Just Kitty : Raising kittens from birth - The joys of being a "Crazy Cat Lady"

Dear Steemit Friends:

As a frequent traveller, one of the challenges I face on a regular basis is having to leave my family and friends behind for extended periods of time. Of course, my very large family of cats count as family too!

You can imagine the joy I experienced when I came back to greet my family of cats, least not the new members of the family which are still only 6 weeks old!

Most cat owners will bring home their kitten at around the age of 8-12 weeks, the age where they are fully weaned and ready to leave their mother and find their new forever homes. I'm lucky to see my little kittens as they grow from the moment they enter this world, all the way to when they're old enough to leave their mother.

Somethings you may miss out on are their drunken walks, blue eyes and extreme hyper activity. It's truly a challenge to capture them in this early stage of their lives, but what a joy it is!

Say hello to Amber's (my Scottish fold) 6 week old Kittens! Before I left for Bahamas, they were still sleeping in their nest most of the day, and now coming back, they're jumping around full of energy!

Before showing you the little Kittens, Furby requested an appearance. She get's a little insecure about other's stealing her limelight so here she is!

Long time no see Steemit friends, salutations to all! Make sure you follow my mummy Sweetsssj for my next exclusive appearance! Meow Meow!

So, today i'd like to share some stories and information about the Kittens before they leave their mother!

New born Kittens are deaf and blind

It's hard to believe with their big round eyes, and flappy ears that Kittens are actually born deaf and blind. Around 2 weeks old, the kittens begin to open their eyes, but still have limited vision until a few weeks later. It's important at around 2 weeks to check to see if their eyes are opening as expected. In my experience, sometimes kittens will get eye infections which lead to some difficulty opening their eyes. If left untreated, the kittens may become permanently blind.

To treat these infections, I use Isathal Eye Drops. Obviously it is also advisable to treat the underlying source of infection, which can be the unhygienic environment of the nest, and / or bacteria and viruses carried by the queen.

All kittens are born with blue eyes!

When the kittens first open their eyes, you will be amazed to find that they have a beautiful blue eyes. But this is not their natural eye colour. In fact, over the next month or two, as the eyes continue to develop the kittens' eyes will gradually change to the colour it will be throughout their adult life. For some breeds like thee Siamese, blue eyes will be their permanent colour! Otherwise, the eyes usually change from Blue to a shade of Green / Yellow / Orange and Copper brown.

So what is it that gives these Kittens their beautiful yet temporary blue eyes?

It's all down to the pigments in the iris and the effect of light refracted off the cornea. As the eyes continue to develop, the melanocytes in the iris begin producing melanin, the pigment which determine's the eyes adult coloration. The final colour of the eyes are determined by how much melanocytes there are, and how much melanin they produce.

If the colours are a shade of green, then that means the iris has produced the least amount of melanin. In the case of brown, it means the most amount of melanin is produced!

The importance of de-worming

Although I like to think I live in a very clean and hygienic home, it doesn't mean that Kittens can't come into contact with parasites. Actually, these can be picked up through drinking their mothers milk. The most common worms are roundworms and tapeworms. These are dangerous for the kittens because they live in the gut of the kitten and steal all the nutrients from the food they eat!

This means, regular de-worming for both the mother and the kittens!

Regular de-worming should occur every month for the kittens until they are 6 months old, and then every 3 months after that.

I use Panacur which is a wormer prescribed by the vets to treat my all my cats!

Vaccinations

Finally, it's important to protect kittens against common diseases, so a visit to the Vets for vaccination is really important. The first vaccinations should happen around the age of 8-9 weeks. These are split into two injections, around 4 weeks apart. After that, the Kittens will require a yearly booster injection. During this time, it's best to keep the kittens indoors to avoid catching other diseases from cats outside.

Although raising kittens can be a challenging task, the joy and happiness they bring is priceless and I am so lucky to have the opportunity to help introduce kittens into the world, making sure they are healthy and happy along the way!

Below are some pictures of me and the little angels!

Hope you enjoyed my post about my experiences raising kittens from birth, giving you an insight to what it's like to see kittens at an age before they leave their mother!

If you liked my post, please upvote it, follow me to stay up to date with my activities, and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

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即使家里有猫主子的人，也许没有见过自家猫小时候蓝眼睛，走起路像喝醉酒一样踉踉跄跄的样子。这是我的折耳猫Amber生下的4只可爱的小猫，现在已经6周大了。对了，在介绍他们之前，我的毛朋友Furby也要求上镜一下，所以我就满足它的要求吧。跟大家打个招呼，好久不见。今天我想分享给大家，小猫在可以离开猫妈妈前的小故事。

1.刚出生的小猫又聋又瞎
刚出生的小猫看不见也听不见，并且眼睛不能睁开。到了2周后才睁开眼睛，可有时候并不是每一只猫猫都能顺利睁开眼睛的，经常会有一半的小猫猫睁开眼睛时遇到了困难，原因可能是眼睛被感染，流太多眼泪之后被粘液糊住，严重的时候可能会流脓。幼猫的眼病可能是病毒性的，伴随着细菌性的炎症。有时候是母猫自身带病菌，通过喂奶传染给了幼猫。这时候就需要眼膏治疗，同时猫妈妈也要通过治疗去处身体里的病菌。

2.漂亮的蓝眼睛只有刚出生才会有
人类的眼睛只有中间的瞳孔是有不同颜色的，猫咪们正好相反，它们瞳孔周围的虹膜有不同的颜色。虹膜可以调整猫咪眼睛瞳孔的大小，而黑色素多少，可以决定猫咪未来眼睛的颜色当然通过猫咪的品种大概可以判定他们眼睛的颜色，我所知道的有，棕色，淡咖啡色，蓝色和绿色。但是12周前，猫咪的眼睛都是蓝色的。

猫咪漂亮蓝眼睛的时期可能很多人都没有见过，因为就像昙花一现一样很短的时间。同时通过猫猫眼睛的颜色，也可以判定它是否是刚出生的小猫。小猫2周后张开眼睛，露出漂亮的蓝眼睛，到12周的时候，眼睛彻底变成固定的颜色。原因是幼猫的虹膜因为在12周前色素还没有定型，因此通常会带点混浊，无论深浅的蓝色，一直到12周，他们的眼睛颜色才会慢慢改变，蓝色淡去，转换成他们一辈子的颜色。当然随着虹膜颜色的变化，幼猫的视力逐渐变强，可以清楚地看见周围的环境，光线和物品的颜色。

3.幼猫及时除虫很重要
猫咪长到8周的时候，开始学着离开妈妈自己生活，这个时候也是它们身上寄生虫，肚子里的虫多发的时候。所以家用的除虫药一定要备上。必要的时候，也不要怕麻烦，记得带小猫去医院进行全身的检查，接种疫苗，预防疾病。很开心能够和大家分享一下我养小幼儿猫的小经验，希望能够帮到正在抚养小猫的人们。下面是我和猫猫一起拍得照片，希望大家喜欢。