Question:
I have a few questions about my foster kitties..... First, I have a foster who is about six months old. She has been with us for a couple of months and she was extremely feral but has since become pretty tame. Lately she has been playing really rough (or so it seems to me) with my cat, Tink. They are SO loud, they hiss and whine and yell when they're wrestling. I have been watching them carefully and have not seen any visible damage done (no blood shed or anything) and Tink always goes back for more, sometimes starting up with the foster first, in fact. Then there are times they are very sweet with eachother, and i will come home and find them grooming one another. Is this normal play or is it too rough and something i should be trying to stop?

Then i have five 3 week old kittens and their momma. I'm wondering about the weaning process. I have done some reading about kitten care but have read different things about weaning. Should i be actively helping the kittens start to wean at four weeks? When i do start weaning them, do i start them on KMR, baby food, or canned kitten food? How much should i start feeding them? For about how long should i expect them to still nurse, even while they are also eating on their own? When can I start re-introducing adult food to momma (she's on kitten food now)? Oh also, will i know when the kitties are ready to start using the litterbox? I've heard this happens at around 4 weeks, i've also read that I should be starting to see a lot more waste in their nesting area but i have seen none . Should i just assume momma is still stimulating them to go to the bathroom and eating it? Sorry, that was way more than a few questions Thanks in advance for any help!

Answer:
Well for your first question, my two will wrestle with each other to the point that one of them will hiss or cry. I chave checked them to see if there is blood or scratches but never found any. I will either spray them with the water bottle or yell enough. It usually stops for a little while. They go both go back for more. Neither of mine are feral, so I don't know if this is any help.

Answer:
I dont know much about weaning kittens so cant help ya there.


But my 3 cats do play pretty rough at times, I dont get involved unless they are about to hurt one another. They usually sounds 100x worse then they actually are.

iwith my cats they find it a fun game to pin each other down and wash each other, then when one gets annoyed chaos breaks out, but never have they hurt each other


Eleni

Answer:
My mom has raised foster kittens too, she said don't wean until 6-8 wks or they may not make it. 4 wks is too young, they will get diarrhea from the diet change and that is enough to kill them. When you do wean them, it should be a "low moisture" soft kitten food. At this point they don't need KMR but they're too young for adult food. Good luck with the babies.

Answer:
My two play rather rough sometimes and Clio will hiss/spit when she's had enough. I've even seen her bound up the couch and push her brother off.

Although they are non-feral this is a habit/instinct that is quite common among cats of all sizes. A number of different theories exist out there and I won't get into details. In my opinion if this behaviour doesn't escalate to serious injury then let nature take it's course and one cat will become submissive at some point.

Answer:
You can start introducing food to the kittens at 4 weeks old. Get kitten canned food and mix it with some warm water to make it sloppy. Put it in a large dish and set the kittens in front of it. Put a bit on your finger and touch it to their mouths to give them a taste. Keep a damp cloth handy for cleanups as this is a very messy stage!

At this age, they will continue to nurse and will usually nurse as long as the mother allows it.

You don't see any poops in the nest because mom eats it all. As soon as the kittens eat any solid food, she will no longer clean up after them and that is when they will start using the litterbox. Set them down in it to give them the idea. They should catch on quickly. Make sure the sides of the box are low so kittens can into it.Use ONLY plain clay litter.

As for the wrestling, I would stop it if there is yowling and very rough play as it can escalate into fighting and abcesses can result from bites.

Answer: