◊◊ The mother cat
in our house, nursing its kittens.
The Cats in the house:
On July 12th,2007; the local "rouge" cat, (the most notorious rogue cat in
the locality!) gave birth to 4 cute little kittens on the
attic. They were, as all kittens are when born, helpless with their eyes
not opened and could barely crawl. The cat attended and nursed its kittens
the entire day, and does not go anywhere else on that day. You could get
quite bored observing it lick itself and its kittens all day!
Cats are mostly selfish creatures, & I
don't have any liking for them. I would go for a dog rather than a cat any
time. But, it was really interesting & fun to know their ways. So, here below, is an account of the
experience & observation made by me during the birth & the growth of the 4
kittens..
 NEW!!
CAT
PROFILES :
More details & images of the cats in our locality, their behavior &
character. Starting from the local "rouge" cat that gave birth to the four
kittens..
MORE..
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The local cat in our house & its 4 kittens, after about a month
after the birth.
AFTER BIRTH:
There is nothing extraordinary or anything out of common in the above account, as it is
just how
all cats behave. (See Cat's Behavior)
As the kittens grew, they could crawl more efficiently and now, they are
nearly walking. It took them about fifteen days, to open their eyes. One
of the two bigger ones opened its one eye a day before the other three
did, then the other bigger one, also opened its eye. Within a day or two,
they had now opened both eyes, followed by the two smaller sized kittens
opening their eyes in the following days. As the kittens grew, they could
crawl more efficiently and now, they were nearly walking. It took them
about fifteen days, to open their eyes. One of the two bigger ones opened
its one eye a day before the other three did, then the other bigger one,
also opened its eye. Within a day or two, they had now opened both eyes,
followed by the two smaller sized kittens opening their eyes in the
following days.
The cat, is a very sensitive animal, and it has its own sign language to
communicate with fellow felines, and through which it tries to communicate
with us humans, which is sometimes misunderstood. It was a coincidence
that, around a week these kittens were born, I stumbled upon a TV program in Animal Planet, as I was surfing through the channels. It was
very useful to me in such a time, as I came to know about certain
gestures of the cat & what they meant. For instance, if the cat, while
looking at you closes or, nearly closes its eyes, it means friendship, and
trusts you. If you do the same by nearly closing your eyes, it means
something like that you have accepted the friendship. The cats constantly
give and look for gestures and signs, and sometimes may misunderstand any
of our gestures or movements as it might mean something else in the cat's
language. for instance, an aversion of eyes and turning your face away can
be misunderstood by the cat as a friendly invitation.
Time for play!
Yawning in front of their owner and blinking behavior is common in cats
and may be a sign of trust or affection. Some cats will respond to a human
who dramatically yawns or closes and opens their eyes by reciprocating the
action. I have tried this with our local cat myself. I blink back when it
does so, & if I give it a blink or slowly close my eyes, it also does the
same. You can try this with your cat & this might just help improve your
friendly relationship with it!
Purring is a sign of content, & I have noticed our local cat purr when
stroked or rubbed or being petted. It also purrs pretty loudly when the
kittens are feeding on its milk. Even a local male cat, (the only male cat
that I have seen not to run away from us humans in our area) that used to
come to our backyard demanding food, which liked very much being petted,
also purred quite loudly while being petted.
Of the 4 kittens, 2 male, & 2 female(not for sure, as the kittens are
too small), the male ones are
comparatively
bigger in size than the female, and also appear to be the more aggressive
than the latter. The kittens, in their mother's absence once came to the
edge of the attic & fell down to nearly 7 feet below, & apparently,
incurred no physical damage! (They were very frightened, of course & were
screaming at the top of their voice.) Just imagine what would happen to a
human baby of proportional age if it fell from such a height!
This ability for cats to land on their feet with little or no injury, is
the "Righting Reflex". They can do this more easily than other animals due
to their flexible spine and lack of a collar bone. Cats also use vision
and/or their vestibular apparatus to help tell which way to turn. They
then can stretch themselves out and relax their muscles.
Cats do not
always land unharmed, and can break bones and die from excessive falls.
The cats can never be controlled by force, as they do only what they wish
to do. They don't like to be chained or imprisoned, but like to be free.
The cat only does what it likes, & will not submit to your wishes.
Well, now the kittens are walking, & pretty soon will be running around
all over the place!
The curious little explorers in our house!!
AFTER A MONTH:
All the pictures of the cat and the kittens are after the
kittens started walking. At this point of time, they are about a month old
and are proving to be very playful and curious explorers, exploring their
territories!
The kittens are now trying to eat solid food with their little teeth.
One of them must have tried to gobble up an entire chunk of dosa, & was
uneasy, crying out in a strange tone as though something was stuck in its
throat. It finally vomited out a little chunk of food. They are learning
their ways one by one..
This local cat gave birth to its first kitten outside our house. There was only one
surviving kitten as I
remember, & when it was about a couple of months old, was killed by
the stray dogs. The next time, this cat had given birth to 3 kittens at my
neighbor's place. It must be around 4th or 5th time this cat has given
birth (could be 5th, 6th time too. Don't know for sure. It's after a year
or two it has shown up regularly here.)
Exploration & Play continues..
AFTER TWO MONTHS:
The kittens now keep playing all over the attic. Its real hard to keep things clean up in the attic and
the place now stinks real bad of the smell of kitten urine+stools!! We have kept a sandbox, but still the stools are found around it too.
We've got a hard time cleaning up the attic now & then. But, with all the troubles, its a real joy watching the little
ones play. A person not knowing any better might think they are fighting, but right now, its all play for them.
The mother cat keeps bringing some creature or the other, half-alive,
to the kittens. Once, when I saw a bat in its mouth, almost dead. The cat
& the kittens managed to finish of the carcass & I never found the bones
of the dead bat. The creature it brought most recently for its kittens was
a half-dead mouse. The kittens try to gobble everything, but still they
just cannot eat everything. The count until now is, 3 rats and 2 bats. The
half-eaten rat was found in two cases, but any remains of the bats are not
yet found! The kittens are right now real cute, & very playful. The two
kittens, #1 and
#3, purr quite loudly when getting petted, but mostly will
be biting or scratching our hands or fingers. Must be their kind of
"play". Kitten #1 the largest in size of the four, is the one on the right
in the image below. The other two, however do not like being touched by
humans and are somewhat cowardly when they face humans. Below is the most
recent picture taken of the four kittens. From left to right,
kitten #4,
#3, #2, #1.
 The Four Kittens At
Age Two Months..
By:
PRADEEP
 
CAT PROFILES: More details & images of the cats in our locality, their behavior &
character. Starting from the local "rouge" cat that gave birth to the four
kittens..
The local cat and its 4 kittens, after about a month after the birth.
The local cat in our house now, is a domestic shorthaired cat. A domestic
shorthaired cat (DSH) is the proper name for a shorthaired cat that does
not have a pedigree or belong to a recognized cat breed. They are far and
away the most popular type of housecat kept as a pet. They also make up
nearly all of the members of groups of farm cats kept on farms. Domestic
shorthairs are typically the most successful members in feral cat
populations due to not needing human intervention for coat maintenance.
They are characterized by a wide range of colouring and typically 'revert
to type' after a few generations, which means they express their coats as
a tabby. This can be any color or combination of colors. They also exhibit
a wide range of physical characteristics, and as a result, domestic
shorthaired cats in different countries tend to look different in body
shape and size, as they are working from differing gene pools. DSH cats in
Asia tend to have a build similar to Siamese or Tonkanese purebreds, while
European and American varieties have a thicker, heavier build.
Domestic Cat or House Cat is the most familiar feline, which first became
associated with humans about 10,000 years ago. Its wild relative, the
Desert Wildcat, still lives in the Near East and Africa, although habitat
destruction has restricted its range. Other well-known members of the
feline family include big cats such as the Lion, the Tiger, the Leopard,
the Jaguar, the Cougar, and the Cheetah, and other wild cats such as the
lynxes and the Caracal. The extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, including
the "saber-toothed cats" such as the well known Smilodon, were also true
felines, in contrast to similar animals such as Thylacosmilus or
Nimravidae.
 MORE ABOUT CATS |
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SOME MORE THINGS:
The kittens, two months after birth..
The particularly loose skin at the back of the neck is known as the
scruff, and is the area by which a mother cat grips her kittens to carry
them. As a result, cats tend to become quiet and passive when gripped
there. This tendency often extends into adulthood, and can be useful when
attempting to treat or move an uncooperative cat. However, since an adult
cat is heavier than a kitten, a pet cat should never be carried by the
scruff, but should instead have their weight supported at the rump and
hind legs, and at the chest and front paws.
Cats are unique eaters; there is no other mammal that eats quite like
them. They are obligate carnivores, and can survive without vegetation.
Felines in the wild will usually hunt smaller mammals regularly throughout
the day to keep themselves nourished. Domestic cats, however, are used to
a relaxed lifestyle and, therefore, will eat even smaller amounts, but
more regularly.Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks old (the recommended
minimum age by Fédération Internationale Féline), or when they are ready
to leave their mother.
MORE>>
Some
more details of the
cat, It's
behavior,
its body language & vocal calls are given which might help you
understand them better.. |
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