Monday, June 06, 2005

Seven-week old kittens

The seven feral kittens are now seven weeks old. They wash, they explore, they eat kitten food, they drink milk and water, they play, and they're really quite affectionate. I'm not sure when is the best time to take them to the Paphos sanctuary for animals - I thought about eight weeks, but they're still quite happy here and after all, kittens are supposed to be 12 or 13 weeks old before they leave their mother. I may go and talk to the Cat Protection League charity shop and see what they suggest. In the last magazine about the sanctuary, there were worrying reports of it possibly having to close if there wasn't sufficient funding as it has to move location by the end of June. So I'll find out what's going on.

This afternoon Tim decided to cut the 'lawn' which was looking a bit overgrown after our heavy rain last Tuesday. So I went to sit with the kittens - not that they would have gone near the lawnmower, they found the noise frightening, which is all to the good. But Tim didn't want to risk any of them getting underfoot. They were very playful and started to explore a little raised patio area above where they usually live, as well as the main patio and the steps up to the kitchen. So I took a load of photos... I did consider trying to combine them into one post, but I think they speak for themselves. We've still managed to avoid giving them any names and just refer to them by their colouring, other than the large ginger who is still sometimes called Darwin. They move fast but the photos below managed to catch all of them, including one shot when they were all still for a moment!

2 comments:

Julie said...

The kitties are so cute! (I had to go back through your archives and find out how you got them) They look healthy and happy--much better than they would've been if you hadn't "adopted" them. That's truly the mark of a kind person. :)
Thanks for stopping by my site and for your wonderful comment. Yes, you're right--they do make their own memories, and will probably have much richer ones that I have. They've had experiences that I would never have dreamed of at their ages. I hope they remember them fondly. :)

Lora said...

Great photos! I was hoping you'd do an update on them again soon. That's troubling about the cat sancuary. I hope they recieve the needed funding. I've also have heard that kittens should stay with their mother until 12 weeks.