The Feral Kitten Project

April 10, 2005:  Nest of feral kittens is discovered beneath some debris we were cleaning up on the property, tossed about during the hurricanes in Florida of 2004.  They appear to be about 3 to 5 days old...eyes still shut, umbilicals still attached, dirty and flea infested.  I called the neighbors...no one is claiming to have a recently pregnant female cat.  So I guess it's up to us to save these little creatures.

I've made their new "den" in a medium sized pet taxi.  This picture was taken on the day we found them.  Given some good advice from friends, I got rid of the fleas with a single drop of Advantage on the back of the neck of each kitty.  I'm feeding them KMR Kitten Formula in a bottle.

April 11, 2005:  We weighed each kitten on my postal scale to establish a benchmark for their development under human care.  Here are their weights, in order by size from smallest to largest at initial weighing:

Weight Record

April 12, 2005:

Clean and healthier looking already!  Fleas have been defeated.  We're having some trouble getting used to the bottle nipple, but hunger prevails and I'm able to get a tablespoon or so of formula into each kitty.  A new skill had been developed, "diapering".  EWWWW, not pleasant but necessary...and I'm happy to report that all systems are functional:  the sucker, the pooper, the pee'er.
Sunny is fascinated by the little ones.  He's tried to pick them up and move them several times, but I'm not sure of his intent, so he is being made to keep a respectful distance!
There are four kitties...the calico is a girl, the two yellow ones are boys, and I'm not sure yet of the gender of the black and white one.
They're being fed every 3 to 4 hours, with a nighttime fast of about 6 hours so I can sleep!  There's a heating pad on it's lowest setting beneath the towel in the pet taxi and they seem very warm and comfortable.

April 14, 2005:  Now we're getting somewhere!  Kitties seem to be used to the bottle and take it eagerly.  Diapering is working great too, getting each kitty to eliminate after each feeding.  Although their ears haven't opened fully yet, I'm convinced they can hear me coming to feed them, as they get very vocal and active at that time!  The umbilical cords have fallen off of all of the kittens and their fur is growing!  Already they seem larger in my hand.  I hope to get updated weights later today.  I've given them temporary names, too...so will refer to them by these names for the rest of this journal, until they are adopted out!  And I am amazed at the interest from friends and families in adopting these kitties!  The adult children have shown the pictures and talked the talk, and have co-workers placing dibs on their favorite kitty already. 

	This is Callie, the little calico girl.  She's already been spoken for, for adoption!
	Sunny looks on while Creampuff, a male, gets his turn at the bottle.  I have someone tentatively interested in adopting Creampuff.
	We now know that Oreo is a boy.  Odd, he was the largest kitten but he wasn't "developed" down there as much as his brothers....poor little thing!  Oreo has also gotten a committment for adoption!
	This is Patch, by far the most vocal of all the kitties.  If you don't feed him first, he causes such a ruckus you'd swear they were being tortured.
Sunny making sure I do everything right.....	"OH MAN AM I EVER FULL!"

 4/15/2005:  I just updated the weight of each kitten in the table at the top of this page.  I'm concerned that Oreo has not increased his weight!  All the other kittens have gained weight in the last four days.  Oreo eats as well as the rest of them, eliminates, etc., but he does not show a weight gain.  At least it isn't a weight loss!  I'll be paying more attention to his bottle nursing and try to give him an extra turn at it if he will accept it.

They all PURR while nursing!  It's the cutest sound...they look so content and usually fall asleep with the nipple in their mouth.  It's taking longer per kitten to give them all they want.  Soon I'll need to employ more bottles, but where will I get more hands?  Yikes!

4/19/2005:  Thanks for everyone keeping up with the kittens' progress and writing me to urge another update!  Today I see signs of the largest one, Creampuff, starting to open his eyes.  The little Calico also has tiny slits starting to open!  I took new pictures today and updated the weight chart at the top of the page.  Wow, if they are just now starting to open the eyes, which normally happens at 9-10 days, they must have been no more than a day old when they were discovered!  I sure hope they got to nurse their mama at least once or twice to get the colostrum which provides immunities that they will need.  Time will tell.  They are doing quite well on the bottle now, taking almost an ounce apiece at each feeding.  I had to go buy more formula powder today, OUCH!  That stuff is pricey!  They are worth it, though.  Oreo has finally gained some weight.  He's the runt, but he eats well and gained almost a whole ounce in the last four days.  I'm certain he will be OK!  Now for the new pics, taken today.  Sorry for the blurry one, I'll retake it at next feeding!

Oreo (the runt)	Creampuff (the largest) - see eyes opening!
Patch	Callie (sorry it's blurry!)  Her eyes are opening too!

5/1/2005:

I'm so sorry it's been so long since the last update!  An amazing thing happened...I GOT A JOB!  I started back to work after a 8-month layoff on 4/25.  It's a long commute too, so kitties have had to go a good 8 to 9 hours between first and second feeding of the day.  They've adapted fine though, just look at the weight chart update at the top of the  page!  Puff is still the biggest, and Oreo is still the runt, although she is closing the gap little by little.  Yes I said "she".  As they have grown, it has become apparent that Oreo is a girl, as well as Callie.  The person who spoke for adoption of Oreo doesn't care, still wants her, so all is well.  Only Patch has not been spoken for, but I am sure I will be able to place him in a good home too.  All the adult children are working on recruiting good adoptive parents for the kitties. 

Anyway, all the eyes are open and they are quite mobile now.  They live in a bathroom...no more baby turkeys and geese in there as they have been moved to the outside brooders, so the kitties have the run of the four square feet, LOL!  It's big to them!  They have a tiny litter box made out of a plastic meat container with an entrance way cut into the side, so it's easy for them to get in and out of.  Not that anyone has used it yet, but I have found droppings right BESIDE it on the newspaper, so they will get the hang of that soon I am sure.   They have a water dispenser and get a couple spoonfuls of soft canned kitten food daily, but so far only Puff knows how to eat it.  The kitties are now 3 weeks old plus a day or two.  Maybe two more weeks on the bottle?  We'll play it by ear...what an experience this has been!  OK, here are your new pictures...and don't expect another update til next weekend!  New job is killin me!

Oreo	Puff (Creampuff)
Patch	Callie

05/10/2005:

Wow have we ever made progress these last ten days!  Forgive me, but I must discontinue updating the weight chart at the top...trust me, they are gaining weight and are fat & healthy, but they squirm and wiggle too much for me to get an accurate reading on my postal scale!  So I'll let the pictures do the talking.  All the kitties are eating solid food now, soft canned catfood and a small amount of Iams Kitten kibble.  They all have their baby teeth in, and at least one of them (Callie) won't even suck the bottle anymore, she wants to chew it!  The boys, Patch and Puff, get the catfood all over their undersides when they eat and require warm baths afterwards, which they submit to remarkably well!  Not having had their mother to lick them clean, I guess it seems natural to them or something.  Little Oreo is now known to be a calico as well.  This is funny, I've been trying and trying to clean that poor kitty's face and front paws, thinking there was urine or catfood or God knows what on it....but I can now see that the fur is actually golden in spots on her face and front paws!  What a surprise!  I think you can see it in some of the pics I took tonight.  These are truly "potty pics" as they were taken with the kitties on the toilet seat so I could get a decent angle to capture their faces.  Oh one more great milestone, everybody uses the litter box now and it is WONDERFUL!  I cleaned their area tonight and no stray "accidents" found at all!  YAY!  I'm thinking that I may have custody for another week and a half, and they should be ready to go to new homes at six weeks of age.  No hurry though, I love them all.