Eating!

Some of the older litter are now eating solid food (well actually mushy food.) The feeding process requires a load of laundry, a baby wipe bath for kittens and a shower for me. I started with the introduction of food on Friday. It is a mixture of baby food (Gerber's) and KMR. I think it was 50 Kittens that described baby food as crack for kittens...I second that! They don't take to it right away though...the method of delivery (e.g., not from a nipple) takes some training. I offered it from a spoon but soon found that they prefer my fingers and once they get the hang of it will suck the slurry off my fingers with gusto. Annie, in the photo above, was the first kitten to get it and I could barely keep up with her demand! She is such a spunky little thing (Annie is very small for the older kittens, but holds her own!) When I thought she was done I put her down and tried someone else...and the others licked food off Annie's messy face and then started to lick my legs, which were dangling in the kitty pool. So I smeared food on my bare legs (hence the necessity for a shower) and let them lick it off...sounds nuts I know, but it got them to taste food voluntarily.

After Easter dinner with friends, I asked for some help doing a feeding. My guests were thankfully happy to help. I mixed up a bowl of kitten crack and gave everyone a demitasse spoon, a lap cloth and a kitten. Some of them are still not interested but Annie, Sommerset, Montgomery and Talbot are now champs at eating and will lap it up from a plate. I expect the others will show some interest soon.

The younger litter also showed some curiosity about the solid food, they get bottle fed as a supplement to mamas milk, but if they show interest I'm going to let them at it.