My two new kitties. Ten months old, tabby sister and tuxedo brother. They were raised outside for 10-12 weeks with their mama cat, who was abandoned and survived for quite a while in the middle of the desert- mama and my babies all have homes now.

I usually get kitties that were feral or rescued, but I didn’t realize before how I always got kitties orphaned young, or unsuccessful at surviving on their own after being abandoned.   


But mama cat was freaking ‘good’ at surviving. She taught these kittens how to cat better than any kitty I have ever had and it is wild (in desert, milk often dries up faster so kittens were likely beginning to hunt lizards and such successfully around 8 weeks).

  
Anything that can give you away to a large predator (like coyotes and bobcats)by scent is handled immediately. Potty always has everything perfectly covered. They drag down a towel and pull it over to the crunchies to cover them up if they have any leftovers, and unlike my previous babies, they arrange it so it is completely, perfectly hidden. They don’t even scent mark with scratching to give themselves away. We have a scratching post and they have not scratched another thing but it.

And they are sweet, cuddly babies, but wow do they both get serious when hunting anything, whether a toy or a bug or each other. Completely silent and focused, no chittering noise, no knocked over items, and they don’t give up until they’ve caught it. 

They will even ’drown’ their mousie toys, wait a few minutes, then fish them out of the water to gnaw on again. 

I am sure others have had kitties who do this, but it is really new to me! 40 years worth of cats and I have never had cats that were able to be taught by another When they were young.

Never realized how much difference it shows in some behaviors, you know?



  




New Kitties