Mod Daeng’s Babies Have Arrived!

Two days before her scheduled due date, Mod Daeng surprised us by having her babies. They arrived sometime in the early morning hours on Wednesday, September 22, 2010.

In hindsight, when I took Mod Daeng to the vet on Sunday the 19th, she was purring loudly – and it did sound a lot like that “double purr” that momma cats make when they are getting close to delivery. But I thought because she was at the vet’s office it was just “nervous purring". As she showed no signs of labor, and it didn’t feel like her milk was starting to come in, I wasn’t expecting birth for a few more days.

But I do now think about how last night she insisted on laying close to me, on my desk, as I read and answered emails before bedtime. And she continued to purr loudly, with the usual occasional grumbles. I did check her belly, and still it didn’t feel like her milk was coming in. And again, no signs of labor. So as I headed for bed I put her in the cage for the night. She had already been investigating – and apparently approved of -- the birthing box I had put in there for her. She'd pawed at the bedding to make her nest and enjoying lying on the nice warm heating pad I set up for her and her babies. Then, after giving Mod Daeng some chin scratches and back strokes, and making sure she had all she needed for the night (or so I thought), I turned off the lights and went to bed.

About 4:30 in the morning I was awakened by tiny cries. Because I had some two month old kittens in another part of the room, in my sleepy state it took me a moment before I recognized the sound of newborns. Then I jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and opened the cage door. And there was Mod Daeng with six babies around her. She’d had them all by herself, apparently with no problems -- they were clean, cords were neatly cut, no afterbirths in sight, and the nest was immaculate. A few of the babies were still slightly damp, so one by one I took them into the bathroom and used my hair dryer on low to dry them off and warm them up. I also took a quick look to see if I could tell a difference in colors, and it did seem as though some were darker than others. By my quick count, three sepias and three minks.

Unless you are familiar with feline genetics, you may not understand what “mink” or “sepia” means, so I hope my friend and colleague Kathryn Amann won’t mind if I paraphrase(with some slight modifications and additions on my part) an excellent explanation she posted today on one of our Burmese lists. However, I may have to edit this after Kathryn and some others read my version and correct any errors on my part! I must tell you up front that genetics is not my strong suit, which is why I appreciate a good explanation that is easy to understand!

Pointed, mink, and sepia are all part of the albino series of genes -- these are not colors themselves but they modify colors. Siamese and cats with similar markings carry the pointed gene. The darker areas on these cats are the cooler parts of their bodies, such as the head, legs and tail. This is because the expression of the albino gene is affected by temperature. The albino gene in Burmese is seen through the sepial genes. Burmese also have some pointing like Siamese, but it is almost invisible except in the champagne or chocolate color, which is created by the “chocolate” gene.

Here is an example of how the genes are expressed. Take a black cat. If that black cat's coat was affected by the "sepia" albino gene, it would be the seal color plus the sepia gene which would create what we call Sable in the Burmese breed.

If that same black cat carried the pointed gene, it would be seal point (as in Siamese or Birmans).

Finally, if the black cat's coat was "mink," then it carries one gene for pointed and one gene for sepia. The expression of those genes in a mink coat is intermediate. So this cat would be called a natural mink in the Tonkinese breed.

Therefore, if you did a chart with two sepial genes (for the sire) and 1 sepia gene and 1 pointed gene for Mod Daeng, who is mink, statistically you have a 50/50 chance of getting "sepia" and "mink".

Then you have to do another chart to see what your chances are of getting seal (Sable) or chocolate (Champagne). Mod Daeng would need to carry chocolate in order to produce a chocolate. But when Mod Daeng was tested, she was shown not to carry chocolate. Therefore her kittens will be either Sable (seal color plus sepia albino gene) or Natural (seal color plus mink albino expression).

Hopefully that genetics lesson makes sense -- assuming I have phrased it correctly! ;-)

I checked the kittens again when I got home from work tonight, before I had dinner. Of course this is a precious litter and during the day at work I couldn't help but worry how they were doing, was she feeding them, did she lay on any of them (she's a big girl and they seem very small in comparison!) But they were all fine when I checked them. I wasn't able to weigh them tonight, Mod Daeng got very agitated when they cried as I held them, and she tried to take them from me or pushed her nose and paws through the cage in desperation to try and get at them, and I didn't want to stress such a new mother out.

However, I got enough of a glimpse tonight to realize that it looks like there are four sepias and two minks! I also did a quick bottom check -- and that is good news or bad news depending on your perspective. It looks like there is one sepia girl -- good news -- but ALL THE REST are boys! I only had a quick look so I could be wrong. Then again, if we get a nice boy he could be useful to more than one breeder. And at least one of the boys looked like he had a nice head. Two in the litter (not sure which color) have long sloping heads and probably won't be useful for breeding. Again, only quick glances were allowed by momma Mod Daeng. Hopefully in time she'll let me handle them longer. And we may be surprised by how the kittens develop. It is also important to remember that this is a multi-generational project, likely we won't get good show type for a couple more generations.

I did manage to weigh the kittens this morning before going to work, and the smallest one was just over 70 grams, the largest more than 90 grams (a sepia). Will try and weigh them tomorrow morning and see if they've gained. That is the next hurdle -- with six kittens, are they all getting enough to eat? She has a pretty long body and her teats are spread out more than my other Burmese girls, so maybe there is enough room!

I will take some photos as soon as Mod Daeng lets me. And I'll post again soon when I have more news to report. In the meantime, your good thoughts are welcome that these precious babies will grow and thrive!