Newborn Kittens

Here's a couple pictures of the newborn kittens a friend and I rescued after its stray mother abandoned them (click "Read More" to see more). Of the five original kittens, only the black has survived (the white one below really was trying but still had to be put down because of necrotic tissue).

Baby kittens are born blind and deaf and are entirely dependent on their mother for all aspects of survival - they can not even urinate on their own. That means it has needed to be fed and stimulated every 2-3 hours, a process that feels like has taken months. Fortunately, now that it's in its third week, it's at least able to be left alone for 6 hours at night. It is now twice its original weight and continuing to grow. I'll post more pictures later.

UPDATE 3/23/2011: "Ninja", the black kitten, is still alive and doing very well. She will play with everything that moves (or that she makes move, if she can not find anything).. and is anything from a purring tribble-like ball of cuteness who crawls on my bed next to me for a nap to a hissing monster rebellious demon-possessed.. well.. you can probably imagine. She's definitely worth the trouble though. :)