It’s Friday, and if you’re lucky, it’s also the start of a three day weekend. Ready for the perfect so-cute-you-want-to-puke way to while away the rest of the afternoon hours before the fun starts? Clouded leopard cubs! These dangerously adorable kittens grow up to be elusive hunters that stalk the shrinking forests of Southeast Asia, but as newborns, they more closely resemble squeaky wet dishrags covered in dainty little brown spots. This does not mean they entirely lack natural defenses, however, because any approaching predators must surely be forced to halt dead in their tracks and issue an “Aww!!!” as soon as they catch sight of those little pink noses pointing up at them.

But then it gets worse! After the first 10 to 14 days, they open their often tragically woeful yet always piercingly gorgeous baby blues, and it’s just downhill for us from there. Since clouded leopard cubs are generally hand-reared in captivity — otherwise their moms sometimes exhibit the annoying habit of killing (and even, at times, apparently eating!) them — let’s explore what it takes to raise a litter of these naughty little heart-stealing beauty queens of the animal kingdom.