Just found a cat and newborn kittens in my garden on a low bench. WWYD??

[Pinot]

What large ears that sleepy kit has!

Haha that was really cute! How old do you reckon the kitten was? DH and I have been talking this morning and wondering when a cat gets full size? Our vizsla is nearly 10 months and she's pretty much fully sized.

Well the kittens spent 6 hours being passed round from person to person yesterday, everybody loved them and I had another 3 rehoming offers ... my niece even tried to sneak Ginger home with her They were brilliant and quite stole the show from DS and I !!

Glad to say no more poopy surprises this morning :)

We got our cat when she was 11 months old (ish) from Cats Protection and we think she has grown a little tiny bit since then having lived as a stray and had kittens before then. I think kittens can have kittens from around 5 or 6 months?

Usually full sized between 18m and 2 yrs. Though I can't say I've noticed much growth in any of mine much after 1 yr.

Our rescue cat was about the same age and had kittens as well northernlurker. She was very thin from feeding kittens and assume she was a stray when we got her in february . She is much bigger now but I am not sure if she has just filled out or actually grown as well.

Pinot, I've been lurking here from time to time to hear/ see how your kittens have been getting on.

Just looked at the photos, what an amazing & great job you've done.

When I was a girl our lovely cat died after having kittens and we didn't manage to keep them alive, despite trying.

Well done.

for most: about a year or so. Unneutered toms are the only ones who noticably grow much after that point

The are getting prettier by the day Pinot

Thanks bruffin. They had everybody cooing over them yesterday - and even sweeter, Gingers tail now has white rings round it whereas up to now it's been all ginge, so he's been called "tiger tail" all day

Goodnight that is so sad to hear and actually makes me feel a bit better about losing Rosie, if you see what I mean. I still feel awful that she died and yet her siblings are here and growing. I feel guilty that I didn't do something I should have. I just couldn't get her to feed, she was always (every feed) spluttering and aspirating. I tried and it got very stressful, but she was bigger and stronger than Meow and I thought she'd make it. Especially when her broken leg stopped swelling and seemed to improve. It was such a shock. Maybe it's yesterdays party bringing it all back, having to explain a few times about having 3 then now having 2.

Anyway, your message is very timely and thank you, really, I feel better about saving these two.

Good, you should feel proud.

I feel really guilty in my part of trying to help our kittens. I was about 12 and my mum had made a little nest for them in her bed. She had them in a box part covered by her duvet and with her electric blanket on very low to keep them warm.

I covered them up too much and got them too hot, resulting in sweaty, dehydrated tiny kittens . It was awful. I think it led to their deaths.

It takes careful, nurturing care and you've done it. Rosie, sadly wasn't robust and I don't think you could have dome any more.

You are a lovely woman, well done.

If I've learnt anything from this experience, it's that it's impossible to know what causes them to pass away when they do. They are so very very fragile and I totally understand your guilt and upset, but I wonder if it was coincidental otherwise they'd have died there and then. Rosie had survived being badly bitten, a broken leg, rejected and aspirating at every feed (so 12 feeds a day)...and yet, out of nowhere, she was gone within 2 hours of being 'off-colour'. She was fine up until that point :( Meow was very very cold when we picked her up and yet she survived. It just makes no sense really :( Think you and I both need to accept its Mother Natures way and let the guilt go. I hope you've got cats now? If not - adopt one or two :)

Pinot bringing up kittens as well as being queen of fake-tan advice! Where do you get the time??

. Yes, I have two cats now.

We adopted them as strays pre-children. They have stayed with us despite some very unsavory behaviour when their noses were put out of joint when our babies came (pooing on my mother whilst she was asleep/ peeing on the children in their cots / peeing on toasters/ spraying over handbags).

They were close to being shown the cat flap for good.

They are model cats now, very clean and sorted!

i have spent the best part of the last 3 hours reading the whole thread!!

pinot you wonderful woman!! the beautiful kitties you have are a testament to how amazing you are! hand rearing is one of the hardest, most demanding things there are (i shared hand rearing lambs/kids as a teenager when i worked in the nearby city farm) amazing story you have there and it really has deserved its place in MN classics
about rosie and how wonderful that you gave her such love and comfort for her short life.

i have a grumpy old boy (tiggy) who is a ginger and white, tail-less chunk of a cat and i would not know what to do with myself if i didnt have him at my feet, positively demanding i scratch his ears and tickle his belly

cats are one of the joys of this world and it is people like you, pinot, who make this world a better place for them all soppypandaemoticon

Panda thanks wow!

KateMM - haha!

Goodnight - I'll be PMing you soon for advice on how to re-train them when they go through their naughty faze!!!

Speaking of which, I am covered with scratches and little holes from their claws - they're definitely finding their attacking side which is very sweet to watch (just not to feel!) A couple of bites have been v-e-r-y hard and painful, what would a Mum cat do to let them know it's too much? The guides to rearing all say "react like a Mum cat would" but ??? what does that mean? Do I tap their nose (eek) . I'm a bit worried about them with the DS's tbh.

Help pweddy pwease for the puddy tats.... :)

Oh gosh, those new photos are beyond cute!

You're doing such a fab job with them, they look in fine form. Just adorable - squeee!

[kitten] [kitten] [kitten]

Mum cats swipe, growl or bite (but not hard). Enjoy biting your kittens

Mom cats bugger off when they get annoyed at the fighting. Usually to somewhere the kittens can't reach.

Putting them down or moving away when they're too rough is the best approach

OK! Mission "do-not-get-clawed-to-shreds" is a go! Have been out and bought them two scratching post things and some buzzy mouse toys...hoping they can use those instead of me. DH told me this morning I look like I self-harm, such is the amount of scratches on my wrists/arms Tis a good job I'm rock hard eh?

I was told that if a puppy 'bites' you (playful mouthing) you should yelp like a puppy in pain, so that it gets the message that it hurts you, so maybe with cats you should make an injured meow sound? A complete guess!
Or if they insist on playing with your hands instead of toys maybe get some medium weight gardening gloves (if that doesn't just encourage further hand biting?).
You're doing so well - when I got my two they were about 14 weeks and even then I remember being terrifed about how tiny and fragile they seemed!

Cheers Stinky. Ooh that sounds wrong but you know what I mean

4 new pics are up

Oh look at those little cats!

oh pinot those pictures are absolutely adorable. They are beautiful little kits. Me and my dd love the pics.

It is so lovely to go through all the pics from when they were tiny babies to what they look like now - healthy, happy kittens. It really is wonderful what you are doing.

I am going to get 2 kittens in 5 weeks . Funnily enough one is ginger, and the other one os black and white. I can't wait

Oh GOMC are you? How brilliant!! How old will they be then?

Oh they're proper kittens now! :o