I have two 9 month old kittens named Juice (girl) and Tumbler (boy). They are brother and sister. Tumbler is "special needs" and needs a lot more care than his sister. They have been together in the same cage at a shelter since birth until we adopted them at 7 months of age.
I have read that kittens/cats meow to their human parents or to their cat mothers... but not to each other. HOWEVER - Tumbler makes a meow sound much more than his sister and in my opinion, TO his sister. I think it is part of their communication.
Is this possible? That she is like a pseudo-mother to him since she cares for him as she knows he is not capable of the same things she is?
He has CH (Cerebellar Hypoplasia) badly and is somewhat mentally challenged. She cleans him more than he cleans himself and generally cuddles him when he is feeling poorly or needs assistance. They sleep together every day/night. She did something amazing a few weeks ago too. Tumbler is weaker and weighs less than Juice so I was feeding him some kitten treats. I felt bad and gave one to Juice as well. She cupped her little paw around it and pushed it across the floor to her brother and waited 'til he ate it.
I said, "No Juice, this is for you." And moved her about 10 ft away and gave her a second treat. She pushed this too all the way across the kitchen floor to Tumbler and waited for him to eat it. It was like she knew he needed it more than she did.
So this long rambling post is basically to ask - is it possible for a cat to meow at and ask for caring from another cat of the same litter who is not even older than he is? I don't know if it's imagination or fantasizing on my part or if this is possible? Everything I've read states that adult cats (which they almost are now) do not meow to each other as communication and that is reserved for their mothers or human mothers (like me) to tell them they want something like food or petting. But I see something different with my kitties. Any thoughts?
I have read that kittens/cats meow to their human parents or to their cat mothers... but not to each other. HOWEVER - Tumbler makes a meow sound much more than his sister and in my opinion, TO his sister. I think it is part of their communication.
Is this possible? That she is like a pseudo-mother to him since she cares for him as she knows he is not capable of the same things she is?
He has CH (Cerebellar Hypoplasia) badly and is somewhat mentally challenged. She cleans him more than he cleans himself and generally cuddles him when he is feeling poorly or needs assistance. They sleep together every day/night. She did something amazing a few weeks ago too. Tumbler is weaker and weighs less than Juice so I was feeding him some kitten treats. I felt bad and gave one to Juice as well. She cupped her little paw around it and pushed it across the floor to her brother and waited 'til he ate it.
I said, "No Juice, this is for you." And moved her about 10 ft away and gave her a second treat. She pushed this too all the way across the kitchen floor to Tumbler and waited for him to eat it. It was like she knew he needed it more than she did.
So this long rambling post is basically to ask - is it possible for a cat to meow at and ask for caring from another cat of the same litter who is not even older than he is? I don't know if it's imagination or fantasizing on my part or if this is possible? Everything I've read states that adult cats (which they almost are now) do not meow to each other as communication and that is reserved for their mothers or human mothers (like me) to tell them they want something like food or petting. But I see something different with my kitties. Any thoughts?