. you can feel the cold comeing from him throught eh towel. My oh is currently laid on the couch with him trying to make him warm.. I thought he had died earlier, I went to stroke him and he didnt move and was cold to the touch however when i picked him up he cried so thank god he alive.

He is very VERY hungry, i ahve given him the kitten milk and he is taking it ok, he seems to have perked up since he has had warm milk too. Still very lethargic but getting warmer and at least moving without shaking!

FINGERS CROSSED!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Haven't you a hot water bottle, heat mat, or one of those things you put in the microwave to lie him on to help warm him up?


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

he is in front of coal fire at mo on a big cushion and a towel, i was thinking tonight of putting him in our room on a heat mat........

he is skin and bone poor thing

were both just sat looking at him lol


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Only just spotted this thread. Over 30 years ago in my first job I acquired a feral kitten when the woodyard where the mother had them was demolished, she disappeared leaving four or five kittens no more than 6 weeks old.

One lunchtime I managed to catch one and drove home on my motorbike with it in a satchel, we had that cat for 17 years and she always had an attitude until the day she died, she would be all friendly when she wanted, but the moment she'd had enough she would just turn into a fireball, my hands were always covered in scratch and bite marks!

On the plus side she did used to catch loads of mice and rats, never knew her to catch a single bird though.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

wow 17 years!


the original 2 are doing great, the little girl is like she was born here and lays on the floor with her legs in the air while you scratch her belly, the boy is another story! he is ok when you pic him up but just hisses at everything! bounces around like a maniac! 

these two are twice the size of the sibling i got today, he is very sickly and weak and is freezing cold.

If I have have given these guys a shot at 17 years or even any where near close its well worth it!


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Yes 17 years was pretty good for a cat that I got for nothing! I've had several more cats over the years, I left that one with my mum when I left home, and none of them have lived for quite as long as she did, I think 15 was the next best.

My sis works with her local cats protection in Woking and regularly fosters cats, mostly kittens, she recently had a really nice 6 month old female for a couple of weeks, fully housetrained, and has persuaded my mum to have her permanently. Mum's last cat had to be PTS about 3 years ago and she's been reluctant to get another until now.


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## colinbradbury (Nov 16, 2008)

hi lindsey , well done for taking them in :2thumb:. if you need a hand with any of them you know where is am , dont hesitate to shout


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

thanks

there currently wreaking havoc all over the house as the original 2 have now discovered the stairs and that they can be a great vantage point for dive bombing each other !!!!


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## colinbradbury (Nov 16, 2008)

:lol2: oh the joy of kittens :lol2:


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## Evilshiddenclaws (May 25, 2010)

i've only just noticed this thread. My dad's cat was originally born on a farm and 'rescued' by his then partner (now ex) 

I don't like her, she's an evil little bint and hates strangers and is pretty much invisible if you go to visit etc but my dad really loves her, she's affectionate with him and noone else, although it is usually on her terms, dads hands and arms are covered in scratches and most t-shirts are full of holes where she's decided she didnt want picked up and scrambled away.

i wouldnt want a feral cat but thats no reason for someone like yourself not too keep them, they sound like they are comming on fine aswell.

ps. my dads cat is around 14years old now, the little monster lol


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Evilshiddenclaws said:


> I don't like her, she's an evil little bint and hates strangers and is pretty much invisible if you go to visit etc but my dad really loves her, she's affectionate with him and noone else, although it is usually on her terms, dads hands and arms are covered in scratches and most t-shirts are full of holes where she's decided she didnt want picked up and scrambled away.


Most of that behaviour will be because the kitten had no mother or siblings to teach it how to behave.

Bite and scratch inhibition are taught by the mother and siblings in play. Hopefully, because these kittens still have each other, play will teach them when they are biting or scratching too hard and they will learn what is an acceptable level.

Certainly hope so.


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## Jczreptiles (Sep 1, 2009)

Well done for taking these on, I hope they all calm down for you: victory:


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks

Meg and Mog are doing great, both big chunky bouncing mad babies and the 3rd (mig) has today ate (on his own) and stood up for the first time, there has been 5 or 6 occasions where i thought we had lost him but he looks a million percent better today! its taken 3 days to thaw him out !!!!! He actually feels warm to the touch now, very thin but its improvement !! his siblings love him and are trying to play with him but there a bit over zelous and keep knocking him over so its just supervised play time at the moment!


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*Update on the kittens found in warehouse*

As my little "angels":whistling2: are off to the vets tomorrow to have their "bits" removed i thought i would update you all with a few pics of them recently, We did at one point agree that we should rehome one of the tom cats as four cats is not ideal. especially as we dont let them out (other than garden to play)

Anyway, we decided against it....


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*General Naughtyness*

this one was taken mid January when they noticed the viv stack in living room. The leader of the pack there is our original cat pussy, obviously telling the babies its fine to jump up andscare the reptiles. Needless to say the stack was removed from living room...


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*Doing what they do best!*


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

*Most recently*


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

They really are very beautiful cats! :flrt:

My double stacking viv in the living room is "pussy telly" to my cats - Purrdy sits and watches them from the back of my husband's chair most of the time she's in the living room - she totally ignores the rats, which you would think would interest her more, wouldn't you?


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## Kare (Mar 9, 2010)

They are lovely and you should be really proud, not only in bringing them to this point, but also because of being a great owner, keeping them safe and not letting them roam and become another kitty car victim


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

feorag said:


> They really are very beautiful cats! :flrt:
> 
> My double stacking viv in the living room is "pussy telly" to my cats - Purrdy sits and watches them from the back of my husband's chair most of the time she's in the living room - she totally ignores the rats, which you would think would interest her more, wouldn't you?


 
You would think! it got to the point where they were trying to get my baby beardies through glass though and i thought rather than regret it later, move them! lol naught pussy for showing them though! she never bothered till the kittens came!


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

Kare said:


> They are lovely and you should be really proud, not only in bringing them to this point, but also because of being a great owner, keeping them safe and not letting them roam and become another kitty car victim


 
thank you 

i have worked for rspca, ncdl, cpl and have seen some horrific sights involving both cats and dogs. my friends say its cruel to keep them in but i would much rather them in and safe than out with everything to harm them!

some people are evil and id rather my animals were in house where i know where they are!


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

just thought id share this as i thought it was funny!

as mention earlier my kittens are going to be "done" tomorrow. i took there food away at 8 as per vet and have just walked in kitched to findone of them eating a carrot and the other two playing with a turnip out of veg rack!

my poor babies, there starving!


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## Nix (Jan 23, 2008)

They are doing so well. Remind me very much of my cat Keiko. I had her as a rescue kitten from about 6 weeks old. She is a big ol softie now at 6 years old in May. Kei sits and watches all the reps in their various vivs but never bothers them. Doesn't paddy paw on the glass etc (well not since I caught her a couple of times and she got a squirt with the misting water bottle - that's how I trained her as a kitten). 

Lol on the carrot and turnip, the only veggie kitties I've ever heard of. LOL. Hope it goes well at the vet tomorrow.


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## dax (Aug 11, 2008)

ha ha i have also used the spray bottle! especially when they were younger and kept trying to climb in fire etc! I would come donw to coal all over cream carpet..... happy days!


all cats home now, boys running around hissing at each other little girl in her carrier still growling and hissing at anyone who dares to bother her, she hates chicken, hates fish and hates everyone today! 

Bless :flrt:


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