A Good Mommy?

[bniles]

Hi everyone, our kittens are 10 days old now. They're all doing very well, including the one who had to have the tail amputation. They've nearly doubled in size and are starting to try to walk more. I have a slight concern though.

The kittens are currently in a large uhaul box with most of one side cut out. We left a few inches of cardboard near the bottom so the mom could easily get in and out of the box, but the kittens wouldn't be able to. The box is located near the back of our walk-in closet and we're leaving the door cracked open for mom to come and go.

Last night, I heard a kitten cry once and when I got up to investigate mom had one baby out of the box. She was playing with it, gently, pawing at it, biting at it, not hard, and then licking it and watching it crawl around. It worried me at first but the kitten didn't seem distressed and wasn't crying anymore. I checked again a few minutes later and she had the baby back in the box and was nursing all of them.

Then this morning I woke up to find she had them all outside the box! Some were nursing and some were crawling around. She seems attentive enough when she's in there, one wandered off and started crying and she brought it back to it's siblings. This is my first litter so I'm not really sure at what age the mom should start letting the kittens be out of the nest for short periods of time, this seems too early for me though, their little eyes haven't even opened yet! Should I be concerned or is she right to start getting them used to "the real world" this young?

[davet]

interesting how cats do this to get their young ones out into the real world, not like humans where some hang on for years and years...took me enliisting in the Army to get in the real world....if i had tried to kick my kids out like mother cats do, it would be child abuse...they are fun just watching how they do things