Black Smoke?

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

Hello all. I have 3 feral colony kittens I took in a few days ago to hopefully train as spoiled barn cats. They are littermates, approximately 9 weeks old. I’m pretty sure the 2 boys (Nuts and Bolts) are black with ghost tabby markings. The girl (Screws) I think may be a black smoke. I am going to share pictures of her on this comment, then add a comment with pictures of the boys for reference.

Here is the girl, Screws:

 

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

Here’s the boys

 

[GoldyCat]

In order to tell if a cat is smoke, you need to look at the roots of the hair. Smoke means every hair is white a the root.
This is what my black smoke looks like. White is visible only when I lift the hair.

 

[sivyaleah]

Adding to GoldyCat - black kittens usually go through several coat changes in their first year. Once they fully develop their adult coat, the tabby pattern should fade as the coat darkens. Not that it's not there anymore, in the right light, you'll still be able to see it but the solid black will visually overtake the pattern.

Found this out from experience.

 

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

In order to tell if a cat is smoke, you need to look at the roots of the hair. Smoke means every hair is white a the root.
This is what my black smoke looks like. White is visible only when I lift the hair.
View attachment 422954

I tried to do that in one of the pictures I posted. These are feral kittens that are slowly getting used to being handled

 

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

Adding to GoldyCat - black kittens usually go through several coat changes in their first year. Once they fully develop their adult coat, the tabby pattern should fade as the coat darkens. Not that it's not there anymore, in the right light, you'll still be able to see it but the solid black will visually overtake the pattern.

Found this out from experience.

The 2 boys will definitely darken up more. Their fur is straight black at the roots. The girl is not. Hers looks like a really light silver at the roots, though it’s very difficult to get a good picture of it.

 

[Falena]

As others have said the roots are how to determine a black smoke. I understand its difficult with feral babies , but time (and trust) will tell
I have a black smoke myself and she went through a phase of looking almost dark silver all over at one point and I'd never heard of, nor seen black smoke before so was quite confused haha.
Black smoke is super variable in that some kitties look entirely solid black as adults until you part the fur, and others retain a steel grayish look where the tabby is still visible as my Akila has done so far. I think that depends mostly on coat type, Akila has a very plush short coat that almost stands entirely on end in some areas, so the white roots can still be seen, whereas if her coat was sleek and laid flat I doubt you'd even notice she was a smoke at all by just looking at her, It's most noticeable on longer coats.
I think your best bet is to wait and see when Screws is a little more comfortable with you and you can get a good look at her roots, they would be stark white for smoke (:
Beautiful little kittens regardless!

And here is my kitty, Akila's 9 week old- 8 month old coat for comparison

 

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

Falena
I can get a good look at her undercoat, trying to take a clear picture is another thing lol. The circled area in this pic shows (somewhat) how light her undercoat is. Both of the boys, on the other hand, are black underneath. First pic is screws, second is bolts. He is the easiest to handle out of the 3.

 

[Falena]

Falena
I can get a good look at her undercoat, trying to take a clear picture is another thing lol. The circled area in this pic shows (somewhat) how light her undercoat is. Both of the boys, on the other hand, are black underneath. First pic is screws, second is bolts. He is the easiest to handle out of the 3.

It is definitely quite light! Is it uniform all over her body?
I can't say for certain, but she looks like she could be to me! My girl changed to all shades as she grew and I couldn't for the life of me pin point where she was going to end up lol.
There are a few factors you might need to wait on such as the fact her coat could be quite dull and lackluster due to being feral and not properly nourished yet, it could also grow in length revealing more of the light colour, or she may even shed it out entirely when she gets her adult coat. Smoke is quite a mysterious colour and I think patience is definitely important with it

 

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

Falena it is light all over, and when she turns her head it’s easy to see poking through. I just wish I had more info on the parents. I know the mom is a grey, I just don’t know what kind of grey if you get what I mean. The dad could be anyone lol. This pic is her with her head turned. That is not a white spot.

 

[Falena]

Falena it is light all over, and when she turns her head it’s easy to see poking through. I just wish I had more info on the parents. I know the mom is a grey, I just don’t know what kind of grey if you get what I mean. The dad could be anyone lol. This pic is her with her head turned. That is not a white spot.

OH! I see, I wasn't sure if that was her skin haha. If that's her undercoat it definitely looks pretty white. She quite likely is a black smoke then imo, she's just quite a sleek and dark one.
If she definitely is, then one of her parents would have had to have had the inhibitor gene, so the grey mother may well have been a silver or a lighter black smoke herself rather than just grey?
I was fortunate enough to know the parents of Akila, her mother is a little brown/grey tabby domestic shorthair, but the father is a big striking silver (friend's accidental litter) and the silver dad was definitely responsible for her black smoke.

 

[Meowmee]

Such cuties thanks for saving them

It is hard to tell from these pics but it looks like she could be black smoke in this one. My Zena who is a doh blk white tuxedo has light almost white skin, but he is not black smoke, I think it is due to him being blk white. His roots are not white, maybe a bit grayish but mostly it is his skin that is white.

 

[Maurey]

Lighter roots are common in black kittens, it’s unsound coats. Smoke kittens need to have high contrast white roots, not just lighter ones. They’re all solid black

 

[Nuts Bolts and Screws]

Lighter roots are common in black kittens, it’s unsound coats. Smoke kittens need to have high contrast white roots, not just lighter ones. They’re all solid black

Hers are a very light silver, so I will just continue watching her. Both of the boys are definitely black lol.