Confused and Surprised About Tiger's Kittens.

So..... I took in a stray in Feb. and she had kittens on April 25th. We thought our main coon, Solo got her pregnant but  when she gave birth we knew that Solo couldn't have produced them.. Solo is blue maine coon and we think Tiger is a main coon mix. Shes brown and orange longhaired tabby. Tiger gave birth to 5 healthy kittens. 3 of them are orange and 2 are black. But heres the thing, two of the orange kittens are bobtail. We were suprised when two little kittens came out with no tails. So did she get pregnant on the streets by a manx or something? 

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So Tiger had her kittens in a separate box, but she moved it into this. After a few minor adjustments I think its a good setup. I have a sheet over half of it that i can easily flip up to see the kittens, i've tried moving her kittens into something bigger, but she keeps going in here. Im glad her kittens cant get out, and she is too. She can get out just fine, and her kittens are safe. I like some opinions on this! Thank you!

And the kittens!

It looks great to me and it sounds like she is happy about it. Just leave them there unless if you are worried about their safety.

Thank you! And we do limit the activity in the room with her in it. We only allow 3 people in the room at a time, so she doesnt get stressed and move them. 

They are adorable. My Sassy just had her kittens Friday morning.

NovaRose21 said:

 
Thank you! And we do limit the activity in the room with her in it. We only allow 3 people in the room at a time, so she doesnt get stressed and move them. 

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Good you are thinking on it.  but know even 3 person at a time is  over average.   also, the risk of infections becomes higher.

Good luck!

When in February did you take her in?

Have you let her out while you have had her?

Kittens in one litter can have different fathers.

@Gemsgem is our teammember who is good at cat genetics.

What is the situation at your home? Is your tom a breeding stud and he here got himself some training in the noble art of courting and mounting?   (Im not ironic, Im myself an owner of two ex studs my residents - its not easy in the beginning).

If not,  I would recommend you strongly to spay him asap.   As you will hopefully spay  Tigger when the kittens are weaned.

Observe also, she may get pregnant anew  quite shortly after giving birth.    them nursing and lactacing is no protection, unlike humans.

Otherwise.   If Tiger and the  tom Solo are best friends, you can probably allow him to be with the nest.   (superwise them at first).  He perhaps even will help her with the care.   Another option is to let him play with them when they got several weeks.

In any other case, do separate them. 

Good luck!

@Mani  I took her in around the 17th. We made sure not to let her out while we had her, and even though she tried to run out the door she never did. Since we've had her she hasnt been in heat either.

@StefanZ  Solo is an outdoor cat, and we are going to spay him on the 6th of May. And as for tiger and solo, they are fine together, but this morning around 4 am solo jumped through the hole in the door and went over to tiger and her kittens and they got in a fight, i got Solo out of the room, then he was meowing downstairs to go out. Just hearing Solo meow made tiger growl and hiss, even though he was downstairs. Tiger is a very good mama and she trust humans with her kittens, just not other animals.

17 feb and 25 april...  So the conception hangs on a day or three... My guess  is it was Solo anyway.*    They cat girls have sometimes silent heats, humans not noticing unless they know the cat very well.  But toms of course do notice.  Also, her heat did blew up when she met a fully fertile tom.  It may be even so she let her come to you because  1. they are more friendly when in heat. 2. She felt you had a tom at home. 

If he is decently experienced it could go very quickly with the mating.   Its not always they are shrieking at the mating.   And after the mating they usually become pals, even if they werent pals before. - Its de facto one of the signs they had mated...

What did Solo wanted at the nest, we cant know.  Probably he was just curious, and there was no real danger for them kittens.  But mom was protective, and didnt wanted anything such.   So obey the mom.  Continue to separate them,  and make your outmost she is not stressed.

And please proceed with your plan on spaying Solo and later on, Tiger.  

*Observe, this analysis is not because of the colors or tails, its just  solely a behavioral and pregnancy  analysis.

Lets hope Gemsgem or @Willowy will chime in, they are both good with color genetics.  Or someone else perhaps wishes to contribute.

Is your boy a registered Maine Coon? Or is it a guess based on his looks? He's longhaired, right? And she's longhaired, so if any of the babies are shorthaired, Solo couldn't be the father. 2 longhairs can't have shorthaired kittens. They're too little to tell right now but it should become evident soon enough.

Bobtails are kind of complicated, gene-wise, but can show up spontaneously in the general cat population. Since you don't know her background (or his?), it's impossible to say how far back the gene came in. If he's pedigreed, probably not from his side; I don't think Maine Coons carry the bobtail gene. But her side could have anything in the background.

If any of the orange kittens are female, that means the daddy cat was orange too, so Solo would not be their father. If all the orange kittens are boys Solo is still in the running because they got the orange from their mama. I think 2 tabbies can have solid kittens but they would both have to be carriers for the solid gene. If the black kittens are girls, then their daddy cat couldn't be orange (unless they're tortie, not solid black), but, yep, kittens in the same litter can have different daddies, so maybe one orange tom and one dark tom got to her.

Purebreds make up only around 2%-3% of the cat population. So the chances of her (or him, if he's not registered) having any actual Maine Coon, or the kittens having any actual Manx, are practically zero. Just lovely longhaired/bobtailed kitties!

tl;dr: Solo's paternity test mostly hinges on whether the kittens are longhaired or not

@Willowy  We don't know that Solo is purebred, but based on his looks we just call him maine coon. And as for the genders, two out of the three orange kittens are female, and both black ones are males. Spryo, one of the black kittens, are alot fluffier then the rest too. And the two black kittens are solid black. 

@StefanZ  Tiger didnt come to our house, we found her in a graveyard, alone. We put up signs and ads on craiglist and in the newspaper, and know one claimed her, so we kept her. She was about a mile from our house

My, he's a fine handsome boy. I like big fluffy males .

OK, the orange females had an orange daddy (girls get their colors from both parents. Orange females need to get one orange gene from their mother and one from their father. Since Tiger is a torbie she passed on her orange gene, and since males aren't torties the father had to be orange). Solo, you are NOT the father! (haha, we need a Maury cat paternity show :tongue2 He's solid so that would account for the solid black kittens. Boys only get their color from their mother so you can't guess the boys' paternity based on color. If the orange male or either of the black kittens turn out longhaired, he could be their daddy. But not guaranteed.

Hi NovaRose21,

Willowy is spot on with the colour genetics so nothing I can add there
But I just wanted to say that Solo is one very beautiful kitty

Some people, like @Di and Bob  asked for some pictures of the kittens. The kittens are a week  old today (May 2) They are all healthy and happy!

I honestly laughed out loud when I saw your beautiful pictures! I really don't think you could ever find anything more precious then kittens! Even at that age, I can see the difference in their looks and their personalities. Good luck and I pray you find those babies good homes.

aww thank you so much! and we allready found homes for all of them but im keeping Levi.

Awwwww, they are so very cute!! Tobie is huge, you might want to change the vowel to a "u"    He'll be a big fine cat. They're just gorgeous, congrats.

Gorgeous!