Llj's Kitten Thread, The Rosebush One.

[lljdma06]

Cleo is SO goshdarn adorable, I swear.

...every orange cat with no white or other colors is a male, just my luck, my favorite color and I can't get males.

Not true, solid orange tabby females exist, they are just more rare. This is because the gene for orange exists on the X chromosome, and is codominant with other colours when heterozygous. Males cats only have one X chromosome, so they only get one copy of the gene... orange gene = orange cat, non-orange gene = not orange cat. Females have two copies of the X chromosome, so they can have two copies of non-orange, a non-orange and an orange, or both orange genes. Both orange is what you are looking for, and will produce an orange cat, but if genes for white splotches are present they will not be solid. However, solid is entirely possible. If a female cat has one copy of the orange gene and one copy of non-orange, you get a calico or tortie

... wall of text.

That's ok, it's perhaps because it is in my thread. My influence. I am known to produce walls of text in the planted section.

llj

PS: Teeny update. All are on solid food now. Even the nipple lovers. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

 

[K.J.]

Just curious, did they open their eyes all at once in one day or gradually? Mine are just opening their eyes, but some of it is still glued together. Also, did they look like they had milky eyes, eg no pupils when they opened?

 

[lljdma06]

Just curious, did they open their eyes all at once in one day or gradually? Mine are just opening their eyes, but some of it is still glued together. Also, did they look like they had milky eyes, eg no pupils when they opened?

No, the eyes don't open right away and not all at once. It was funny, for a little while some of them had half an eye open and others had mixed degrees of openess and it was pretty strange. The eyes at first are kind of out of focus looking too. It actually kind of looks like Gollum from LOTR. That is the best way to describe the new eyes. They are still adjusting to the light levels and don't really have good pupil control when they are just opening. I actually kept the lights dimmer at first, so it wouldn't be such a shock. They don't see too well at first, either.

Buckwheat was the worst, his eyes were shut much longer and he had an eye infection. One eye was really filled with puss and I had to drain it and clean it everytime I fed him. Thank goodness, my vet prescribed an antibiotic eye ointment for Lucy, who also had an infection, but not as serious. He said I could dose the kittens, but at a reduced level. It was a great idea too, they are much better for it. There was a time where I dreaded that Buckwheat would become blind, but he's fine now and actually the fattest.

llj

 

[K.J.]

Ah yeah, I was worried that something was wrong with my kittens. Worrisome first mother, I suppose! Found this wierd picture on google, sort of looked like that, no actual pupil or anything...

 

[lljdma06]

Time for a mini-update. I'll try and get pictures later, but I'm really pretty tired. They are getting really cute and huge! Buckwheat's nearly 2lbs, and he's not fat! He's going to be crazy big when he grows up. He's bigger than some kittens twice his age.

On a more sour note, it seems that all the kittens, Lucy included, have decided to come down with coccidia. I overheard them discussing it last week when I was cleaning out their litter. Cleo motioned it and Lucy seconded it. It was a unanimous decision, the little traitors. I need a vet's confirmation, but I'm pretty positive that that's what it is, after a few hours of research. Thank goodness, nobody is dehydrated, listless, or anything. In fact, other than some funky stool , and I mean funky, they are behaving like normal rambuctous kittens (playing, eating, running, gaining weight, purring, escaping, painting walls with poo, driving me nuts, etc.) This is actually a pretty common condition, so I don't feel too bad. I'm keeping things as clean as possible and am very glad I have not exposed the kittens to the other pets. That was pretty prudent on my part. Lucy's going to the vet today for a final set of boosters and I'm going to bring Max to the vet as well. Hopefully, if the vet is as nice as I hope he is, he'll give me something to treat all the kittens. I am fortunate, as I think that this is a very mild case. Can't take any chances, though.

I won't adopt them out until this is cleared up. I am going to be very poor. Just have to keep thinking...

"Good deed for the year, good deed for the year, good deed for the year..."

After this, I'm pretty much done with kittens. I truely cannot wait for these little buggers to grow up and become low-maintenance, lovable pets.

llj

 

[Miss Wiggle]

awwww bless ya llj, one kitten is hard work enough i cannot imagine having a load of them.

while (as you well know) i love kittens, having one and having to wait a whole year before she's even started to mellow out (she still fairly kitten like now actually) has been hard work, and has certainly influenced my future descisions regarding adopting younger or older animals!!

 

[Bloo]

After this, I'm pretty much done with kittens. I truely cannot wait for these little buggers to grow up and become low-maintenance, lovable pets.

Shucks it sounds like it's a complete madhouse there! and costing you a complete arm and a leg
And we need more piccies!

while (as you well know) i love kittens, having one and having to wait a whole year before she's even started to mellow out (she still fairly kitten like now actually) has been hard work, and has certainly influenced my future descisions regarding adopting younger or older animals!!

I cannot agree more. I just got a kitten myself last week (yeah I know - pics to follow!) and she's driving me nuts. She's the cutest little fairy cake but it's just non stop action - which is quite tiring (for me!!). Not sure how to cope with more than one kitten to be frank. Lovely and cute as they are, I can't wait for her to be more of a lapcat! lol

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks for your kind responses, Bloo and Miss Wiggle. As it turns out, Max and Lucy's fecals were both negative! So no coccidia. I'm a little stumped as to what it is then, but the vet says it's probably the wet food. I'll keep a close watch and make sure they are hydrated. If it doesn't get any better, it's back to the vet with them. He advocates a dry diet, other vets advocate purely wet, others purely dry, so of course, it's totally up to what the cats like. Max got his first shots too, so he stays with me, which is what I wanted in the first place. The tech thought he was great and very well-behaved, unlike Lucy who's a total pain when I take her to the vet, though she did mind me.

I work on some photos after dinner and post either late tonight or early tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Thanks again.

llj

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

Aaaw. They are so adorable. And I'm sure, once you get your life back to normal, you'll miss them something rotten. They are too cute.

I especially love Cleo. She is so beautiful. It's just brilliant how you've put so much into raising them. Good on you. I'm sure watching them grow and thrive is very rewarding to watch. I look forward to the new pics. They've probably changed so much already.

And Bloo, where are the pics of your new little one??? Don't keep us in suspenders

 

[Miss Wiggle]

phew, glad they're ok

 

[pica_nuttalli]

After this, I'm pretty much done with kittens. I truely cannot wait for these little buggers to grow up and become low-maintenance, lovable pets.

Shucks it sounds like it's a complete madhouse there! and costing you a complete arm and a leg
And we need more piccies!

while (as you well know) i love kittens, having one and having to wait a whole year before she's even started to mellow out (she still fairly kitten like now actually) has been hard work, and has certainly influenced my future descisions regarding adopting younger or older animals!!

I cannot agree more. I just got a kitten myself last week (yeah I know - pics to follow!) and she's driving me nuts. She's the cutest little fairy cake but it's just non stop action - which is quite tiring (for me!!). Not sure how to cope with more than one kitten to be frank. Lovely and cute as they are, I can't wait for her to be more of a lapcat! lol

i've actually always thought it was easier with multiple kittens as they're slightly more interested in playing with each other than they are in playing with you

i can't wait to carry my kitty with me to my new apartment

 

[K.J.]

Aw, that's fantastic.

Just another eye question. How old were they when the eyes cleared up? Mine at 18 days old and still kinda milky.

 

[lljdma06]

Aw, that's fantastic.

Just another eye question. How old were they when the eyes cleared up? Mine at 18 days old and still kinda milky.

The eyes really started being pretty clear at three weeks, so you've got a few days yet. Even then, the eye sight isn't really super until they're a bit older.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Update:

I'm happy to report that 5 kittens are now down to 4. Sonny was adopted Yesterday by a very good friend of mine. We'll miss his little happy face, but I know he will be well-cared for and happy in his new home. I can also get updates since I know his owner. Those are the best types of adoptions. I'll let you know how big he gets.

Look out for a thread detailing Sonny's life with me in pictures...

llj

EDIT: I know he is a bit young for adoption, but the person I adopted him to understands his special needs. I wouldn't do this with some one I didn't know, nor would I advise it. Sonny is also very large for his age. The people at church thought he and Buckwheat were 8 weeks and were shocked to find out they only just-turned six weeks. Considering that Buckwheat is probably 2 lbs already, I'm not surprised. Lucy wasn't even 2lbs at 8 weeks.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

my what big feet they must have