Sweet babies. Reminds of mine. Take a slew of pix now. Mine will not sit still for a picture as adults. As soon as I click they move their head. I want new cat babies!!!
squee
We’ve had two cats who were rescued as feral kittens from the local feral colony, and they never would eat people-food either. Not even fish or meat. They love live-caught bugs and the tender extremities of shrews and mice. I think they see our food as carrion, and feel sorry for us.
Even though one of the cats was innately a big old cuddle-boy, it took a while to get them socialized so we could touch them without scaring them. They didn’t meow for a long time, until they gradually learned we communicate with voices.
If I’d paid a breeder for kittens, I would return them if I found they hadn’t been adequately socialized to humans.
That sounds fascinating. Do you bring them bugs to eat, or do they find their own? Do you let the cats go outside or have they adjusted to staying indoors?
They get a little supervised outdoor time in our fenced backyard, which is about the size of a patio. They catch everything themselves. And good luck to any bug that gets in the house.
I found out the Lady and the Tramp reboot isn’t going to include those two. 
I loved them when I was a kid! (Seriously, I’m sure they could’ve revamped them so they’re not as stereotyped!) But their actions – come in, cause a bunch of trouble, then act all innocent, is total cat behavior.
HA! Easier said than done! My Luci’s ten years old and STILL has yet to learn this.
thanks 
Things are still improving I am pleased to say. When they are in relaxing mode they are very happy to let us pet them, and both will purr. In fact one of them (hard to tell which is which!) will start to purr even before I touch him. We are also able to hold them for longish periods of time, and I even put one of them in my lap while watching tv and stroked his purring tummy for about 5 minutes.
The only negative is that if they are in active mode, their first reaction is still to run from us when they see us, and they very seldom approach us for anything (other than food).
I wonder if this is because there are two of them and they much prefer each others’ company to ours?
Wait, what? Lady and the Tramp without the evil villain Siamese cats? What on earth are they thinking? Those cats are so exactly catlike, I mean, who is offended? I mean, I guess you could use any two cats–mine certainly have exhibited some of that exact behavior, over the protests of my loyal dog. But then you would lose that lovely line, “We are Siamese, if you don’t please.” It’s a stereotype but it’s true. “We are cats, we give zero fucks. Feed us.” Essence of cat right there.
I actually opened this to mention that I do think littermates, who have each other to play with and always have, might be a little harder to socialize. Mine are pretty social, but only when they want to be. I have to mention that Smudge has a giant purr, that you can hear from the next room, but he hardly ever meows, while Simba talks all the time (and has a very sweet voice, and a lot of range, too.) Now you can hear Smudge meow, and if you’re right next to Simba you can hear him purr. But it’s like one of them decided, “I’m the purrer. You be the meower.”
Yes, take lots of pictures. They will turn into cats, really fast.
Kittens in active mode are in active mode. They’re going to run. A kitten, or cat, in active mode is not in cuddle mode. This doesn’t mean they have no cuddle mode; only that it’s not continuous. (Your cuddle mode probably isn’t continuous either.)
They’ve known each other longer than they’ve known you. Patience. Cats are quite capable of bonding both to each other and to humans.
My boys Wolfgang&Sharpe were similar. I always said that Sharpe inherited the purring genes in the family.
But then, after Sharpe passed away unexpectedly, Wolfgang gradually started purring. I guess he figured that, up until then, Sharpe had it covered.
Cats is Weird.
Simba? One of ours is called Simba!
And the other is Junior. I begged the girls to be more original, but alas…
In college we had hamsters called Cobalt and Antimony. Now those are names…
We had three cats for many years: Charlotte, Wilbur, and Rimsky. (Rimsky had had a brother, Korsakov, that died young of FIP.)
Rimsky was always the one who cuddled up with my wife at night. When he died, Wilbur took over that niche.
Charlotte was always the one who sat in the middle of our card games and board games, which we typically played on the living room floor. When she died, Wilbur took over that niche as well.
Wilbur’s 19 years old and not long for this world, but even just last night, he crawled across the living room rug and sat down in the middle of the card game that my son and I were playing.
(Gonna miss that goofy cat when he goes.)
Not directly related to the OP; thought I will reuse this thread instead of posting a new one. I want to buy a just-born kitten (maybe 1-2 weeks old). I understand caring for these tiny ones may be a little challenging, but I am sure I can be trained in their care. Never owned a cat before. Any advise from experienced cat owners? Also I checked local shelters and the youngest they have is 3 months old.
Our skittish cat was named “Cation” by the rescue lady. (Other cats she was adopting out had similar names.) Definitely didn’t stick with that.
Apparently if you rescue a bunch of cats over the years you eventually drift into geek terminology.
Anyway, ex-Cation got onto my lap for just the second time ever the other night. So there was a lot of brushing and petting. Eventually the inevitable happened: “When is this cat going to get off me?” She just can’t win.
I wouldn’t trust anyone who would “sell” a cat that young. If you’re determined to have one, you’d be better suited looking at cat rescue places, that may have abandoned or orphaned kittens.
There’s this YouTube channel that can show you everything you ever needed to know about adopting kittens that young.
Why do you want to do that?
Kittens that young need the presence of their mother and littermates, both for comfort and to help teach them how to be cats. Occasionally of course something has happened to the mother and a foster mother cat isn’t available, in which case humans step in; but I most certainly wouldn’t deliberately take a kitten that young away to be raised in isolation by a human. That’s a very bad idea; I would say it’s abusive.
This is a terrible idea. Newborns are extremely fragile and require a lot of care. They require feedings every two hours. They need the socialization of other kittens or other cats. Please leave them to their moms or to experienced people.
Here is advice from an experienced cat owner: don’t do this. This would be a terrible starting point for cat ownership.
Most of my cats have been strays that wandered into my yard. The only cat I got from a breeder (my first cat) was one I met when she was a tiny kitten. But the breeder would not release her until she was either 10 or 12 weeks old (it’s been a long time, but I was a kid, and it seemed like a very long time back then). She lived a long, long life and was the least neurotic cat I ever had. She was the only cat I’ve ever had who did not knead. I think this is because she got sufficient time with her mother.
There are kittens who lose their mothers for various reasons and must be hand-fed, cuddled, and all that. This is not a job for a first-time cat owner. You could end up with a neurotic, needy, unhealthy cat who will not use a litterbox or groom itself. And that’s probably the best-case scenario. Cats learn how to be cats from other cats.
I have to join the pile on, but I hope with a little constructive advice.
I don’t think you understand how much work it is to take care of newborn kittens. And there a lot more things you can get wrong than right. Did you know newborns can’t poop or pee on their own? They need their mother (or a suitable substitute) to gently stimulate them to eliminate. When I was a kid, our family had to help some newborns whose mother had died. Even with 4 of us, it was a lot of time out of our days (and our parent’s nights).
A suggestion is to volunteer at a cat rescue facility and see if they will let you (under supervision) work with any newborns that might come in needing to be cared for. It will give you a chance to socialize them and yourself. If this sounds like a lot of time that you don’t have, then you are definitely not ready to adopt a kitten (better rehoming a grown cat that will need less time).
This makes sense; I must admit I did not consider this (or other factors above). I guess I have been watching too many cute newborn kitten videos. Thanks for the good advice!