Update: K9 and her babies

This week I had a chance to visit Ann's former foster family at the No. 5 Rd. shelter.

At first I didn't recognize Kaynine (now called Kila K9), because she was no longer wearing the put upon and generally exhausted expression I'd known her by when she had a pile of hungry kittens climbing all over her and suckling relentlessly. Kaynine/K9 is now bright-eyed, glossy-coated and fully ready to make friends. The whole time I was with her, she never stopped purring, and she was happy to engage in both gentle cuddling and silly playing.

Her small size and playful demeanor really hit home that this mama is still hardly more than a kitten herself. After all, she's only a year old. It's incredible that she managed to produce such a large number of healthy kittens.

Of course I also paid a visit to the kittens themselves. One has been adopted, leaving seven equally delightful siblings still in need of good homes. All the early socializing must have paid off -- these kittens are totally comfortable with people and pleased to interact, but have already learned the basics of good manners and know not to get too grabby or play-bite too hard.

Little baby foster kitties Part IV

This week's update on Ann's foster kittens is contributed by guest blogger Ayako Fukuda.

We visited Ann's foster cats on Sunday again, as Vince's brother Brandon and his fiancee Noreen, a vet and animal care technician respectively, were coming to examine them. Brandon did a quick check on the kittens' and mom's condition, and it was great to hear that they are all doing okay. Ann was still bit anxious about the two runties. However, both of the runties have a good appetite as usual.

One thing I noticed from today's visit was that they were much quieter this week. They are already 4 weeks old and getting more confident and less afraid of strangers. I was little sad not hearing their cute "pew" (not "meow" yet).

Anyway, there are now 16 ears were growing bigger and more cat-like in appearance, 16 blue eyes (Ann was scared of them!!) were already starting to see clearly, and 16 little paws were no longer bear claws but finally cat claws which they can deploy and retract at will. However, there are still 8 rat tails.

Brandon and Noreen gave them their first nail clipping, so that they don't hurt each other or their moms (Ann & Kaynine).

Little baby foster kitties Part III

My visit with Ann and her foster kitties this week was preceded by some sad news: the littlest of the runties had begun to show signs of weakening and, despite being rushed to the vet, ultimately didn't make it. Sometimes nature steps in in ways it's hard to like.

But this still leaves eight kittens who need all the attention they can get, greedily sharing nine kittens' worth of love from their human mom and visitors.

Here's what they were up to this week:

Exploring and playing

Sucking on the rim of the bowl should get the milk out, right?

Ayako tries to give the kitty a hint

Kitty thinks: "Prey! I feel an instinctive need to drag this into my lair!"

Learning to use a litterbox... Well, starting to learn

More practice using teeth and claws

Already working on perfecting the cat stare

Play more or sleep?

Getting sleepy...

Zzzzzz......

Little baby foster kitties Part II

Last week I posted about Ann's foster Kaynine and her litter of nine. I went to visit them again this week and will continue to do so a few  more times in the coming weeks until the babies are weaned and ready to go to their forever homes. For those friends of RAPS who haven't been able to meet this adorable foster family (and for those who have but can't get enough baby pics), I'll be doing a short series of posts to document their rapid growth and development.

With just a week between visits, they're already a lot more active and interested in their surroundings. Eyes were already open last week, but this week they seem to be getting just a little bit better at processing some of the information coming in.

They've already gotten pretty good at clambering (all the practice climbing over mom), but Ann's now put down a nice, soft blanket so they can start using those little legs for some supervised walking/stumbling around.

It's amazing how much more cat-like they look after just a week.

... and how much more cat-like they act. Vincent and Ayako came along to join in the kitten feeding and socializing effort. The kittens were delighted and Vincent's charge expressed its happiness in true cat fashion by happily digging in its tiny little claws. I didn't get a picture, but Ayako later captured the moment in one of her wonderful kitty sketches.

cartoon by Ayako
(click on the picture to see a larger image)

Mostly, though, the kittens still look like the tiny, fragile babies that they are, in much need of looking after by cat mom and foster mom alike.