Amy asked in my comments a week or so ago whether it’s normal for kittens to wiggle their ears like that when they’re nursing or if the Cookies are special.
Well, they ARE special, but it’s also normal for kittens to wiggle their ears like that. When the ears are wiggling, you know they’ve got a good latch going on and they’re swallowing formula like champs. The ear-wiggling is my favorite part of kittens this age.
Lorene posted a link to an excellent ear-wiggling video. That kitten is wiggling those ears so hard, he’s about to take flight, I think!
(But I would also like it very much if they’d transition over to regular food, because getting up at 4:30 every morning to feed them is about to kill me. I am not a morning person. At least not THAT much a morning person!)
What kills me about kittens this age is that sometimes there’s no consistency with what and how much they eat. One day last week it seemed like none of them were eating much at feeding time, which started to send us into a “OMG THEY ARE ALL GOING TO FADE AWAY TO NOTHING!” tizzy, and then the next day they all ate like pigs. One feeding time we’re all concerned about Pink (can you tell I still haven’t assigned them their cookie names yet? I will. Be patient.) because she’s so tiny (except that when I weighed them all, she was only an ounce smaller than the rest. They’re all edging up on 1 pound, which means they’re about the size the Wonkas were when we first got them!) and the next, we’re worried we’re going to run out of formula because she’s eating so much.
Sometimes they show interest in canned food, sometimes all they want is the bottle. A couple of times I’ve seen some of the kittens picking at the small bowl of Baby Cat (crunchy food) I leave in the room at all times.
By all rights, they probably should be contained to their cage all the time, because they’re not 100% on the litter box. Someone’s pooping and peeing under the desk, so our solution was to put a litter box there. Makes sense, right? They’re not at 100% on the litter box, but they’re getting there – maybe at 80%, most of the time.
We realized on Saturday that Pink had diarrhea that was so bad, her behind was swollen and fur was missing from the underside of the base of her tail. I’ve been keeping them as clean as possible, believe me – but apparently the diarrhea was worse than I realized. We’re treating it, and I think she’s getting better. I dabbed some hemorrhoid cream on her back end, and by Sunday afternoon it looked a lot better.
There are four Wonkas and five Cookies in this house, and I swear to god – it’s like we have twice as many Cookies as Wonkas. The Cookies have got lungs like Mariah Carrey and they USE them. You walk into the room, they flood over to you, and scream. And scream. And SCREAM. You snuggle them, they scream a little less often, but still – the screaming. Is it the Siamese in them that makes them scream, or what?
I want them to get the hang of the litter box 100% and transition to real food instead of the formula. But I also want them to stay this little forever!
I was rubbing her belly, and she was kneading in the air.
Crusty eyes. I’m sure she was taking a short break between screams.
“I. Haz. A. Complaint. LADY!”
Deceptively sweet looking. You wouldn’t guess she could shatter your eardrums, would you?
The least screamy of the screamers. Does he look like a Precious Moments doll, or what?
Could you just DIE? He looks like a toothless old man. An EXCITED toothless old man. Like, “I heard they was servin’ chocolate pudding at the Senior Center. Outta my WAY!”
Some afternoons, I lay down on the floor of the foster kitten room and take a nap. Veruca likes it when I lay on my side, so she can perch on the side of my legs. She naps, too.
Pretty, pretty Violet.
The many faces of Gus:
No True Bloods adopted this weekend, unfortunately. ::sigh:: Maybe this week will be their lucky week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
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Previously
2008: No entry.
2007: “Um, NO. There is NO ROOM on the platform, so move away. MOVE AWAY, I say!”
2006: No entry.
2005: Tragic.
Keely will kill me if I get a cat. Keely will kill me if I get a cat.
OMG! That Gus is so stinking cute!!! Look at that personality coming out in those pics!
You know what? I better not ever tell her about Gus or show her these pictures because she might insist on going to get Gus for me!!
I see the tag for “permanent residents” there. So who is the lucky keeper? Or maybe they all are? Nice Freudian slip there. *snicker*
Yep, I think that’s a pretty good guess that it’s the Siamese in them that makes them so noisy! I remember the litter my Tonk came from (50% Tonks and 50% Meezers), and ohmigosh, they were noisy. Of course, we picked the most vocal of the bunch, and to this day she’s still a huge talker. I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep that up for the rest of their lives (which is good for being adopted, ’cause I think being vocal is an adorable quality).
The Wonkas are starting to fill out so much! They look giant next to the Cookies!
OMG! Gus is the cutest kitty ever!
Yep, I concur re: the Siamese and the talking. We have a partial Siamese and while she’s not as talky as some, she does like to have her say.
Also, Gus? Too cute! He looks like Mr. Yuck in that last picture.
Totally agree about the Siamese. I have a Siamese and he’s a talker. I also had a Tuxedo and he was a big mouth too.
I think the True Bloods are probably a bit weird looking to people who don’t know their story. Maybe they could post a bit about them, or you could write something, like a “best of” of all your TB posts?
Kristina: Nah, it was a typo. Or a click-o. I hit the wrong category when I was posting. That’s what happens when I’m trying to post something too early in the morning. 🙂
Hélène: There’s a booklet at the adoption center with pictures and an in-depth description of what’s going on with their eyes. I think maybe just the right people haven’t come along and fallen in love with them. Just a matter of time, I’m sure. I’d just like it to happen sooner rather than later!
OMG the ear wiggling is adorable! Have bottle fed puppies when a kid (40 years ago I am OLD!) but never kittens. The brown lips on that one kitten slay me! Sooo cute! I want a meezer one day!
Oh, yes! Siamese are, to put it mildly, highly vocal. Our siamese-mix grumps and screeches and yowls constantly (can’t even really call it a “meow”). I can mostly tune her out at this point, but visitors are always asking what the hell is wrong with our cat.
They are all such cuties – I hope they all start to feel better. Maybe Pink is a loner because of her tummy troubles – it is so tough to tell with kittens. They are all such cuties they really cheer me up today.
I can’t believe that none of the True Bloods got snatched up this weekend. I love their wonky eyes and of course, Terry’s wonky paws. If I was nearby and I could I would snatch them all up. Of course it might be a bit soon in our house for that, plus 4 would make our tiny place very crowded, with the 4 that are there now. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they find good homes very soon.
I really enjoyed this post! How can such tiny kittens make such noisy SCREAMING sounds???? I’ve never had a “Mese”, but I had a good friend with three of them, and they were VERY, VERY vocal and opinionated. 🙂
I have an 18 year old torbie (tabby+tortie) who is deaf as a post. Would you like to talk about LOUD???? She can’t hear herself, so she yells everything. Needless to say, we love it and laugh often.
Our 8 year old longhair black cat has a voice like Joey Heatherton — breathy and soft. His meows sound like “hhhyaooo” and are almost inaudible. If it weren’t for the contrast between his black face and his pink mouth, I don’t think I’d detect his meow at all. On the other hand, he has quite a loud “trill” sound that he makes to greet, before he jumps up, and at other odd times.
They’re all special, aren’t they?
Hope the True Bloods go home forever soon. They’re special, no doubt.
Oh my, a litter of kitties at the local no-kill Meow Cat Rescue needs some “Eyelips” too! Chance, Destiny, and Hope… http://www.meowcatrescue.org/
Gus Gus Gus. Love that little feller. The fuzzy ears are amazing. Are you going to mix the cookies and wonkas together when the cookies are weaned?
Limbo: Thanks for the link, I’m going to go check it out right now!
Jean: No, we won’t be mixing them. At least not ’til after the Wonkas’ retest in mid-December. But imagining the reaction from the Wonkas if we were to bring the five little screamers into their space – well, it’s sure making me laugh! 🙂
I love Gus so much. If we didn’t already have five….
Gus has some WILD ear hair!!!
Like Cynthia, my 17 year old blue tuxedo cat, Bunny, has gone deaf as a post, and he is SO LOUD now. He has always been a quiet cat, but now he SHRIEKS. It startles everyone else in the house, and then he’s like, OH GOOD I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION.
Such great pictures! “Chocolate pudding at the seniors center” LOL!
You might want to consider whether someone is harassing Pink’s bum while she’s sleeping. We’ve currently got a foster kitten separated from the rest because he tends to suckle inappropriately, in fact another kitten in that litter is still at the vet recovering from the oversuckling damage. It’s possible the cream is deterring the kitten who is sucking. You can try putting some bitter cream at the base of the tail to deter that kind of thing too.
Lorene: yeah, I thought of that, but I’m about 99% sure that’s not the issue. It certainly can’t hurt to put bitter cream on her just to be safe, though!
Oh my goodness, how many kittens were in that video? I don’t know which was cuter- the ear wiggling kitten or all those mews in the background.