Ella (A Barn Cat’s Journey of Mothering)

[Wehner Homestead]

We had previously expected Ella to have kittens but were mistaken. DH saw “the act” between Wilson and Ella about three weeks ago and then a stray yellow tabby tom last week and Ella. She’s bound to be expecting now.

My research showed domestic feline gestations to be 58-63 days.

Does anyone have any pointers for expecting kittens? Please bare in mind that Ella is a barn cat, though quite treasured. She will be spayed promptly after this litter and while we wish she had been before reproducing, it is what it is. We will make sure Ella and the kittens are cared for to the best of our abilities.

Ella (DD2’s treasured feline)

Wilson

My research also showed that cats can only reproduce the colors of themselves of their mate (in basic terms.) This leads me to believe that we will get black and orange kittens with or without white, as it’s a separate gene that Ella carries. Any thoughts here?

 

[B&B Happy goats]

They both look so clean and pretty ! I have no earthly idea what colors you will end up with , but will for sure have some cute kittens....

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

Aw, kitties!!!

It could be true! We have two feral cats who were mamas at least twice last year (they have since been spayed). One mama(Blackberry) is solid black with a small white patch on her chest and all her kittens were solid black. The other mama (Peaches) has been described to me as being a torbie. She is orange and gray with scattered tabby markings. The kitten from her first litter was mostly white with tabby gray patches. From her second litter, one kitten was a dark gray tabby, one is a spotted orange tabby, and the other three are brown tabbies. I don't know the dad to any of the kittens. There is a solid black tom and a gray tabby tom who visit us occasionally.

I do agree with B&B that they are bound to be cuties!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Ella’s belly is still growing. I’ve spotted the Orange tom that’s feral a few more times. I’ll try to get some updated pics.

 

[Mini Horses]

I know we all want to limit kittens, due to homes, but I've always been told it is better on the cat to let her have one litter first. don't remember why now. Hey, kittens are cute!!

 

[MiniSilkys]

Ok, here goes. A cat can have kittens from more than one male at a time. It is fact. I had a silver female. She mated with a smokey blue tom. He was mine. They were not related. We had a black and white tom that sometimes visited. We also had another tom that we sometimes saw sneaking around that was orange tabby. When my female had kittens, one was orange, one was a blueish gray and white, two were silver like their mama, and we also had a two black and white.
Kittens can also take on colors of their grandmothers/grandfathers. So you never know what you might get.

 

[Bruce]

I know we all want to limit kittens, due to homes, but I've always been told it is better on the cat to let her have one litter first. don't remember why now. Hey, kittens are cute!!

I believe that is an old wife's tale.

 

[MiniSilkys]

For the pointers, make sure you fix her a bed in a quite dark place that she likes to hang around. You would be surprised that she might actually have her kittens in it. You don't want to come home one day to kittens spread out on your front porch. Yes, happened to me. She wanted me to have them. One of mine had hers last year behind the hay in the same house with my buck. He actually thought they belonged to him. He butted a coon that was trying to get to them. They played all around him when they were so small and slept with him when their mama was night hunting.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

I know they can have more than one sire. It’ll be hard to tell which they are from though if it’s just the two orange toms. Oh well. Kids are excited! DD2 wants to name her kitten Princess since that’s what Papa calls her.

I’m thinking a covered metal dog crate in the tack room. Door can be closed to keep dogs and other nosy predators out. I’ll put it on a shelf in there. Thinking a diaper box with a big notch so she can get in and out easily but kittens can’t. I’ll line it with old towels. Crate is big enough for food/water/litter box also. I have a huge box they can graduate to when they start to get mobile to help keep them safe.

 

[MiniSilkys]

Just make sure it is dim enough in the tack room and quiet. If not she won't use it. Oh, yeah I see you said covered. I have had many kittens born and only had to help with the birthing one time. It was a large tomkit and he needed a little pull. Also, if she is young, she many need you to comfort her and let her know she needs to stay with them. One of my young girls had two kits last year. The girl was dead when I found them and the tom was hypothermic. I had to carry him around in my shirt for a while and then gave him back to her and told her she had to stay and keep him warm. She finally got the idea.