Brie and Havarti are just over four weeks old now.

Their eyes are open, and they’ve discovered that there’s a world outside of their crate. When they used to go back to sleep after a feeding, now they want to run around in the enclosure we’ve set up for them. This morning, they weighed in at 432 and 438 grams, which may not sound like a lot, but compared to weeks ago, they’ve quadrupled.

Little baby teeth are beginning to come in. We’ve started mixing pureed Royal Canin Baby Cat food into their formula. In a couple days, we’ll probably be able to start introducing watered down Baby Cat in a mushy texture, to get them onto eating solids.

The weeks leading up to now weren’t always easy. We found that the baby formula needed to have a higher water ratio than the can recommended, because it caused constipation. Remember, the babies couldn’t pee or poop on their own yet. Havarti would get bloated, which would stifle his appetite. We had to do an enema on the poor guy  a couple times.

Half a week ago was pretty bad. He was so blocked up that he wouldn’t eat, which is an instant alarm. I tried, even after enemas, to get him to use the bathroom, and nothing. Finally, the other volunteer came over, and after very vigorous work, he finally went.

The reason I mention this is because from a personal standpoint, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d lost points in the awesome cat lady category. I’d been helping with newborns for a few years now, so why on Earth couldn’t I get Havarti to go? I had to call in reinforcements for…kitten poop?

Eventually, I got over it. My husband said the learning experience just means one more notch on my cat lady belt.

Even after relieving himself, Havarti didn’t want to eat. He was too gassy still. In case you’re wondering, yes, you can give human infant gas remedy to a kitten, because that’s what the vet ended up prescribing. Some medication every 4-6 hours, and he was back to chugging down the formula.