Monday, August 25, 2014
Out of the bucket - into the cage
Now that the kitten room became vacant, it was time to move the bottle babies into there and out of my office which I had just finished cleaning up and was open to the cats to explore for the first time in months. I felt bad that they had only a few days in it before I closed it up again. Hopefully by the time you are reading this I will have cleaned up the room and sanitized it enough to feel comfortable opening it up to The Crew again.
The first few days with me I left the kittens in the cardboard carrier they came to me in. I then moved them to a round orange tote (which was previously used in the kitten room to hold recyclables) and then into a large storage tote once they started needing a litter box. The girl decided pretty early on that she did not want to be made to pee, but she would do it at her choosing, and fortunately she chose right away to pee in the box. The larger boy, he needed some convincing, and would often pee on the bedding instead of in the box.
We did have very good litter box compliance at the time of the move, but the first night someone didn't bother to make it to the litter box and peed on the towel. I am so hoping that is a one time fluke, because frankly I'm doing way too much laundry ;)
Being in the cage has its benefits and its challenges.
One benefit is there is more room so I can use a bigger litter box, and put a bowl of food down for them. They are eating food, but not consistently and not enough, so I am still supplementing regularly with formula, but with the addition of food, I won't feel so driven to come home at lunch time and to only get six hours of sleep because it is time to feed the kittens. I will be keeping a close eye on their health and weight to make sure they are eating enough and doing well, but as long as they do continue to do well the pressure isn't as bad, and things will be easier on me.
The other benefit, more room for them to walk around and wrestle in.
Unfortunately the challenges are kind of big - for me. The first being the only way to get to them is through the door, and we all know about doors and kittens... you open that thing up and an outpouring of kittens come spilling forth. The other is that the cage is climbable. Fortunately they can't get very far up before they come tumbling down but darn it if it doesn't bug me every time they fall.
The other down side, they don't make kitten sized tin cups..
So I have kept the tote in reserve for the storage of kittens during feeding times.
If you aren't following me on Facebook, you are missing out on "Your Morning Mews" where I shoot a small video of the kittens prior to my feeding them so you can hear them complain and watch them jump around telling me off for making them wait. It really is quite cute, and here is a small taste of the morning mews from the cage..
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Those tabby tummies and tiny squeaky meows are killing me here.
ReplyDeleteWANT. THEM. ALL.
Oh, the tummy spots are just too much to resist! The head peep wants to smooch them.
ReplyDeleteThey are SO SO SO cute!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how much laundry you have to do when you have little ones? It always takes me by surprise, every single time!
They are so adorable. I think more room to walk and wrestle is a big benefit for kittens :-)
ReplyDeleteah yes- another joy of fostering - the added laundry. :) Yep - those protestors needs signs or tin cups or something.
ReplyDeleteOMC, those little ones are even cuter than ME!
ReplyDeleteWe totally wanna see little tin cups in their paws!!!!
ReplyDeleteI stuffed mine in the bathtub. Any messes they made was easy to clean. They couldn't jump out for a long time so it was safe
ReplyDeleteWE will follow you on facebook fer sure.
ReplyDeleteOh those kitties are so cute in th cage. They appear to be rehearsing the song of their ancestors already.
Emma and Buster
Upside-down thimbles would work well for begging cups!
ReplyDeleteOMG, the squeaking! Kill me dead.
They are so cute ! And even if they are very young, they already know the song of my people ! Purrs
ReplyDeleteOMC they are so precious!!! Such cute little mews. Good luck with the transition.
ReplyDelete