Barn Cat ... Any Guesses On Due Date?

[Isannah]

This is Cream Cat. She will be spayed as soon as possible after this litter, her first. She’s a free-range farm cat, so her date of conception is unknown.

I’ve been able to feel the kittens with my hand for over a week and a half, and they’ve gotten considerably more active since Saturday. Today, when she was lying on my lap, I could feel them moving along my legs. She’s been doing some very non-committal nesting behavior on and off for about two weeks. Mostly she lays around, following me from room to room since Saturday. Her milk hasn’t dropped, but I can feel the ridges of the milk vein behind her tears. A little hair comes loose when I rub her tummy.

She had a small dab of brown crusty looking something at the base of her vulva, which I picked off. It didn’t have a smell like poo and seemed to have a tee or tiny bit of liquid underneath. She doesn’t seem the least bit agitated, but she switches sleeping locations about every hour: the floor, one of her nest boxes, the back of the couch, the coffee table ....

Any guesses on how much longer we’ve got? I feel like I might be reading too much into the signs I think I’m seeing, but I want to meet these kitties so much!

 

[Isannah]

Weird. I thought I attached the photo. Let me try again.

 

[golondrina]

Welcome to TCS Isannah. Usually you can start seeing the kittens move 20 days before delivery so hopefully it could take place in some four or five days. Please keep us updated.

 

[StefanZ]

She hasnt dropped yet?

 

[Isannah]

Dropped .... I haven’t been taking her temperature, so not sure if that’s dropped. Her milk hasn’t dropped. Do cats’ bellies drop like horses? If so, I’m not sure. She’s definitely taken on a different shape in the last week, but if there’s going to be a last stage “drop” of her belly, that’s good to know, and I’ll keep an eye out for that as a sign that’s we’re getting close.

She was a little restless yesterday evening, and was doing some intermittent nesting behavior again, but nothing committal, and still no milk, discharge, kittens, or changes in behavior this morning.

 

[Isannah]

In a related note, is anybody here informed on color genetics? I’ve done a super brief read but haven’t gone deep enough to truly understand it much. She is a creamy yellow, from and all yellow/orange/marmalade litter. I have NO idea what the daddy of the kittens was. Is there any way to guess what colors could happen? I know yellow is a sex-linked trait, but ....

 

[Isannah]

Okay. I read more. Am I accurate in my conclusion that, since she’s had the dilute gene and the orange gene, the kittens can only be red or cream, and if the daddy is not orange, the females will be tortoiseshells?

 

[Isannah]

She just popped her mucous plug. I was petting her tummy, and put my hand in something wet. Checked. Yup.

Also, she wants to be in my lap and no place else.

And she just stiffened her back and pedaled with her back legs. I’m thinking I might get kitties tonight!