Yesterday, my Siamese girl Effie had her first litter! She had three babies, two are boys I think and one is a girl. I'm only so-so on sexing newborns, I get lots of visits from the sex-change fairy. Anyhow, Effie did very well, she had an uneventful pregnancy. And she knew just what to do. She broke the sacks, chewed the cords, ate the placentas, cleaned up! I was mostly there to hold her back paws for pushing, that's about it.
The daddie, my Siamese male Itsy, had the typical male reaction - "how soon can I screw Effie again?" Too bad Itsy, you're not seeing Effie again for 5 months.
Pictures below the fold:
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I'll take new pictures every week or two so you can see the kittens grow.
First up is the three babies proving that kittens are born knowing how to get into surround formation:
They are very clever!
Next, here's mom with nursing her litter, notice how she has one paw stretched and one curled - she's making biscuits with her paws, which means she is very happy. That's something cats learn to do when they are nursing. They stimulate the milk by making biscuits on their mom.
Did you notice that the babies don't have any color? They are purebred Siamese, I swear! Effie and Itsy are show cats in CFA. Effie is a chocolate point and Itsy is a seal. So where is the color? Siamese babies are born without color. More after the next photo:
Notice how white the fur is on the face! So here is why babies out of two pointed cats are born all white. There is an enzyme involved in pigement production. Siamese cats (or any pointed cat, which is any cat with color restricted to the legs, paws, ears and face) have a defective enzyme. It breaks down in heat. Any place on the body that is warm will break the enzyme and the cat has much less pigment there. The cooler places are the legs, ears, tail and face and the enzyme works fine there producing lots of pigment.
The babies will start getting color in a few days. If any of the kittens are seal points, I'll start seeing color on them before next week. If any are lilac points (and they could be from this breeding), I won't know for several weeks.
Sometimes, moms use the babies as a pillow!
Here they are practicing pile making skills:
It's important that the babies stay in a pile when they are not nursing or when mom is not around. It holds the heat in for them.
Just one more for this week:
Look at the crazy kitten on the right stretching out his arms! And mom is still making biscuits. I wish I could post a video, you would hear her purring so loudly.
Anyhow, enough for this week, more for next week. If you have any questions about Siamese cats, ask in the comments. I've been breeding them for 15 years and am on CFA's Siamese Breed Council. If I don't know the answer, I will know who does.