Kitten Diary: Day 5 After Birth of Three Scottish Fold Kittens

Dottie's day is a calm, restful one. Even though she has a special kittening enclosure, she has lots of room to move around. There is a separate area for the litter box, a separate area for her food and water, a special look-out shelf to watch the humans, and, of course, the nest. When the door to the nest is closed, it is dark and cozy, except for the little roman arch doorway through which she can come and go at will to any area of her kittening house. However, for the first week, we will rarely see her outside the nest. Especially for the first 3-4 days, she will only come out to use the litterbox, grab a quick bite to eat (even leaving her food untouched if one of the babies cries), then back to her brood.

In the domesticated world of purebred cat breeding, the catmoms trust their humans completely and are not afraid to allow their kittens to be handled and touched. Many catmoms also will give foster care to other litters whose mom perhaps cannot nurse for one reason or another. Dottie is very happy and content looking after her babies. She cleans their fur, washes their faces, eliminates their wastes. After all, in the wild, all scent need to be cleaned away, to prevent predators from finding the nesting area of such fragile newborns. Also, you might notice that the moms lick their babies quite vigorously, even knocking them off the nipple. This seems to be cruel and harsh, yet there is a purpose for this. When the babies are born, their bodies, heads and extremities are all very disproportionate. The feet, appearing at first like paddles with which they maneuver themselves, cannot hold the weight of the body for approximately the first 4 weeks of life. The head, too, is large in comparison to the body, and, like human infants, they cannot support their own head. When momcat licks them, sometimes throwing them backwards, it is to strengthen them and improve their coordination when they try to get back to mom and food.

We would know very soon if anything was amiss, usually shown by her not eating, having an upset tummy or otherwise physically not well. Any illness in the mother can be seen in the kittens. They might be losing weight, not nursing or may appear agitated, looking for food. But Dottie displays only health and bliss during these early days.

At the end of day 5, the babies' weights are:

Baby #1 - 5.1 oz.
Baby #2 - 5.6 oz.
Baby #3 - 5.0 oz.