Story by Camille Hulen
When the floods came to Coffeyville last year, a lady had a pregnant cat named Pantera.
It is unfortunate that the cat had not been spayed, but, at least, she was loved. Although homeless herself, the woman found shelter for her cat. Pantera was a Lucky One.
Two weeks after she was given shelter, Pantera gave birth to five lucky kittens. The birth occurred within one hour early on a Saturday morning. Pantera knew just what to do: cleaning all of the kittens and herself to be presentable to the world in less than four hours. For the first two days, she rarely left their side, nursing and cleaning constantly.
By Tuesday, Pantera would leave the kittens briefly, only to feed herself and use the litter box. Although a litter box was in the cage with her, she chose not to use it, but to wait until she could go to one further away. Perhaps this is instinctive behavior to protect kittens from predators who might detect the scent.
On Wednesday, one eye of one kitten peaked open! This was sooner than I ever imagined.
By Thursday, mama cat had become a little restless, and moved the kittens within the cage. I would move them back to their soft nest, and she would move them again. Once more, this is probably instinct, to keep them safe from predators. Pantera never considered me a predator, but kept a watchful eye if one of the kittens squealed as I held it.
Kittens certainly grow quickly! At the age of one week, they had doubled in size. They were no longer little wieners: they were big fat sausages! At one week, they were no longer constantly at mom’s nipples and began to feed individually and mill about more. Most had their eyes squinting open.
By the following Wednesday (ten days from birth), they began to get curious and tumble about, almost playing with one another. A couple of days later, they were wrestling, vying for position to feed. One would even hiss when startled. They continued to gain strength and by the age of two weeks, they were attempting to climb from their nest. A clumsy attempt it was, for they could still not focus their eyes.
Then, at three weeks, the world was theirs! They began to focus their eyes, and displayed their baby teeth. They wanted to investigate everything. Pantera would leave them, but be back at the slightest whimper.
At one month, they began to eat solid kitten food occasionally and use the litter box. Both of these behaviors they learned from imitating mama cat. At that point, although they did not physically need mom, they purred contently whenever she was near. The experience of witnessing a mother cat’s love and care was truly remarkable.
How does one duplicate this care as a foster mom? What do you do when you find kittens in a dumpster, thrown away like yesterday’s trash? This was the case of the four beautiful orphans in this picture.
They came to me flea-ridden from their dumpster environment. Since they were too young for chemical flea products, the only remedy was bathing, lots of bathing. Two of these kittens came to be known as Duncan, (because we dunked him so often), and Dipsy, as we dipped her equally frequently.
The orphans were hungry, very hungry. One thing you appreciate quickly is that mama cat can feed all of her babies at once, continually, but as a human you must feed them one at a time, while the others clamor for their share. You haven’t lived until you have had 80 little claws, sharp as needles, climbing your legs! As a foster mom to tiny babies, one does not get much sleep, for they must be fed every four hours, night and day. If they are newborn, it is every two hours. The reward is little purrs, for bottle-fed babies purr in response to their human “mom,” just as normal kittens purr contentedly next to mama cat. And, believe it or not, the little ones also need to be burped, just like a human baby.
On the other end, Mama licks kittens to stimulate them to urinate and defecate, then keeps them clean all in one action, so what does the human do? Rub their little bottoms with warm wash cloths to stimulate them and then use lots of tissue. When old enough, kittens follow mom to the litter box. Fortunately, orphans, too, will use the litter box quite naturally, when they are old enough to stumble into it. It takes a while, though, for them to learn to clean themselves, so foster mom must bathe them.
Although they still enjoy the comfort of nursing, curiosity causes kittens to follow mama cat to food and water. However, bottle-fed kittens do not learn so quickly. It takes a lot of coaxing to convince them to drink from a saucer or to even try moist food. A messy process it is, so that means more baths! Guess what? Kittens like this learn to love water, which carries into adulthood, when they try to take a bath with you. No spray bottles for discipline with these guys either: water is fun.
So it was, with patience and love, and a lot of fun, over the course of three weeks, the “dumpster babies” grew and flourished. They were ready for their permanent homes, and, like Pantera’s kittens, they were the Lucky Ones.
Now in the heart of “kitten season” again, we can only ask, “What will happen to the many kittens abandoned in a park or thrown from a car on a country road? Will they be among the Lucky Ones?”
