First 6 Weeks in a Kittens Life

I had found an excellent calculator to determine when we could expect Ava to give birth. The last few weeks of her pregnancy I didn't see the usual nesting need that I had seen many years ago with my other cat.

We had banned Ava from the basement because it was not a place for a cat to give birth and instead kept her in our bedroom. I had a birthing box in the closet and under a dark side table.

I read a lot about what signs to look for and waited for Ava to show some signs. Her appetite stayed up to the last minute, she never vomited like some cats do and it was only about 1 hour before she delivered that she seemed extra needy of attention.

When the time came, my husband and I both petted her, soothed her and talked gently and reassuringly to her. I guess she felt the kitten move because she jumped off our bed and gave birth underneath it.

I watched as the first kitten was born and she seemed absolutely panicked until it slide out. She did all the right things afterwards and almost 2 hours later, birthed the second kitten. A third came rather quickly afterwards and I watched to see if that was all. It seemed that it was and I left her alone.

I checked on her an hour later and all 3 kittens were nursing happily.

We went on with our day and checked back after dinner. Much to our surprise, Ava was busy while we were not watching. She had given birth to two more kittens for a total of 5. Using a flashlight I was able to see that all 5 appeared healthy and we nursing. We didn't see Ava until the next morning when she emerged from under the bed.

This is when we slid our bed away from the wall, put on latex gloves and took inventory. We moved the kittens to the box in the closet which was padded with a sheet that Ava used to sleep on. She protested at first but then seemed happy that we moved them into a cleaner, safer setting. Our closet has sliding doors so we just left the door open enough for Ava to come out, use the litter box and grab a quick bite to eat.

My daughters and I were in love with the kittens from day one. To my husband, they looked like tiny rats. The firstborn was gray striped with a solid white belly and paws. The second born (James) has a black and white face and white belly and black on top. The third born (Vicky) is a calico and the only girl. Fourth up is a black cat that if you look closely is black striped. Pepe has a white stripe on his head, white paws and white on his belly. Rounding up the litter is an almost all black beauty (Batman) who has white tipped feet and a half a white beard that extends to his chest. His belly has circles of white and black. They are all unique and all adorable.

As the first two weeks went by, we could tell that the kittens responded to our voices. They would look to us when they heard us speak. I believe that having them in our bedroom, although they were safely in the closet, exposed them to human voices which helped to make them feel comfortable.

During these first weeks I did not allow strangers in my room. Ava doesn't take well to strangers and we did not want to upset her. We took our cues from Ava and always greeted her first. If she seemed like she was receptive we would then pet the kittens and talk to them. This also seemed to help them get used to our scent.

At around 2 1/2 weeks these kittens were crazy to get out of the box in the closet and explore the world. We would take them out to stretch their legs right outside the closet and allow them to sniff around. Inside the box they were playful with each other. This only increased as they grew. At around 4 weeks Ava decided she had had enough of them trying to climb out of the box and she moved them out.

They took up residence again under my bed and we had to keep flashlights by our bedsides in order to not step on wandering kittens in the night. Thankfully no kittens got stepped on.

By this time they seem to have a sleeping and playing schedule. When they play they get crazy. Running in 5 different directions and occasionally stopping to wrestle each other poor Ava seems like she will have an easier time letting go. I usually lay on the bed and watch their antics from above. An hour can go by and it feels like a few minutes.

At 4 1/2 weeks, Vicky the only girl and teeniest of the kittens was the first to climb onto my bed. Yea, girl power! Now I find that two or more kittens want love and climb up to get it. Fortunately they seem to be on somewhat of the same sleep schedule I am on. By the time I am ready to sleep, so are they and they go back under the bed for the night. When they wake up between 4 and 6 a.m. they usually do not bother me.

Ava is still nursing at almost 6 weeks although not as much as she used to. Many Internet cat care sites say that kittens can start eating kitten food at 3 weeks. These kittens didn't seem interested until almost 4 weeks old. At first only one helped himself to the dry kitten food I had out. None of them are interested in Ava's favorite Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers. I do put out diluted cat milk which most of them (and Ava) enjoy.

At 5 weeks all are eating dry kitten food. I had mixed some with cat milk but none were interested. I have two kittens who are vocal eaters which is very amusing. I place their food on a large, heavy porcelain plate which works well. They do often sit in the dish to eat but the mess is at a minimum. They all started to drink water from the bowl at 4 weeks. Again, watching each other seems to have made the slower developers get a hang of what to do.

Litter training is interesting. Ava didn't seem to like it at first when her curious kitties started to explore and use the litter box. I think it was at 5 weeks where she kind of accepted the idea that they are growing up.

Believe me, Ava was no help in getting these kittens to use the litter box or clean them up when they got messy. That was my job. Kitty wipes in hand I would clean up tails and butts after a kitten showed success. Recognizing the signs of when they had to go reminded me of toilet training my own kids. I also had 5 babies but not all at the same time! Kittens would cry as they sat in the litter box and I would encourage them to do their business. They cried because they wanted Ava to help them but they had to learn to do it themselves. We would laugh as the kitties would sit in the litter box and scream as they did their business. This lasted about a week and as they near 6 weeks old, most of them no longer cry when they pee or poop.

It took several days but they are all covering up their business also which helps to make my job of keeping them clean easier.

As they got to be 5 weeks old they all started to discover how to groom themselves. Sometimes they are a bit wobbly and fall over but they are getting the hang of it.

They learn from watching each other as the picture shows.

Kitty proofing is kind of like childproofing. You get on your hands and knees, crawl around and decide maybe it is best to put everything in storage. When that is not possible, you get out the masking tape, cardboard and whatever else you can think of and you get busy.

Kittens (and cats) can squeeze into places that humans find amazing. My biggest fear were wires. This picture shows my husband's computer desk which of course has tons of wires running behind it that are open and exposed. I took some heavy duty posterboard-like paper, masking tape and just taped away. Now there is no risk of the Internet getting knocked out and the kittens are safe from the electric wires.

I vacuumed extra well and was careful to check every corner for anything that they may choke on. Kittens are like human toddlers. They explore their new world by smell and taste.

Next obstacle was to keep the husband from leaving his clothes on the floor. We had one accident where Vicky peed on a pair of his work pants when she got scared of her mother. (as the kittens where learning to litter train, Ava resented it and would grab Vicky by the neck and pull her under the bed. Poor kitty got scared and would pee on the floor. This time she peed on the husband's jeans that he left on the floor. )

I double checked under the bed to make sure that there was nothing of value that they would chew on and destroy. Kittens teethe and chew on anything and everything. So far they fell in love with an absolutely stinky pair of sneakers that I only use for lawn work. They gnaw and chew on them but I don't care. My good shoes are kept in boxes out of reach.

I have provided toys but honestly they love to chew on a box that held their mother's latest supply of cat food. They do push around little balls with bells in them and have a few catnip mouses that they love.

Kitty proofing the area is important to keep them safe and save your stuff.

Kittens, like human toddlers, love to play. It helps them learn to socialize with each other and with their humans. Kittens will play with unusual things (like shoes and shoelaces) but having some fun cat toys helps also.

I have a scratching post which I felt would be good with a catnip toy hung from it. These crazy kitties climb the scratching post and delight in knocking, biting and pulling each other off. It still is great fun.

I picked up jingle balls which they love to push around, catnip toys and feather toys. It is good to observe them playing together to see their personalities. It is equally important for humans to start playing with them early and also giving them affection and building trust.

Ava had been abused as a kitten and although she would play with my husband, had she been able to trust others early on she wouldn't be as nervous as she was growing up.

Kittens love to climb so providing pillows or boxes for them to climb on is good also. It helps them grow into strong, healthy cats.