Well Bunni is due this week. I feel awful because for the first time in 12 years I don't have a dead on date of which to expect babies

I do know she was with Cas when my mom had her surgery and that was Feb 3rd. So sometime between the 5th and the 8th I expect babies. At least I have a time frame. But because I wasn't here at home and was at the hospital that day...I don't know if she was bred on Friday or Saturday night...she was with him while I spent the weekend with my mom.

So Kevin is taking Tuesday through Friday off and will watch Bunni for me and spend time with Madisyn while she is here. I will take off Thursday and Friday and the following Monday just in case I need an extra day.

I will keep you all posted!

I sincerely hope that all goes well and you have a nice bunch of healthy kitties by the end of the week!

Thank you Linda! With Bunni being a first time momma...I have that extra worry but I have to tell you I am SO excited about this litter!!!! Kathy (Cas' breeder) and I are over the moon with excitement about Bunni's babies...this is the DREAM breeding in this house right now!!!! I just cannot imagine not having a beautiful bunch out of Cas and Bunni!

All fingers and paws are crossed here, Heather, for a smooth
labour and birth of delicious little babies!!!

I know you are on pins and needles with not knowing exactly when she will deliver. I hope everything goes perfectly for her and for you. I have been there not knowing the exact due date (and really with first timers it's hard)so I know how nervous you can get - especially when you work.

Curious person here -- with cats, the due dates are exact? If you know when the mother is bred, you know the day the kittens will be born? There's no 'window' like with humans?

Average is 65 days. With most queens they go the same time frame each time - so if you know she delivered on the 64th day for instance, on the first litter, you can be almost certain it will be the 64th day the following litters (at least in my experience). It is tough for a first litter.

Thanks for the info, Lynda. Not that I needed to know it, but I was just curious.

Linda there are lots of reasons to know the date of conception. I tend to "map" my girls. In other words, with a first time mom I will write down the date she delivers that first litter. So if I know the date of conception I will know what day she delivered on...day 63, 64 or 65...on up to 72. Mind you I prefer not to let a girl carry past 68 days. Sassy has always delivered her kittens on day 68...but Libby was always day 65. Knowing this information can also help alert you to problems you otherwise might not know. Libby carried her last litter to day 66...this was litter number 5 for her and she was ALWAYS day 65. Combined with her not having milk I took her into see the vet. She ended up having a c-section due to infection that I might not have caught had I not known her due date and her history.

This is another reason that Lynda said that first timmers are so worrisome. You have no history to go by, so you worry even more about how things will go because you could miss something that otherwise you wouldn't with a history.

And what I mean by exact date isn't really the date of delivery as much as the date of conception. The date of conception gives a ball park of when they can have babies...the window is typically 3 days (63-65)...not knowing means I need to cover every date possible and makes the window larger. This is why Kevin is staying with her Tuesday and Wednesday and why I have taken Monday off as well...just to cover the larger window.

I have not ever done this before and am really really frustrated that I made this mistake with a first time mom of all things! I have no idea how she will behave before delivery...no predictions at all since this is her first litter. Will she eat up to delivery or will she stop about 24 hours before...I have no idea. It is a tuff situation and I am frustrated that I wasn't more attentive to writing down dates and watching more closely. But it happens...just the first time for me.

This whole "let's make kittens" thing is fascinating. Totally scary to me, but fascinating listening to you and other breeders. I'm still a bit 'freaked' that a mother can have an infection and deliver babies. Amazing!!!

I have all fingers and toes crossed that things turn out well for Bunni and her babies.