Rescue Story: Kitten Progress
The kittens are out in their foster room now, and are great friends with Jan, who is fostering, but they don’t see too many humans aside from her. I finally had the chance to visit them again and see how they reacted.
They did start out all in a bunch pressed together between a plastic container and the wall, but with just sitting on the floor and quietly talking, and Jan encouraging them to come out to play, it didn’t take long for two of them to cautiously step out. Surprisingly, this time, it was the shorthaired tabby who interacted with me.
She was very curious and continued exploring and playing a distance from me, acting unconcerned and far more interested in a spot on the wall, absolutely adorable when she sat up on her haunches like a kangaroo!
I offered her a treat and was surprised when she actually worked her way toward me and came to get the treat, with lost of backstepping and trying to gently swat it out of my fingers with her paw. She touched my fingers in the process but didn’t seem to notice.
Then she finally came in and got it, though she knocked it out of my fingers as she tried to bite it. She got several treats and lots of praise for being such a good, brave girl, and did manage to take it from my fingers and eat it.
And then she settled back almost close enough for me to pet her, and gave me a few minutes of nice, slow blinks. I tried to video, but too much movement startled her.
The little black kitten was out but decided to keep a distance from me. Jan can pet him and she says he’s a sweetie and has always been the most social.
I can believe it watching him with her and he interacted with his environment more, looking out the door and roaming farther.
She said the black male cat we trapped still eats out there regularly and shows up at the door. She’s seen the cat and the black kitten communicating through the glass.
The longhaired kitten stayed behind the bin the entire time, not surprising because he was the last one trapped and was very resistant to everything. But he’s the leader of the pack with play, so I hear.
Noah was present, getting the kittens to come out and interacting with them. They like to rub on him and he licks them on the face. Then he settled into his box to observe.
I know if I could stop over every day or every other day that would keep them moving along to socialization to other humans, so I can at least vow to get over there more often than every three weeks. We’ll be getting them spayed and neutered soon, and that will make a difference in them.
Unti lthe next time…
Would you like to donate some canned food for the kittens?
I picked up some donated dry food for the kittens, but they need canned food too and she could really use the help for that—she’s already feeding a half dozen cats outside. If anyone would like to donate to buy some kitten food, or would like to buy some and ship it to her or me, let me know. Chewy has many choices. I used to use Fancy Feast because it’s the most available and the least expensive, but I noticed it has “real milk” in it and it doesn’t specify if it’s cow’s milk or not. Goat milk would be fine, but we all know that cats don’t digest cow’s milk well, and it can actually upset their digestion. Triumph has a turkey pate kitten food that’s about the same price and it actually comes in 3 oz. and 5.5 oz. cans. These two are eating everything in sight as they should be at this age, so the larger cans would be a better deal.
So wish her luck as the kittens are socialized! We plan to surrender them to one of the shelters we work with when they are ready for adoption.
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And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
Adorable babies, and the white jabot on the black kitten is cute!
I’m so happy to see them progressing. I’ve loved that little bean from the beginning! The tabby is much bolder than I’d thought. I hope I get enough free time to visit them more often!
Such cuties. I am glad they are doing so well.
I wish I could get my hands on them! I miss fostering.