The Star Wars Kittens

Serious Kylo

We were told that we would be getting two boys and a girl and we had just seen the newest Star Wars movie, so we named the new foster kittens Rey, Finn, and Kylo. Then we found that Finn had been misidentified, but she had grown used to her name and it suited her, so we kept it.

The Star Wars kittens were found with an adult female who wasn’t producing any milk. She may have been a mom who was unable to feed her kittens, but it’s equally likely that she was an unrelated female who had adopted and cared for the kittens.

Wary Rey

Cats will often look after kittens that aren’t their own. We’ve fostered 100 kittens for the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association (VOKRA) with the addition of this litter, and our resident cats often help to care for our little fosters.

Finn Learning to Trust

The cat family had been placed in a different foster home initially, but the woman’s young son had developed a cat allergy, so they required immediate rehoming.

The kittens were fully weaned and on solid food when they came to us. They were frightened but quick to snuggle in and purr when held, so they were definitely not feral. They were also amazingly clean for 8-week-old kittens, so we didn’t have to do the clean-up work that is often required with kittens under 12 weeks of age. Their ability to keep themselves clean wasn’t surprising because black kittens often have the best grooming habits from an early age.

Finn Yawning

The Star Wars kittens were very, very smart. One day I was worried because I couldn’t find Finn, so I walked around the house calling her name frantically. Her sister Rey jumped up on a footstool and tapped a shelf on the bookshelf with her paw while looking directly at me. I found Finn sleeping behind the books on the shelf Rey had indicated.

Resident Cat Freya Washes Foster Kitten Finn

Rey had aced a test that human children fail before age 4 or 5. She had proven that she had a theory of mind. In other words, she understood that her mind is separate from mine (that what she knows is different from what I know). She also understood that the word “Finn” referred specifically to her sister, that my calling for Finn indicated that I wanted to find her, and that she would have to show me where to find Finn in a way that I would understand.

Posing Rey

If you put candy in a red box in front of a very young human child and his mother, send mom out of the room, move the candy to a blue box while the child watches, and then call mom back into the room, when you ask the child where his mom thinks the candy is, he will say the blue box. He knows that the candy has been moved to the blue box, so he assumes that his mom knows this as well because he doesn’t differentiate between his mind and hers. Once he reaches age 4 or 5, he’ll figure out that mom doesn’t share his knowledge (she doesn’t know where the candy was moved when she was out of the room) because he has developed a theory of mind. Knowing about this aspect of human development makes Rey’s achievement all the more impressive.

Cat on a Mat

Rey also used a pointing gesture to indicate location. She understood that she couldn’t provide me with the required information by meowing or just moving to the area where Finn was sleeping – she had to use a physical gesture to communicate her sister’s exact location. The Star Wars kittens showed many signs of superior intelligence, but this was among the most impressive.

Rey in a Towel

Having cared for more than a hundred cats and kittens over the years, I’ve seen trends in behaviour and intelligence based on coat colours, which are backed up by a small amount of research. More research would be required to draw definitive conclusions, but the findings of preliminary research suggest that there are links between cat coat colours and patterns, intelligence, behaviour, and overall personality.

Your Gym Mat Has Been Commandeered for Important Feline Business

Siamese and black cats tend to be the most intelligent. However, black cats are also the ones least likely to be adopted, and many languish in shelters or are euthanized as a result. When we foster kittens of other colours, they are usually adopted quickly once we’ve socialized them and dealt with any health or behavioural issues, but black kittens with fantastic personalities can take many months to find good homes, and adult black cats are doubly disadvantaged by colour and age.

Resident Cat Freya Hanging Out with the Foster Kittens

Fortunately, the Star Wars kittens were snapped up quickly. One family already had two cats with Star Wars names, so they adopted Kylo for their daughter, who wanted her own cat (Kylo took to her immediately when they visited). Rey and Finn went to another wonderful family with a little boy who loves both black cats and Star Wars.

Kitten Fight Club

VOKRA’s operations center was flooded with cats and kittens this summer, so we were asked to take on a new group as soon as we could. We acquired a trio of semiferals within a week of sending the Star Wars kittens off to their forever homes, where they are doing well and bonding happily with their new human companions.