Posted by Jeanne on March 20, 2009
A litter of these small clowns is great sport to watch at this time. They are alert, lively, and however aimless their play may seem, seriously in training for the business of being cats. They wrestle mightily with each other, always seeking the underneath position and the opportunity of raking the enemy’s unprotected belly with their powerful hind claws. They pounce on anything that moves intriguingly, including the mother cat’s tail. They tussle, tumble and dance. They dine ecstatically and sleep in a Kittenhuddle.
Perhaps most delightful are the infant approximations of big cat behavior. Each tiny back arches at the threat of danger. A dreadful grimace twists the baby face and from the pink mouth issues a soft warning hiss, sounding very much like the exhalations of a steam iron. Otherwise, for normal use, the voice of the kitten is high and squeaky-sounding like “eeee” or “eee-you.”
Each day, each week, is one of achievement. At six weeks the teeth are in. By seven or eight the unsteady legs are firm. By eight or nine, the kittens are big enough to be weaned, although it may take a frightening, unexpected snarl from mother, or a cuff from her paw to convince them of it.
By now, too, they will have become distinct personalities. Or, at least, one will have asserted itself as boss of the litter, stronger, rougher, first at the dinner table, always at the center of the bed
. Very likely, too, this is the one which will learn the most, and learn it most quickly.
Posted by Jeanne on March 11, 2009
The life expectancy of a cat is about 15 years. Indoor cats usually live between 12 and 18 years. Many indoor cats live to be in their early 20s. The oldest reported cat was 28 years old when he died. Outdoor cats usually live between 4 and 5 years of age. They die earlier because of dog attacks, viruses, and getting hit by cars.
The popular notion is that one cat year is the equivalent of seven man years, but like so many human pronouncements about cats it is (1) interesting and (2) inaccurate. According to this scale, the cat would be capable of bearing young at the equivalent of 3 years and of resisting time’s ravages to the age of 154, neither of which have been accomplished by any human lately, if ever.
The usual allotment of 12 years seems to be enough time for the cat to do all she might care, or reasonably expect, to do, and is quite long enough for her to become a fixture in human lives and for sadness to be felt at her departure.
The cat begins life as an appealingly helpless little critter, blind, deaf and toothless. Its four-inch body wears a first thin coat of fur, marked and colored in the pattern which will distinguish it as an adult. Its sleeping kitten face is oddly like a tiger’s, principally because the prominent ears are, at this stage, very small, rounded rather than pointed, and set far back on the head.
For the first few days of its life the kitten rests, bunched up, in the dim light of the nesting place, or crawls feebly among its fellows, conscious of nothing except its mother’s warmth and the touch of the milk it eagerly and persistently sucks.
The kitten is soon able to smell and taste, and then hear. The eyes remain tightly closed, however; sight is still a week or so away. The kitten eats and sleeps — a completely self-centered existence, warm, soft and nourishing.
The opening eyes are blank and blue, and will be highly sensitive to strong light for some days to come. As a rule, the eyes open in anywhere from eight days to two weeks, and are adaptable to extremes of light and dark at a month or five weeks. But the timing in these developments is subtle and very much up to the individual. Once it can see, the kitten naturally seems perkier, although it actually is still very limited in its capacity to support itself and move around.
At a month the teeth begin to grow — a baby set which will be shed and replaced, as in humans.
And at five weeks the kitten enters the stage at which its charm is quite irresistible. It stands, staunch and rubber-legged, peering at the gigantic world with round, blue, button eyes. The inexperienced senses seek to translate the incredible events of each new day. The ears are up, the whiskers a-twitch, the ratty little tail held high.
The innocent face is humorous, the more so for its intense unawareness of the fact. The erect, exclamatory eyebrows and, often, the random accents of color create an expression of perpetual surprise. Altogether the kitten looks like a ferocious pansy.
