Growing Kittens!

When we first took the kittens in, we couldn't find the postal scale to weigh them (and hence get an idea of how much to feed them). So we guesstimated -- filling a light plastic container with 8 oz. of water and holding container in one hand and kitten in the other. Black seemed to weigh just about as much as the container, and Grey weighed a bit more.

Friday (October 1), I took the kittens to the Randolph Animal Hospital and my vet Susan Harrington weighed them. Black was 280 grams (a shade under 10 ounces) and Gray weighed in at 334 grams (almost 12 ounces). They'd each downed about 2 ounces of milk replacement by then.

I've since found the postal scale, and have been weighing the kittens every day to make sure they're gaining weight as they should be. I've still been guesstimating, though -- kittens don't sit quietly on postal scales.

I didn't think to write the results down for several days, but will be a bit more scientific about this from now on. Weights are taken in the morning, before breakfast, when the scale will indicate kitten weight rather than kitten-plus-milk-replacement-formula-in-a-round-tummy weight.

Tuesday, 10/5/04: Black 13 oz., Grey 15 oz.

Wednesday, 10/6: Black 14 oz, Grey 16 oz (a whole pound!)

Thursday, 10/7: Black 14 oz, Grey 17 oz. (The little black kitten wasn't all that hungry yesterday, but she seems back on track today.)

Friday, 10/8: Black 16 oz (a milestone!), Grey 18 oz.

Saturday, 10/9: Black 16-18 oz (she wasn't cooperating, which is why there's not a picture of her on the postal scale, too), Grey 20 oz (a pound and a quarter!).

Sunday, 10/10: I forgot to weigh them before feeding them...

Monday, 10/11: Black: 18-19 oz (she just isn't as hungry as her brother, plus she's the adventurous one and burns a lot of calories exploring and climbing!), Grey 22 oz

Tuesday, 10/12: Black: 19-20 oz (it's getting harder to get her to keep still long enough to get anything close to an accurate weight), Grey 24 oz (a pound and a half!)

...

Saturday, 10/23: Why no updates for more than a week?

I couldn't get the kittens to stay still long enough to get any sort of useful reading off the postal scale!

They've slowed down somewhat in their weight gain, and Black's still lagging behind her brother (she's too busy to eat!), but they're both continuing to grow at a fairly good pace.

It's also weaning time.

Both are beginning to eat solids. So far they've tried: Science Diet A/D mixed with warm water into a gruel, Kitten Milk Replacement with "KMR Next Step" mixed in to thicken it and provide additional nutrition, and Royal Canin's BabyCat kibble soaked in water. I've also been making "Kitten Glop" (recipe from the Orphan Kittens Yahoo Group ) and sometimes feeding it to them in a bottle and sometimes from a dish.

Today, they crunched down a few pieces of BabyCat kibble (dry, not moistened) -- another milestone!