Fostering a Mom and her 5 kittens - Got tips?

[my3dogs]

I went to an informational interview about fostering yesterday.  I didn't intend to begin fostering yesterday but how could I turn down a poor mama who was extremely stressed by the shelter enviroment.  The shelter is so over crowded that they couldn't offer this mom a more private area.   While I was signing the fostering paperwork 3 more cats were dropped off as strays.......a ll within 10 minutes!  At least one is pregnant.    Ugh!   
We started home with our precious bundles and were about 15 min. into our drive home when the cell phone rang.  It was the shelter.  When they began cleaning out the mama's kennel they found another kitten wrapped in the blanket sleeping.  "Do you think you could come back?" they asked.    Duh!  Of course!!!   Poor little angel. Fell asleep and his family moved.   My husband calls him Butters from southpark.

Questions....
1. The shelter asked that I weigh them.   What do I use to weigh them??
2. The shelter asked that I make sure each kitty is eating/sleeping/eliminating.  I have 5 little balls of grey fluff.  How do I tell them apart?
3. Any tips on kittens to make the next few weeks successful?

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

-Wendy

This is the mama....

[ZooCrew]

What a pretty mama.

To weigh kittens or any other small animal, they usually use a kitchen scale that weighs in ounces.  Once they get big enough and start wiggling around, you can put them in a small tub or bucket to weigh them on the scale.

To tell them apart, you could either tie a string loosely (but not too loosely) around each of their necks a different color.  Or I've heard of people putting a different colored spot on the back of each neck or foot.  I'm not sure what they used to make the spot.

Good luck with the kittens.  Give mom alot of space until she feels settled.  Try to handle each kitten daily to get them used to human contact.  I love baby kittens, they are so adorable.  Hopefully they will all be fine and you won't have to start bottle feeding any.

[dober_gurl]

To tell them apart use diferent color strings around their necks.
What a pretty momma!

[GR8DAME]

I can't have kitties, cause Casey is allergic, but I have a real soft spot for the grey ones...Help me live vicariously.  Pictures please?
Stella

[my3dogs]

Have I mentioned that you are all AWESOME!!!
Here I was a little concerned about the appropriatenes s of posting a kitty question on a doggie site.  I shouldn't have worried!!! 
The kitties are awesome!   My daughter and I consulted our vet tech friend who suggested 3 identification options...the strings, clipping fur in different areas, or nail polish.   My daughter is 16.  We opted for the polish. 
I found a food scale and duct taped a glad bowl to it.   I calibrated it back to zero. 
The kitties weigh from 11.25 oz. to 14.0 oz.   They are all color coded and have been named.   Going with the SouthPark theme (remember....16 yr old daughter) we have Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Tweak, & Butters.    I looked up the creators of SouthPark and found that one's name is Stone.   I borrowed a name of a bigpaw doggie and named the mom Petra (which means stone).   
This is Cartman....

[my3dogs]

They do seem very healthy and the mom is so loving.  She doesn't mind if we handle them and she wants to be loved too. 
I will have more pics soon.    My daughter's birthday was Monday and we had a family party because she didn't want a party.  C'mon......Sweet 16....ya gotta have a party, right?    Her surprise party is tonight so I've been working on that.   I don't think she knows. *crossing fingers* 
The kittens have been a great distraction for her.   
After the party tonight I will have more time for kitty pics. 



 

[Icerotti]

Omg  The momma is so beautiful and that kitten is a sweetie. Oh you are so lucky. My daughter is 5 and saw thw mommy cat==she said she was beautiful. She wants a cat so bad--she is even saying she will give the dogs away so she can have a cat..lol
It is very kind of you to foster this kitty family.

[Jen and Rick]

Oh!!  What an adorable kitten and the mamma is beautiful too.  Good luck with the babies.  It sounds like they will be just fine.

I hope your daughter enjoys her birthday party!   

[henrysmomma]

Beautiful kitties! Good luck with the fostering!

Rose

[ZooCrew]

You look like you have everything under control.  The kittens aren't as young as I first thought, so you really shouldn't have to worry much at this point about them losing weight, unless one is sick.

I love the kitten pic.  You are killing me.  I've been waiting over 7 yrs to get a cat, and have to wait until after we move to get one.  Waaaaaaaah!!  I want one so bad!