# Our Claire...Due anyday



## here_kitty_kitty (Jun 25, 2009)

Hello everyone...I'm new here and have been browsing around. Love your site! This is our Claire. Shes Maine **** and ??? This photo was taken back in April, just a few days before our Claire disappeared for 3 long days. She did come home after causing me much anguish! So many thoughts went through my head as to what may have happened to her. She was in heat at the time so you can guess what the outcome is. That was April 23rd-24th so I'm estimating she should have her kittens tomorrow(Friday) or Saturday give or take. We have a large dog crate/cage that I placed a sheet over and she has been laying in there most of yesterday and today so I think she knows it'll be soon. I haven't had a pregnant cat in 18 years so wish me luck....Or should I say wish her luck.  She just turned a year this month...1st litter...I'm hoping she does ok. We live in the mountains of North Carolina with very few houses near us and no other cats (other than bobcats) that we had seen for miles....thought we were safe lol. She will be spayed.


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## ogdred (Apr 7, 2009)

Wow... Claire is gorgeous, very unusual looking. It'll be fascinating to see what the kittens turn out like, huh? Hope you post pictures of them.


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## here_kitty_kitty (Jun 25, 2009)

Well Claires labor started about 2 hours ago. She had 3 kittens within an hour. 1st seems to be all black, 2nd two are mostly black with some white on face and feet. Shes resting now and kittens are nursing... but I think she has 1 or 2 more to go...will update later and post pics tomorrow. Thankfully everything has went well so far and she has done a great job!


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## Lisa 216 (Oct 25, 2004)

Looking forward to the pics! Congrats! Claire is a gorgeous cat, by the way


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Claire is a beautiful cat and congrats on her kittens.
_*did you perhaps read the Outlander series as inspiration for her name?_

Anyhow, genetically, Claire is a DLH Tortoiseshell.
She has two recessive genes for long hair: ll. She is homozygous for long hair and will always pass a long hair gene to kittens. Heterozygous cats (Ll) can pass either gene, and will be short-haired, themselves. If they pass their "l" gene and the kitten also receives an "l" gene from the sire, they will be long haired. If the sire passes an "L" gene, they will be short-haired.

She is a Tortoiseshell, also called a Tortie. This is because she carries both genes for Black and Red (orange). The female "X" gene is responsible for deciding a cat's color. Since female cats have 2 "X" genes, they can carry black on one, and red on the other: resulting in (BO) a tortoiseshell / calico. 

Because she is black/red, she has no agouti (aa). Agouti (A) is the gene responsible for making the tabby cat's pattern visible. 
All cats are tabby cats with one of these patterns: Abyssinian (Ta~all-over ticking, no stripes on body), Classic (tb~blotched), Mackerel (T~stripes, broken stripes and spotted). Agouti only visibly expresses on black (BB or Bo) cats. Red cats will always show their tabby patterns, but they won't have the color banding on the hairshaft like our common striped tabbys. This is why some Tortoiseshells with larger patches of orange will sometimes show "tabby stripes". Red cats can carry agouti and pass it to their offspring where it will become visible if the other parent gave a dominant black gene to the kittens.

color-wise, Claire:
aaBOC_DDss
aa means she has no agouti, so no tabby stripes in her black hair, making her solid black.
BO means she carries both black and red color.
C means she is full color, not color-point like a Siamese. _She is probably CC, but could be Cc which would be a cat who carries one copy of the Siamese colorpoint gene. Siamese markings *must* receive a colorpoint gene from each parent to be Siamese (cc) marked._
D means she is "dense" and not a dilute color, like black becoming gray.
ss means she has no white spotting. _Since you said some of the kittens have some white, this means their sire had (S_) and passed a dominant white spotting gene to them._

_*this combination of genes means she is Tortoiseshell in pattern/color._

I know, TMI, but I find color genetics fascinating. :mrgreen: 
Heidi =^..^=


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## here_kitty_kitty (Jun 25, 2009)

I would first like to say a big WOW to Heidi n Q....How did you know?...yes her name was chosen from the Outlander series! I read the first two and have yet to read the rest of the series but looking forward to it...love that series!!!! And thank you for the color genetics info...not TMI...I love that sort of stuff! Will re-read tomorrow when I have more time. Have been wondering because I have never seen another cat who looked quite like her. Her mom...Maine ****...is a brown mackerel tabby or brown classic tabby...(from what I recall)of course I could be wrong. 

Update....#4 looks solid black (for now)...#5 orange-red...to be continued for some reason I don't think shes finished...how can you tell?.... Her belly's still fat and contracting occasionally...everyone doing great...gonna go check on her now.


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## Luvkitties (Jan 22, 2009)

Wow Claire is gorgeous! I've never seen a cat looking like her! She's unique! 

I'm looking forward seeing the pictures of the babies!


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## here_kitty_kitty (Jun 25, 2009)

We ended up with 5. Mom and kittens are doing great this morning. Here are a few pictures I took last night.









Mom getting some much needed rest









#fives arrival









Two of them have the white face/feet/chest


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

here_kitty_kitty said:


> I would first like to say a big WOW to Heidi n Q....How did you know?


Oh, I'm just psychotic that way. _Psychotic?_ Psy_chot_... Wait!  I meant to say psy_chic_! Yeah....psychic. :mrgreen: 

I love that series and I wish she'd hurry up and publish book #7. 8O She's killing me with having to wait.

Claire looks like she did a fine job! My Shadow had 5 kittens in 2004, just 10dys after I found her on our property and brought her into the house. Before that, it had been the mid-70s when I was child since I'd ever been around a pregnant cat.
heidi

_For bedding, which will be both more comfortable for Claire and give the kittens more purchase when scrabbling around, I fold towels and place them in a pillow case. It is cushy and the smooth pillow case keeps the kitten's little claws from getting caught in the towel's terry-cloth loops. Very easy to change out and toss in the wash, too._


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## here_kitty_kitty (Jun 25, 2009)

Thank you for the advice on the bedding. The poor things slip and slide trying to get a grip with the newspaper down. I'd meant to switch it sooner but we had out of town company surprise us at 1:30am last night. 8O They weren't supposed to be here until Monday.

Question....I have Frontline for Claire...is it safe to give her a dose now or should I wait until the kittens are older and stop nursing? If I need to wait, is there a safe alternative to use for now? I have seen a couple fleas and I don't want them to multiply and infest momma and kittens, not to mention our house.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I don't know. Frontline absorbs fairly quickly, but I don't think a vet would want the kittens crawling over her as they nuzzle for teats to nuzzle through the Advantage-treated spot on her shoulders...or it might be perfectly safe. I think I'd call and ask a vet about that, just to be sure.


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## TerriNye (Mar 4, 2009)

I treat mama cats all the time. However, the first couple of days moms with new kittens rarely leave the nest. I'd wait until she starts taking "mommy breaks" when you have time while she's out to let it dry.
Congrats on the babies.

Terri


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