kitten season is here

i had a feeling they were coming... but boy was i surprised to find a litter of week-old kittens last week! for the past six months i've been biking across town to go check on tricksie, a feral cat that i've been feeding since discovering her previous litter last fall. dx and i were dropping off some food and almost missed the little guys- but there they were, cuddled up in next to an abandoned house.

we debated taking them or not- after all, they had their momma, but they were so exposed! dx pointed out that a raccoon or some other big critter could come along and gobble them up, so we put them in a shopping bag and brought them home.

we had never taken care of kittens this young before, so we did a little internet research to find out what to do next. and wow. this might be something like having a human baby. bottle-feedings every three hours, daily bathings {they are constantly soiling themselves}- these guys need a lot of attention! we feel like new parents getting up in the middle of the night to feed the babies. oy.

but they are so CUTE! just look at these faces- they look exactly like tricksie. we think they are about two weeks old now, maybe a couple of days more. we can't really tell them apart, except one has a crooked tail and one is tinier than the others.

but they all have their eyes open and seem quite healthy + energetic. and they squeak a lot.

as a side note, i do have a plan to trap tricksie and get her spayed, but it's going to be a challenge- she's not human-friendly at all. but i'll figure something out... it's so important to spay + neuter cats and dogs and keep the population in check.

despite the two a.m. feedings and constant messes, i'm loving every minute with these cuties. we're planning to keep them for about a month longer and then adopt them out, although i think we'll end up keeping two for pets. yay kitties!