Tracey they are gorgeous and you are doing a fine thing, you keep up the good work.

I'll drop my two dogs off next year when we go away!   Got a school aged child too if you want to try a teenager out!

Oh blummin heck Lesley! Im not ready for children (or teenagers!) just yet!! I think the hyperactive dog threw that one out of the window!! :D

Can't blame a woman for trying! lol

Hey did anyone see that series where they got the tens who wanted a baby to actually practise parenthood?  Maybe they should do the same for would be dog, horse etc owners?

Many vets, sadly, seem think that cats and dogs are the same. Kittens do suckle their mothers much, much longer than puppies do, and do need a lot more time with their mother. 13 weeks minimum before being sold is cat fancy rules. I have a 16 week old kitten here still suckling his mum! To remove kittens from their mum at 8 weeks old is just plain cruel. :( Those that are taken that early almost always have some sort of behavioural problem for the rest of their lives, but often owners don't realise WHY, or even that it isn't normal behaviour.

Unfortunately its too late for these kittens. They have now left their mother and are being looked after by myself.

One of them is quite a loner and she was quite happy lying in the crease of my elbow and then snuggled up with OH on the sofa while the other 2 played rough and tumble in their cage.

I managed to get one to poo on some tissue! :D Im so proud!! :D lol

I know it's not your fault with these, but it makes me so angry when vets tell people such mistruths. :( Also there should never be a need to house train a kitten as the mother will teach them, starting when they are around 4-5 weeks old, so that's another reason for them to stay around. Selling a kitten at 8 weeks is equal to a puppy going at 4-5 weeks. They'd survive, but it's not nice.

Unfortunately its too late for these kittens. They have now left their mother and are being looked after by myself.

One of them is quite a loner and she was quite happy lying in the crease of my elbow and then snuggled up with OH on the sofa while the other 2 played rough and tumble in their cage.

I managed to get one to poo on some tissue!  Im so proud!!  lol

Hook line and sinker ;( :D :D

If you click on Tracey's name and then the photobucket link in her profile you can see the 3 tinkers.   I think the tabby looks like a tortie tabby (A bit!) Marianne, what do you think?     So that would make her female in all probability so you've got 3 girls - Faith, Hope (Nice name!) & Charity.

Not sure Christine -in some photos the Tabby looks a bit redder on the head but in others it doesn't. Trouble with Tortie Tabbies of course is that you can have a lot of red or you could have just ONE hair of red. My first impression isn't Tortie though. :)

Ahhh they are so sweet :) Poor little mites eyes look very weepy :( They are very lucky kittens to be where they are now

Ditto Marianne I only got my kittens early because of the flooding back in July, the lady who had taken in their mum had nowhere to keep three kittens safe as she was flooded out & if it happened again they would be back in a small caravan. Their mum however had stopped feeding them as she was so painfully thin when found just before the kittens were born & the lady had been supplementing their milk as she wasn't in a fit state to feed them fully herself(she's now spayed)

The dad to my kittens must have been a big lad as the mum is small & Reg isn't 6 months old yet & is huge. I had him castrated when he hit 2 kgs in weight & that was before he was 16 weeks, he was a very er well endowed boy as well. Just had his sister spayed as she is now over 2kgs. My kittens have normal kitten/cat behaviour & no hang ups except that they are exceptionally good at coming in when called, nothing to do with the fact that I feed them everytime of course ;-)

Do kittens feel the cold like us? I've been letting them have the run of the conservatory (its got nothing in it) and they have a blanket in the corner of the room that they huddle up to but Ive been bringing them in the house at night because it gets cold in there. Am I being too soft or do I need to keep them warm??

How recent are the photos? They do look pretty bad with the cat flu in them and that in itself will mean they need to be kept warmer. Did they get any eye ointment or drops from the vet? Another thing to watch out for is eyes getting so infected they rupture, so you need to take great care.

The photos were taken last night. They have eye drops which I put in twice a day. None of the cats eyes were stuck together this morning which is an improvement because I had to wet their eyes every day to open them. Poor things. Im enjoying looking after them! :)

I would keep young warmer just like I would puppies at this time of year, my kittens commandeered Joedee's hidey hole near the PC tower when they were small & they used to curl up together with whichever poor dog was the warmest. As they have cat flu I would make sure they were in the house in a crate TBH

They are in a crate at night time because I dont want them messing with electrical wires etc.

Their eyes are a lot better today. They are still a little weepy but not crusty and they were playing together this morning. Its so cute when you walk in the room in the morning to see them all cuddled up together! I really dont want to split them up!

Great stuff, you're going a grand job. :)

They have a litter tray now and I could see one of them was searching in corners just like they do before they have a wee so I picked her up and put her in the tray, she protested a bit but eventually did a poo in there :D

One of the others went in straight after and covered it up for her.

She then jumped out and ran and had a wee somewhere else :rolleyes: and the other cat tried covering that up for her too! :D

I want them, how cute are they bless. I dont think Skye would like them other than for dinner.
Mary

You are doing a great job, there is something so satisfying about helping sick animals recover i love it but i find it very hard to part with them at the end!:rolleyes:

I have to say that kittens are soooo much easier to raise than dogs, our kittens have never soiled anywhere in the house other than their lieeter tray and have never chewed anything or scratched anything (although that could be due to the amount of scratch posts and toys that they have!:rolleyes:)

I agree with the others i wouldn't let them go until they are over the flu

You've done a great job, they are gorgeous kittens. :-)

MarianneB, no doubt you know your stuff when it comes to cats and are an expert on the best time to leave their mums's, but it just goes to show how kittens will survive whatever, speaking for myself I've always just had farm Moggies or long ago kittens from neighbours, apart from one Maine Coon always from people who don't actually breed pedigree cats, (which is probably why they didn't know any better) and I had all my previous cats from 6 weeks they were all grand cats, I've only ever had one cat who was a loner a tortoiseshell female, but the others were all very healthy with no behavioural problems whatsoever, I might add I've never had a single cat always bought kittens in pairs so maybe that made a difference.

Tracey123, personally I think a conservatrory will be too cold for kittens in this weather, unless you have really good heating in there especially with them having cat flu, kittens well cats in general like to be warm, more so than dogs IME, so once they have the hang of the litter tray which won't take long they learn quickly, leave the litter tray there and allow the kittens the run of the downstairs and to snuggle up on the sofa with you, cats like to be clean so once they understand the litter tray is where they go and have put their scents in it, they won't dirty your home, so let them in the room then to keep really warm. :-)

Like I said, a kitten will of course survive being taken from its mother at 8 weeks, but it would be equal to selling a puppy at 5 weeks and I doubt many would see that as okay -yet the puppy would also survive and could have a long life. 6 weeks -well many kittens haven't even started solids then and the digestive system won't be fully developed, so more like selling a puppy at 3 weeks......... It's not a case of when they can survive but what is GOOD for them. :)

Well. Their snotty eyes and nose have gone! They are constantly running around and playing and they are always hungry!!!!!!

When I open the conservatory door they dart in just to have a nosey around! :D They have their own electric heater in their as well. Still not 100% got the hang of the cat litter yet though.

They will get there with the cat litter ;) Funny but everybody in my family seem to have difficulties cleaning out cat litter tray. I think I need to do some more training :D :D  They sounds like the TLC is working and glad they are much better:D So have you decided which ones you are keeping ? :D

I want to keep them all!!! :rolleyes:

I've named one of them Phantom because he's got black going over one eye which makes him/her look like Phantom of the Opera!

My friend has asked if she can name one of the others as she is looking after them next week while Im on my jollies!! :D

Yep friends of mine had their first dobe at 4 weeks old and they reared her on human baby milk and mashed puppy food.  They had her that young because they were going to be drowned.  Seems the breeder left his wife when litter were small and she wasn't prepared to rear them so he was going to drown them.  Obviously not a good breeder but just someone who mated their bitch, with the dog round the corner.

Just a quick update. All 3 kittens now have homes. My niece is just moving in with her boyfriend and they are having the smallest black and white cat called Tilly. My friend cat sat while I was on holiday last week and she's decided she likes the tabby one and called her Tigger. And the 3rd black cat...... is stopping with me! She's called Phantom.

My OH was laid on the sofa with Phantom on his head and Tilly under his chin! (And this is from someone who says he doesnt like cats!) Seems like the little tykes have wormed their way into his heart! :D Im so chuffed. They are using their cat tray perfectly now (touch wood). The cat flu has gone. They've had their wormers but their bellies still tend to bloat a little after eating.

So now I can go out and buy lots of cat play things.... point me in the right direction for the best bargains!! :D

Lovely name Phantom

Not sure about where to get bits from but i would definantly get a scratch post to save your furniture! Ours also love a cut out cardboard box that they use as a den!:rolleyes:

Ooh never thought of a cardboard box as a den! I'll do that later!!

How long do they stay on kitten food for? They are currently having about 1 sachet each a day. They have started leaving some food once they are full now, which I guess is a good sign? They are using their litter tray fantastically now!

I always think it is a good sign when kittens leave food as you know they are getting enough!
They should stay on kitten food until they are a year old. Great news with the toilet training, they are sooo much easier than dogs in that aspect!
They may like rolled up balls of tin foil aswell (supervised only though)