See the results of Uhura’s DNA test here.
Mama Uhura – date of birth (est’d) July 31, 2021.
Kittens’ date of birth: July 22, 2023.
The Trekklings – Mama Uhura and her kittens Kirk (boy), Riker (boy), Spock (boy), Janeway (girl), Kes (girl), and Troi (girl) came to us on July 27, 2023 when the kittens were 5 days old. Uhura had been dropped off at our local animal control as a stray. It was quickly apparent that she was pregnant, and when she was about a week from having her kittens, she went to Michelle’s house (Michelle is who I sub-foster for) until I could take her. We had hoped she’d wait until she could come to my house to have her kittens, but she just couldn’t wait, so gave birth in the early hours to 6 kittens.
Uhura is a brown and white cat; we don’t know what breeds are in her genetic background, but a very kind follower sent us a Basepaws DNA test kit for her, so when the results come back (around mid to late September), I will post them here.
At animal control, they were calling her “Swiss Miss” (because she’s chocolate brown)(see her Basepaws DNA test results here) and we thought we’d go with names of brands of hot cocoa for her kittens. But when I saw that the white mark on her forehead looks very much like a Star Trek insignia, I knew we had a better naming theme. All the names come from various Star Trek franchises (I am not a Trekker, but Michelle is. She sent me a list of names, and I chose the ones I liked.)
Unfortunately, although all of her kittens seemed to be very healthy, little Riker took a sudden downturn and passed away despite all our efforts (you can read about that here). The remaining kittens are very healthy and vigorous, but of course we’re keeping a close eye on them.
RIP Riker
Janeway
Kes
Kirk.
Spock
Troi
You can read about the Trekklings beginning here. There are links at the top and bottom of each entry; click on the one on the right to take you to the next entry.
You can see all the pictures taken of the Trekklings here at Flickr, or scroll through them below.
September 30: Uhura was adopted and is now a resident of the Nashville, Tennessee area. She’s the only kitty in her new home, and her name is now “Toast.”
October 14: Kirk was adopted and is now a resident of Charleston, South Carolina. He’s keeping his name and joins a family that includes new kitty siblings Mango and Oreo.
October 20: Troi and Kes were adopted (together). Kes is now Nala and Troi is now Sarabi (names are from The Lion King; Sarabi was Simba’s mother).
November 6th: Spock and Janeway were adopted (together). They are now Jethro and Elly May, and they live in the hollers of Kentucky!
Uhura’s Basepaws DNA test results.
In mid-August someone gifted us a Basepaws DNA test for Uhura (because we were just so curious to know what her genetic background consists of) and after waiting what felt like forever, we FINALLY got the results.
Drumroll please…
Western
Broadly Western: 23.36%
Maine Coon: 12.94%
Siberian: 10.9%
Ragdoll: 10.57%
Russian Blue: 7.04%
American Shorthair: 3.1%
Turkish Van: 0.63%
Norwegian Forest Cat: 0%
Abyssian: 0%
Turkish Angora: 0%
Eastern
Broadly Eastern: 2.07%
Oriental: 1.84%
Peterbald: 0%
Burmese: 0%
Birman: 0%
Thai (aka Modern Siamese): 0%
Persian
Persian 8.9%
Broadly Persian 3.3%
Persian 3.07%
British Shorthair 2.52%
Exotic Shorthair 0%
Himalayan 0%
Exotic 6.51%
Bengal 4.47%
Egyptian Mau 2.04%
Broadly Exotic 0%
Savannah 0%
Polycat 12.15%
A domestic polycat is a remarkable result of many generations of mixed breeding between different types of cats, which is why the ancestry and origin of these kitties can be very difficult to determine.
Also of interest:
Carrier: Dilute coat color
The dilute coat color phenotype in cats is related to both the
eumelanin and phaeomelanin pigment pathways. When two
copies of a mutation in the melanophilin gene (MLPH) are
inherited, the pigment deposition in hair is affected and the
original coat color is altered. For example, black fur becomes gray,
and orange will turn cream.
Likely to have: Chocolate coat color
Brown coat color variations are caused by various mutations in
the gene coding for tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TYRP1). The
chocolate coat color is a consequence ofinheriting two mutated
copies of the TYRP1 gene. (Good to have confirmation from Basepaws, I suppose!)