new kittens advice

pukkamum

Pollycat wrote: »

They're in a strange place with strange (to them ) smells and noises.

I'm sure they'll settle in fine, just give them a little time.

Are they using the litter tray?

yes they have been using the litter and they are eating and drinking.

Pollycat

pukkamum wrote: »

yes they have been using the litter and they are eating and drinking.

Then I think they are well on the way to settling in. :T

pukkamum

Yes I think they are settling, I just want to see more of them must curb my impatience, I must admit to getting a little emotional last night when the little one came for a fuss he rubbed his head on my head just like rosie used to do, it was so lovely feeling that again.


We have called them Sooty and Sweep, they are black and white with black noses, sooty is the smaller one, he was hand reared after mum rejected him and sweep is the bigger as he keeps grooming sooty as if trying to 'sweep' away the sooty marks.


Sweep is very much bolder and the protector of sooty, sooty came out last night wanting the litter tray, he gave a little mew and sweep came running and stood guard while sooty did his business!


Had a little play with Sweep earlier, he has almost ventured from the couch, he is now sitting behind it and was very interesting in the dangling ribbon, sooty put out a tentative paw for a swipe at it too.


So I must curb my impatience and bide my time I think x

farfromhome

I wouldn't worry about them a bit older than you thought; they will still be playful and loving. We have had kittens in the past and, although it's lovely seeing them tearing about and playing together, they can also be quite destructive and we always found that, if one of them started something "naughty", the other one would join in, like running up the curtains and hanging from the pole.

I think neutering makes quite a difference; ours stayed more like kittens even when they were older, still playing when they were over 10 years old.

We had one rescue cat who was about 2 - 3 years old when we got her and it took about a year for her to come out of her shell and then was the most loving cat you could imagine. Nobody had ever played with her but we found that she loved having a ping pong ball thrown for her up the stairs and she would complain if we wanted to stop after 10 minutes or so; that was her special playtime every day.

Pollycat

farfromhome wrote: »

Nobody had ever played with her but we found that she loved having a ping pong ball thrown for her up the stairs and she would complain if we wanted to stop after 10 minutes or so; that was her special playtime every day.

This was the favourite game for all my cats.

My old boy used to like having a ping pong ball flicked through a cardboard tube (left over from wrapping paper).

We'd sit either end of the tube on the hall floor and I'd flick the ball and he would sit looking totally dis-interested until right to the last nano-second when he'd thrust his paw (up to his armpit) into the tube and knock it back to me.

Jobseeeker

pukkamum wrote: »

Well she said she hadn't realised the advert still said 10 weeks but given she had updated it just before I bought them I find it hard to believe.
.

You bought them? But the advert had said they were for rehoming and she wanted to check your home. Did she have the mother? this all sounds very odd...wonder what this lady is up to

pukkamum

Jobseeeker wrote: »

You bought them? But the advert had said they were for rehoming and she wanted to check your home. Did she have the mother? this all sounds very odd...wonder what this lady is up to

I honestly don't know I did see mum but she was tiny, I assumed she was one of the kittens, far too young and small to have a litter.

I made a point whilst there about how skittish they were and me having 3 young children but she said she had 2 little ones so they were used to kids.
now though thinking there were no toys around or signs of little ones.I only paid 30 for the pair so in a way it was rehoming.

I just feel sad and a bit angry with myself for not being strong enough to walk away but unfortunately once I saw them, well.

dd is devastated that they won't come out, she was really hit hard by the loss of rosie and this was supposed to be a really happy experience for her.
oh goodness

fairy_lights

pukkamum wrote: »

I made a point whilst there about how skittish they were and me having 3 young children but she said she had 2 little ones so they were used to kids.
now though thinking there were no toys around or signs of little ones.I only paid 30 for the pair so in a way it was rehoming.

I just feel sad and a bit angry with myself for not being strong enough to walk away but unfortunately once I saw them, well.

Thank god you didn't walk away, I'm sure they will have a much better life with your family than with this woman who didn't even seem to know how old they were
If she lied about the ages of the boys then the cat she claimed was the mother might not have been, it seems a very strange set up to have so many cats but not have a clue about their ages/relationships.
And if the two males you have rehomed are 6/7 months but haven't yet recieved any vaccinations then sadly it doesn't sound like she was taking the best care of them.


I wouldn't be disheartened about them being a bit shy at this stage, it's still very early days and given a few weeks I'm sure they will settle in.

Pollycat

pukkamum wrote: »

dd is devastated that they won't come out, she was really hit hard by the loss of rosie and this was supposed to be a really happy experience for her.
oh goodness

Is your daughter old enough to understand that these kittens are probably very scared at being taken away from their Mum and put in a strange house?

If she is old enough and she can manage not to stress them out by trying to get them to be friendly before they are ready, that would be great - for you, your daughter and the kittens.

pukkamum

Pollycat wrote: »

Is your daughter old enough to understand that these kittens are probably very scared at being taken away from their Mum and put in a strange house?

If she is old enough and she can manage not to stress them out by trying to get them to be friendly before they are ready, that would be great - for you, your daughter and the kittens.

Just had a big talk with my daughter, she's 7, she came home very excited to find them still under the couch and burst into tears.
She was insistent that she wanted them to go home, obviously not an option.

turns out she is feeling guilty for feeling happy about the cats but still sad about rosie and I think disappointed she hasn't stroked them yet.
However, we had a big talk told her those feelings were natural and I felt the same but rosie would want us to be hapoy and give the boys all the love we had for her and the lovely life she had.

so we have decided that this is the settling in period it will be as if they aren't here, we will leave them alone and if they come out we sit very still.

I think she thought they would be under there forever, bless her.

just showed her the video we took of them out last and she was over the moon.

phew parental crisis dealt with I hope!