All white kittens to two colored cats?

auroradaisy

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My sisters cat just had 4 kittens that are all white.



You can see the color of the mom, and she does not have any white male cats. How is this possible? Could they be albino? Thanks for any help!
 
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di and bob

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Not likely, that would be extremely rare. What most likely happened is that each parent carries a 'pointed' gene, which means they won't be pointed but their offspring will. I've had many pure white kittens that develop their points at about 3-5 weeks of age, getting colored ears, legs, tail and faces. Many keep their blue eyes too. The body coat can darken too. My Casper was pure white from two colored parents, he has blue eyes, white coat and yellow legs, tail, ears and face. It will be interesting to see what colors they develop! 
 
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auroradaisy

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Thank you so much for the quick reply! We've been wondering about this all morning. I tried to read about cat genetics but it wasn't really clarifying things for me.
 

DreamerRose

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If white is a recessive gene, then two colored parents could produce white kittens, much like two human parents with brown eyes can have a child with blue eyes, which is a recessive gene. If they were albinos, they would have pink eyes.
 
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auroradaisy

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We thought it was really strange that they were all white like that with no white parents. Thanks so much for clarifying. I'm really interested to see what they look like as they get older.
 

1CatOverTheLine

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The gene which "produces" white isn't actually on the colour locus; it's epistatic, that is, it acts as a modifier to coat colouration - in this case Wº - which actually masks or inhibits all other colours, producing white cats.

.
 

StefanZ

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If white is a recessive gene, then two colored parents could produce white kittens, much like two human parents with brown eyes can have a child with blue eyes, which is a recessive gene. If they were albinos, they would have pink eyes.
Good reasoning, but white is dominant...  So you see it if you have it.   Here above we see a partly different explanation, but it gives the same end result.
 

StefanZ

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You can see the color of the mom, and she does not have any white male cats. How is this possible? Could they be albino? Thanks for any help!
 As explained earlier, the kittens are almost surely points, they will begin to darken up after 1-3 weeks...  so you will see.

The statistics are:  both parents points; gives all kittens points,

one point one carrier o the point gene - with other outer looks: half of the kittens are points.

both parents have other looks, but both carriers; one of four kittens is a point.

The statistics arent ironclad so it may vary, but its a nice rule of thumb.   Still, the daddy is  probably a point, otherwise the odds would be pretty slim to give all four kittens points oout of two carriers.

I was on way to write, momma is very apparently a tortie, posssibly a diluted tortie, Im not even sure she carries white for real.  but when I tried to magnify her pic to take a better look, I realized she seems to have blue eyss.  And thus, probably  she herself is a point, a tortie points...  They usaully arent that dark on the body, but still, she is a point...   That is why we get so many pointed kittens.

Thus we dont need no pointed daddy, its enough he is a carrier.  Although quite possible he too is a point.
 
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auroradaisy

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Thanks for all of the replies everyone. So is it strange that all of her kittens were this white? She's had kittens before and they've always been different colors, then all of this litter is white. It seems strange to us. I just saw your post StefanZ and asked my sister who said the momma cat has green eyes.

 
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StefanZ

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OK, green eyes,  so she is no point, even if there are strains among points - for example some ragdolls, whom have greenish eyes.

Green eyes is quite common among torties.   so,  I do presume the father was a point, which easily can give all four kittens are points.  She is apparently a carrier, though.

The earlier fathers didnt carried no point gene, that is why there was no pointed kitten earlier.   Anywyas, there usually not all are points, even with a poitned father and momma carrier.

NOW I managed to magnify the first pic, and saw there were also the kittens.  I do see they arent pure white, they are somewhat yellowish. Exactly the color newborn points usually have.

The last to say for now, it would be swell if you talk your sis into the spaying of this beauty.  She had already apparently done her share of delivering new kittens to this world.
 
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biancavd

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I agree, pointed little babies <3 Full white kittens is impossible if dad wasn't a full white cat.

To show you how a point will develop, they are born like this:

 /   / 
Then after a few days to a week, color will start to show. After 2 weeks it will look like this (same kittens as above, 3 different colors):

 /   / 
And after 10 weeks they look like this:

 /   / 
The color will continue to darken over time, and the body can also get some color as they grow up. Lots of luck to you, mom and the babies! Don't be shy to share a picture of the little ones every now and then! 
 

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Having all white kittens would be impossible unless a parent is dominant white. So, yeah, they must be pointed. Are any of her male cats pointed (Siamese type)? It's unusual for all of them to be pointed with at least one non-pointed parent but statistics are statistics for a reason :D. Even if the dad is non-pointed it's theoretically possible for all of them to be pointed but it's highly unlikely. So if one of her male cats is a Siamese type, he's the daddy!
 
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auroradaisy

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She does have a male that is white and gray just like the cats in those pictures, so he must be the daddy. I just asked her and she says one of them already looks like it is getting gray tips on its ears. Thanks for all of the information everyone.
 

Willowy

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Well, that's him then! (On a side note, she really should have her cats spayed and neutered :/)

Normally only 50% of the kittens would be pointed with one pointed parent, but sometimes the odds are odd :D. Somewhere else is a litter with one pointed parent and no pointed kittens to even the numbers out :lol3:.
 
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auroradaisy

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I know her cats need to be spayed and neutered. I've tried to get her to. She lives in a rural area and her cats are pretty much just the farm cats. I live in town but I love cats so I've taken in all of the strays by my house. I put a door for them to get in to my garage in the winter time and I got all of them fixed. I feed them and take them to the vet if they get sick. I try to do as much for them as I can.
 

StefanZ

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A auroradaisy Yes, its interesing to know the end result. They are still points, but the point coloration is interesting, with a tortie momma. If somebody carries tabby it can easily color the whole body too...

What is not that common is all four kittens are points. With two colored carriers ONE or possibly two of fours should be points. With all four is possible but very rare.
Unless one of the parents - here daddy - IS a point, but for example heavily tabbyed too. Sometimes its not very apparent they are points. Here half of the kittens should be points, but all four not that common but not longer rare.

Hello everyone! This is a 6 month old post, but I was wondering, what colouring the kittens developed? Maybe share some pics if you have any?
Thanks for all of the replies everyone. So is it strange that all of her kittens were this white? She's had kittens before and they've always been different colors, then all of this litter is white. It seems strange to us. I just saw your post StefanZ and asked my sister who said the momma cat has green eyes.

 
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