Samantha has been eating very well, so that’s really good. She is solely on Primal Freeze-Dried because that is the only food she will eat. Well, clever girl! And she also eats it rehydrated which is how it is supposed to be served.
I’ve also noticed twice now that Samantha does need some “help”.
Once, and this was shortly after Kai was born, he wandered off out of the box and had got stuck in between the cushion and the cabinet. Samantha did not pick him up to bring him back to the box. Luckily I make periodic checks on them, so I wore gloves and brought him back. It was only a short distance from the box.
And early this morning, I found Tora mewing outside the box. He had also wandered off and got stuck in the folds of the towel. He was mewing. Again, Samantha was just sitting there, not doing anything. So I wore gloves and put Tora back against her body for warmth.
Warmth and nutrition are SO very, very important for newborns. And the first two hours is also crucial – the newborns must start suckling during the first two hours for optimum nutrition and immunity from breastmilk. Once this 2-hour period is missed, the benefits are gone and can never be reclaimed. This information is from our vet. Apparently, it is also true for humans.
So I helped to make sure Kai, Akila and Tora latched on shortly after birth. Well, no worries for Akila. She’s so aggressive. I’m assuming she’s female because she is so intelligent…and aggressive.
I had actually expected that Samantha might need some help and human intervention because she came back after three weeks of delivering her previous litter. During the first two weeks, she came back and forth (which means she was nursing her kittens somewhere), but on the third week, she no longer went “back” anywhere. And that’s when she came into heat and mated with Gerald.
Be strong, Kai, Akila and Tora. You have to make it pass three weeks.
Now, about their names. Firstly, I wanted Asian names this round. Secondly, it has to be names that my hubby can pronounce. So a lot got crossed off the list.
We chose these:
Kai – it means “victorious” in Chinese, it also means “ocean” in Japanese, Arabic, Scandinavian and Hawaiian, also, “restoration and recovery” in Japanese.
Akila – it means “eagle” and “intelligent” in Urdu and Egyptian, also “graceful and noble” in Hawaiian, “eagle, intelligent, logical” in Arabic and Latin as well.
Tora – it means “tiger” in Japanese and has Norse origins. It is also the female version of the Norse thundergod, Thor. I wanted a big name for Tora (tiger) because he was very tiny when first born. He doesn’t look so tiny now!
These names also sound gender-neutral, so it would work after we find out their gender which won’t be until they are at least one month old. Ginger kittens are 80% male. As for Akila, I don’t know how to describe her markings! She is white with black and grey blotches. A tabby, I suppose? As long as there are stripes, they are tabbies.