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Guess who’s got the run of the entire house during the day now?
Dewey spent most of the first day getting all up in Uncle Charlie’s face and hissing at him. Uncle Charlie, as you can see, was terrified.
All three of the Ducklings enjoyed time on Uncle Khal’s playground.
The big cat tree is a big hit, too.
Louie likes being up high.
They have met the Roomba and they are intrigued.
I think they started getting access to downstairs on Thursday, and they spent most of the first day running downstairs and then right back up. Over the weekend they got more comfortable, and now they are all OVER the house, getting into shenanigans and mischief. They go back into the foster room for the night, and it took no time at all for them to realize that when the TV goes off and I head upstairs, they should follow me. I give them their dinner, shut the door, and they’re in for the night.
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The Crumbs are in and out of the crate constantly. Crumpet is handling it pretty well.
She doesn’t mind abandoning them to come over to me for petting when I walk into the room.
Pile of cute, with a yawning Babka on top.
And back they go into the crate.
At the milk bar.
So if you look at that picture of the kittens going back into the crate, you might notice Pita’s splayed back legs. At rest, she looked very much like a little frog.
She – and Ciabatta – have what’s known as Swimmers Syndrome. They’re not sure what causes it, but it’s easily treatable. You use tape to basically tape the back legs together (loosely), to encourage them to use their legs correctly. I’ve heard of Swimmers Syndrome (though it’s considered rare, a LOT of kittens go through Forgotten Felines, and if there’s a condition Michelle hasn’t seen, I don’t want to know what it is) but haven’t had kittens with it before.
I watched about 100 videos about how to tape kittens, and there are pretty much 100 different ways to do it. I decided to follow the guidance in this video. (I tried to embed the video, but they have that disabled I guess.)
I decided that we should bring Pita into the foster room and tape her in there, because I was pretty sure she would probably meow and I didn’t want to do it in a space where Crumpet felt she needed to defend her kitten from us. So I went in, picked up Pita and walked out of the room with her.
Crumpet’s reaction? “Alrighty, then.” No howling at the door, no pacing back and forth, just watched me go out the door and shrugged.
First time we tried it, we used vet tape – the stuff that sticks to itself but not fur or skin – and while it looked great, it took about 20 seconds for Pita to walk right out of that stuff. So we followed the guidance in that video, got that EXACT medical tape, and used that.
Oh, and guess who wanted to see what was going on?
Pita was like “Oh, it’s a big kitty. No big deal.” Dewey said “Oh, it’s a tiny defenseless kitten. HISS.”
Huey also had some hissing to do.
This is a not-very-good shot of what she looks like taped.
While it looks really limiting, I can tell you that it doesn’t bother her, and it doesn’t slow her down one tiny bit. She gets in and out of the crate, she walks around. It’s been four days, and I can see a definite improvement in how she moves – her feet are under her, her back end is up, she looks great.
(For the record, it doesn’t bother Crumpet at all, either. Fred said “What are we going to do if Mama chews through the tape?” and I said “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” So far, it hasn’t been an issue.)
We waited one more day to tape Ciabatta because I wasn’t entirely convinced that he had Swimmers – he seemed to be able to get his feet under him and wasn’t flat on his stomach. But I finally decided we needed to tape him because he really did have a pretty significant splay (see in the picture below).
Louie and Huey are all “Is that a frog?”
Immediately post-taping, we were checking how he moved, and Dewey came in to see what was what.
So that’s what’s going on with Ciabatta and Pita and their feet, if you were curious (you may see tape in videos or pictures for the next little while.) I massage their legs and move them through the range of motion maybe 4 – 5 times a day (that’s something I do in the room while Crumpet is distracted elsewhere.) Fingers crossed that this works quickly and we can remove the tape before too long.
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Newt’s all “Kittens, you say? Running around the house? Which means that I can go into the foster room and eat their food? Well, if they MUST run around the house, they must.”
(Uncle Newt has made more than a few visits to the food bowl in the foster room. He strolls into their room, totally ignores them, and eats their food while they watch. No shame in this old man’s game.)
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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) this weekend.
Rabbit rabbit rabbit. 🐰 (Dewey)
From Wikipedia: “Rabbit rabbit rabbit” is a superstition found in Britain and North America wherein a person says or repeats the words “rabbit”, “rabbits” and/or “white rabbits” aloud upon waking on the first day of a month, to ensure good luck for the rest of it.
Ciabatta (left) and Babka, side by side. This picture makes it look like he’s half her size, but he’s the biggest one in the litter, so it must be the angle!
YouTube link
Visiting with the Crumbs, who are out and about (and sleepy).
Mama Crumpet is surprisingly chill about this whole thing – she’s seen me touching the kittens (and the kittens sniffing me) and as long as no one cries she’s fine. If a kitten squeaks, she gives me A Look, but doesn’t get involved.
Outta the crate, on the comfy rug. I gotta say, I love having them out of the crate so I can get better pictures of them all.
YouTube link
The kittens are playing a game on Fred’s tablet, and having a blast. (I know y’all are going to ask me what the name of the game is. I haven’t a clue, and Fred’s in a meeting. If I remember, I’ll ask him and add that information here…but don’t hold your breath.)
The kittens were nursing when I walked into the room, and Crumpet got up immediately to come over to me for petting. Pumpernickel stayed like this, with his tongue hanging out, for a couple of minutes before he ever-so-slowly slurped it back into his mouth.
Good night innernets. (Huey and Dewey)
These boys just LOVE to play in the bathroom. (Left to right: Huey, Louie, and Dewey)
That is one cute little pile of sleepy.
YouTube link
Dewey has a complaint, and he’s not afraid to express it! (He wanted me to pick him up and cuddle him… which I did immediately after the video ended!)
Louie’s all “Paws UP, y’all!”
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Who’s who at the milk bar? Well, I can tell you for sure which one is Pita (mostly white with the black dot), but otherwise, who knows?
I said “Whatcha doin’, Pita? Are you biting someone’s tail?” and she said “Who, me? I’d never!”
Good night innernets. (Dewey)
Dewey and the lady bug.
YouTube link
4 of the 5 kittens are at the milk bar, and Babka goes exploring. She finds a toy, but she’s not sure what it is.
Ciabatta has a complaint and that complaint is “Mama! That lady is back AGAIN!” From left: Babka (using Pita as a pillow), Pita, Ciabatta, and Crouton. And that’s the back of Pumpernickel’s head at the bottom of the picture.
YouTube link
Dewey’s feeling very sassy today!
Huey’s enjoying some sunshine.
Good night innernets. (That’s Crouton at the back, Pita is next to her, then Ciabatta, I think.)
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Previously
2023: No entry.
2022: Mimosa’s kittens (at least thus far) have handled being picked up and held really well.
2021: “Okay lady, you go ‘way now.”
2020: “Watching you, lady. Watching. YOU.”
2019: We have a climber, and an appreciative Pa.
2018: No entry.
2017: No entry.
2016: No entry.
2015: “Why you make it snow, lady? Don’t you know we in the south?”
2014: ONE DAY I’ll get a picture of a cat snuggling with Molly. (Or not!)
2013: “Um, still baking, lady. NONE of us want underdone kittens!”
2012: Nursing babies. OH SO SWEET.
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: These pigs are probably going to be the happiest, most well-fed pigs in the area.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
One of my cat’s kittens (this was 10 years ago) had frog legs. I didn’t know I was supposed to tape them. She learned to walk, run and jump just fine. It just took her an extra week to hit all her milestones.
Which isn’t too say that you shouldn’t tape them. I am well aware that I may have just gotten lucky.
I’ve actually heard that it’s not uncommon for the condition to correct itself – I just didn’t want to not do anything and then wish I did (I figure the older they get, the longer it would take to correct it.) Michelle did say that she thought the kittens might just be a bit delayed, but ultimately suggested I tape them. Ciabatta slipped one of his tape loops this morning and was walking around dragging a piece of tape, and he’s definitely improved (but ultimately still more splayed than I want to see, so we re-taped him.)
It’s amazing how quickly kittens pick up routines and habits, as a group. When I had fosters, I had a feeding routine in my kitchen where they lined up, in the same spots, every meal time. It amazed people to see my “line ’em up” pics.
My adult cats aren’t that organized at meal times; could it be because they aren’t siblings? I don’t know if that’s the difference or not. Ages?
Love your pics, as always. You’d probably tire hearing it from me day after day…”What? Her again? Doesn’t she have a life?!” My one and favorite blog. 🙂
I have never ever gotten my adult permanent residents that organized – and I suspect I never will! 🙂
I heard about Swimmers Syndrome on ‘The Zoo’ (Bronx Zoo program on Animal Planet). They had a snow leopard kitten who had it and they thought it might have been the result of her being a single kitten who was larger due to having no sibling in utero. They did the tape thing & also made a sling to lift her up during therapy to help get her legs under her. She did very well and was able to walk, jump & climb like normal. The next litter the mother had was also a singlet with the same problem, but they started dealing with it earlier since they had figured out what to do and the kitten grew up with no more problems.
I’m pretty sure one of the videos I watched was from that episode!
So glad that the Swimmers can be treated and corrected with a “home remedy”. Good to know why Pita and Ciabatta will be toddling around with colorful shackles on!
“Dewey spent most of the first day getting all up in Uncle Charlie’s face and hissing at him. Uncle Charlie, as you can see, was terrified.” Too funny!! Unca Charlie is so good with the fosters.
Pita and Ciabatta will do well in a couple of weeks. Good you saw it early and took corrective measures.
The Crumbs are so cute, I’m sure it is hard not smooching them a million times, you will have a lot of make-up when they get a bit older and Momma Crumpet relaxes her guard.
And what’s worse is that they are so SOFT and so CHUBBY and I just want to snuggle them right up to my face, but I don’t want to make Mama mad!
The picture of Dewey in the bunny basket looks like he truly has bunny feet.
Fred pointed that out – I totally didn’t notice!
What causes Swimmers legs?
They’re not sure – there are guesses (something with their ligaments), but no one seems to know for sure.
How long do the little ones’ legs have to be taped? It’s amazing how well they toddle even with the tape!
I think it shouldn’t have to be more than, at most, a couple of weeks. Ciabatta slipped his foot out of the tape this morning, and we watched him walk around, and he’s already moving much better than he was.