We have a new foster family living with us! We haven't worked out everyone's name yet, but we have a mama kitty and four avengers, who I believe, in order of size are: the Hulk (AKA Bruce), Iron Man (AKA Tony), Thor (SKA Thor), and Captain America (AKA Steve).
Steve didn't gain any weight over the past week and a half, so we've started supplementing what he's getting from mama kitty. We're hoping that he'll grow up into a full Captain America size at some point. Mama kitty appears to only have two fully functional food dispensaries, two semi-functional, and two that are just for show. Bruce seems to be the king of getting to where the milk action is, so we're trying to pay more attention to where the other three end up so that we can get them growing properly. I'm also working on making sure mama kitty is getting enough to eat. She is a very loving mother and spends a lot of time with her babies, which makes me worry that she's much like many mom's today - not taking enough time out for themselves to recharge their own batteries... and eat.
Bovril has been very excited by the arrival of our new kitty family. He tried several times to play with the babies by bapping them on the heads. He got bapped on his bapper for his troubles (by me). He's finally learned that he can hang out with the family and he can even help with mother and baby grooming, but all horse play is strictly forbidden at this point.
The babies just opened their eyes a few days ago. They were three days old when they came to us and are closer to 2 weeks at this point.
And they're all boys (as you probably guessed from the names). According to the gal at the Larimer Humane society, orange tabbies are always dudes. I guess it's a trait that's only carried on the Y chromosome or something.
three days old? wow! such a young age to be rehomed... but at least they have their mother with them, even if she has some dysfunctional milk dispensaries... (loved your terminology!)
ReplyDeleteso tiny!!!!! and adorably cute!
ReplyDeleteGinger babies!
ReplyDeletethey didn't even notice. as long as mama is near, they're home. :-}
ReplyDeleteShe lied about all gingers being male. I had a female ginger named Oscar when I was little. The litter of kittens she had was a dead give away.
ReplyDeletehmmm. i wonder if males are just more common in the ginger/red color then?
ReplyDeletePossibly. I know calicos are all supposed to be male.
ReplyDeleteSteve always was the weakling.... love the names.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little worried about Steve right now. He's in that "I don't want to eat" phase right now. Kitties get there when they haven't had enough to eat over a period of time. So you have to force feed them, essentially, until one day they greedily suck up everything you give them. Then you know you've gone over the hump.
ReplyDeleteSteve doesn't mind munching off mom, but he has a hard time getting near the operating dispensaries when the other three are around. :-\ I think I'm going to encourage the girls to hold the other three for awhile today while Steve gets open access to the milk machine.