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Allright bitches.. Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
..it is time for another snailkitten thread. The kittens are now one month old, and have been terrorizing me for the last week. Sometimes I want to kick them. My partner's family has been coming over and saying hullo to them to get them socialized, and yesterday the dark one tore the fuck out of a crazy lady's lip. She noticed him watching her talk (he always does this, he loves to watch mouths), so she picked him up and was making kissy sounds and baby talk to him.. and he tore her lip open and ran off while she screamed. God I love that kitten. I may call him Vidal, because the more I thought about it, it seemed like a bad idea to name them after dead people. Right now, it seems like Vidal and Paris. Paris would be so named, because he's really cute and adorable.. but also stupid, clingy and annoying.

Today they discovered a catnip mouse that another cat had hidden behind the couch. Apparently kittens like catnip, because they don't freak out over any other toys.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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http://rapidshare.com/files/48338091/P1010258.MOV.html
Video of the dark kitten/Vidal beating the fuck out of that catnip mouse. Really long, but adorable in a creepy way.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>> Anonymous
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zomg, cute video. I love when they are that age, but I was happy when my kitten finally grew up... my feet don't get attacked while I'm sleeping as much these days...
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>134270
They don't really attack feet, but they do cuddle and lick them. They follow me around when I walk. Unfortunately they have started climbing up my pantleg when I sit down, and currently they are watching me type.

Pic: Spoils forgotten in the midst of battle.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
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just from the pics it looks like the dark one is headed to be the dominant of the two. They look quite healthy though.

you are lucky. when my cat got pregnant she had 7 kittens. now that was a hassle keeping track of all them. also i only managed to adopt out 4 so I now have the mom plus 3 of her kids (all grown up now)

allegedly the first litter of a cat is supposed to be the smallest so i can only imagine the quantities she would be having if i hadn't gotten her fixed as soon as she was done nursing them.

pic is five of the seven
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
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six of seven
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
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seven of seven.

this guy was my favorite and so of course he was the first one to get adopted out. he was the biggest in the litter and so i called him Big Gray. this evolved into Big Ray and then I started calling him Raymond.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
>>134279
when they were first born i thought these two were identical twins. they certainly got identical genes for coat color and pattern. however, after they were old enough to figure out their sex i discovered one was male and one female.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>134278

I wouldn't say I'm lucky. Snailkitten is just turning a year old, and the kittens' father looked to be middleaged to old. If she got knocked up NOW it would probably be 4-6 kittens. One kitten, the only girl, died at a week old, that was really rough.

Sometimes I wish she had more kittens, because it would be easier to keep them warm and they could play together. Then I consider having to find homes for MORE kittens, and decide I'm glad she was young and didn't pop out a horde. It kinda looks like these two will be staying with me, my partner wants to teach one (likely the light one/Paris) to be her agoraphobia service animal, and the other.. he's so me. I wouldn't nessicarially say he's dominant, but he's definately a bit of a crazy asshole. The light kitten dominates through affection and attention-whoring, while the dark one glares and enforces his wishes through claws. He also learned to use the litter pan three days before his brother, and is attempting to eat solid food. Smart, clever, and a total prick to bitches I hate. <3

Your kittens were/are adorable! From the variance in colour/patterns, I'd say your cat was a whore and got knocked up by different fathers. Not a bad thing, genetic diversity is awesome. Being different sex doesn't mean they aren't identical twins. I especially adore the fawn tabby you've got there. Cuuuute!
>> Anonymous
>>134288
Your partner is a her? I'm confused. What do you mean by partner? I thought you were supergaytastic?
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>134296
Partner is short for "heterosexual life partner". Think Will and Grace except Will is a short, rude alcholic and Grace is a fat, pasty recluse. And Jack and Karen are cats.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
>>134288
Nope that is just from one father actually. My cat was never outside. I inherited her from an old roommate who gave her to me when I moved out since i was the primary caregiver anyway. This is why she wasn't fixed yet.

I temporarily moved in with my sister who had a turkish van who had not been fixed (which I didn't know about until I caught him bangin her). 2 months later the brood showed up.

There are basically three different genes which go towards giving cats their color and pattern.

The first is the color gene. Gray and brown are recessive to black. The mother is black and carrying a gray recessive. The father has the brown recessive.

Second gene is for tabby patterning. In a cat with the black gene it doesn't show up because both colors are black. In gray cats you get the gray on gray coloring which you can see in the one. In brown cats you get the traditional brown and black coloring which you can see in two of the cats. Raymond is the only one I am sure was born without the tabby gene. The black and whites you obviously can't tell because they are black.

The third gene is the white spotting gene. This controls whether a cat will be solid in its colors or have its colors and white.

At the time I actually found a program where you input the parents colorage and it gives you the chances of the resulting kittens colors. At any rate my litter was a good example of the large variety of kittens which can be produced by a single pair of parents.
>> Anonymous
>>134298
Oh, okay. So more like your best friend, then. I gotcha.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>134300
That is excellent. Thank you for splaining it. I've done some research on rat genetics, but it's good to know specifics. Now I have an advantage in kitten-coat betting pools. I'm curious, you say the father had brown recessive. That means he was a solid white, right?

>>134303
Best friend that I could not exist without. She is the only woman I have or would ever have sex with, THAT is how much she means to me. She actually posts here occasionally.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
http://www.tenset.co.uk/catgen/index.html

This is the program
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
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>>134310
nope the white spotting genes and color gene don't really interact. brown is recessive to black color but the white spotting gene only controls how much of that color you will actually see. A cat could technically have a color gene but if it has a strong white spotting gene will still be an all white cat.

I don't have a pic of him but this is another turkish van that with identical coloring.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
Also here is a website that explains it much better than I did. They have some good charts showing resulting combinations.

http://www.fanciers.com/other-faqs/color-genetics.html
>> Anonymous
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awww, those kittah's are so cute. just be sure not to overfeed them as they get older, and they will be healthy and happy.

pic very related
>> Anonymous
>>134310

There's a Bitter Anonette and she posts here? What the snacks.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>134370
She's really too nice to be called Bitter Anonnette. Yes, she posts, but I forbade her from posting hearts and faces and bullshit, and she is never to reply to me.

Muhamed Christbergstein : Thanks for the links and all the info! You are a boon of knowledge.
>> Anonymous
>>134407
he's lying <3
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>134410
gb2kitchen
>> Anonymous
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>>134407
>>134410
>>134412

just makes the thread THAT MUCH CUTER

Also, do either of the kittens look like they'll have that.. that.. Snailkitten face? Because Snailkitten does seem to have a very unique angry look all the time. You know what I'm saying.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>134427
Vidal kinda has a predatory glare to him that lets you know he's about to do something bad, but no, neither seems to have the "I hope you fucking die" look that their mother has.

I just noticed her glaring at them in this picture, and the fact that Vidal has Paris' face in his mouth.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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Er. Wrong picture. It was supposed to be>>134272
except I didn't realize I'd posted it and clicked on the wrong one and! Yea. Consolation prize.
>> Anonymous
>>134407
>>134410
>>134412

Awwwwwwwwww. *melt* ~~* <3 ~~*

To me, Snailkittens demeanour seems to be a permanent sneer that clearly states "Go fuck yourself".

Best thread.
>> Anonymous
North/South position + anaconda choke. Your cats know Jiujitsu
>> Lady Anon
Oh god.

My head, it exploded with the cuteness.
>> Anonymous
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pic very related to thread
>> Anonymous
>>134300
Interesting. But what about "black tabbies", tabby cats that are superficially black, but you can still see the stripes as deeper black than the background black. A mutated version of the black gene or the gray gene?
>> Anonymous
The kittens are very cute, but something you should really want to do is get them used to cutting their claws back. Cricket isn't really wild and psychotic, but it makes life and all so much easier when she's not sporting razors in her paws. The orphans Mum and I raised (including Cricket) are now exactly 4 months old and used to the claw-cutting, which helps. It doesn't, though, when she goes into heat and the vet isn't open until tomorrow ~_~;
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
>>134900
Well the gene that causes black, brown, and gray are all versions of the same pigment. When my mother cat lays in the sun I can pretty clearly see the pattern so it is there, it's just not obvious on black cats like it is on regular tabby cats.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>134922
If you had taught them not to attack people and where is appropriate to scratch, you would not need to trim their claws. These two have a scratching pad (they don't quite use it right yet, but they have figured out what it's for) and are not allowed to bite, scratch, or otherwise attack hands and feet. If they do, the appendage is removed from their reach. I have gotten into arguments with visitors about that. I DO hold their paws and flex their claws now, just as I comb them despite not needing it, but I won't trim them. I may simulate it once they learn how to retract their claws, but I am MUCH in favour of cats being able to defend themselves.

These will proably be big, confident tomcats. They need to learn what to attack and what not to attack. Claw trimming is like muzzling a biting dog; The dog doesn't learn anything except to hate muzzles.

>>134932
Often in black tabbies you can see the way the fur on the forehead forms the M shape, as well.
>> Anonymous
>>134957


...so you're saying trimming a cat's claws is a cruel and horrible practice? Fuck off.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>134985
Heh, No, I'm saying it treats the symptom and no the cause. If it was taught how to behave properly it wouldn't need to have it's claws trimmed. If it cannot be taught, due to personality (stubborn or malicious) or disability (retardation, past abuse it has yet to recover from), then trimming claws is fine and encouraged.

Perhaps a better comparison would be training wheels. You put them on the bike when the child has difficulty learning to ride. You trim a cats claws when it has problems learning how to use them.
>> Anonymous
>>134989

Ah, gotcha. We only trim our cat's claws every couple months or so, and that's only cuz they get really long and they start to tear into things,even though they don't mean to. Other than that, they always go to the scratching post and know how to behave. Trimming to punish or to teach is a bad idea, definitely.
>> Anonymous
>>134990
...did you just disagree so that you could agree with bitter?
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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>>134990

I have zero issue with claw trimming or declawing if it is due to health issues. Some cats, such as polydactal cats, get claws growing in at horrible locations, so it's in their best interest to have them trimmed or removed.

>>134994
It's more likely than you think.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
>>135002
I don't trim my guys' claws. They have scratching posts which they use. When I play with them they have a good understanding of how much claw usage is ok. The only time they ever draw blood is when I am playing with the feather duster toy and they miss it instead nailing my hand. The unintentional ones are ok as the way they swing at that toy even if I clipped their nails it would still draw blood.
>> Muhamed Christbergstein !iX9wdiXS9k
>>135002
BTW it sucks that their eyes are starting to turn. That is one of the cuter aspects of kittenhood is the bright blue eyes.
>> INVALID
>>135042
i always found that really odd pale blue, right when they open, creeeeepy..

but the darker blue before they turn, so pretty.
>> Anonymous
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>>134312
They have a horrible picture on that page...