Born Our Black Now Turning Silver Tabby??

[Kittenlove1]

Hey guys so my kitten here is a bit of a puzzle, when she was first born she looked pure black, not a spec of white/grey on her. As she’s getting older she’s getting these ghost tabby markings almost. The colouring is thicker around her neck and face and a lot of the hairs are half black half white/grey. On her back though it’s a mixture of white and black hairs. Wondering what you guys think she is?? I’ve included pictures of her and one of her mother, we are not too sure who the father is as she got out when she was in heat.

 

[lutece]

If the hairs are black at the tip and white at the base, her coloring is black smoke.

 

[Kittenlove1]

If the hairs are black at the tip and white at the base, her coloring is black smoke.

Even with it the banded hairs not being all over the body? I’ve read some mixed things on this type of coat so a little confused

 

[lutece]

A young kitten's coat is still developing, so the coat color may not be consistent all over her body. Each hair is going to start out black as it begins to grow, then you will see the white at the base as the hair gets to its full length.

 

[Kittenlove1]

A young kitten's coat is still developing, so the coat color may not be consistent all over her body. Each hair is going to start out black as it begins to grow, then you will see the white at the base as the hair gets to its full length.

Thank you! My next question is, is will the tabby markings disappear over time or will they stay, or is there any way to know that. They’ve developed as she’s gotten older but I’ve read that they disappear once their full coat comes in

 

[lutece]

If your kitten is black smoke, it's hard to know how obvious the tabby pattern will be when she matures. Some black smokes look like solid black cats on the surface, until you part the hair to reveal the white undercoat. Other black smokes have much more obvious tabby markings. You will just have to wait and see!

 

[Kittenlove1]

If your kitten is black smoke, it's hard to know how obvious the tabby pattern will be when she matures. Some black smokes look like solid black cats on the surface, until you part the hair to reveal the white undercoat. Other black smokes have much more obvious tabby markings. You will just have to wait and see!

Thank you so much! That definitely clears things up for me.

 

[lutece]

By the way, as far as terminology is concerned, there's a difference between silver tabby and black smoke. Both are the result of the dominant "inhibitor" gene that causes the base of the hair to be white. A black smoke is genetically a solid black cat with the inhibitor gene. A silver tabby is genetically a brown tabby cat with the inhibitor gene. Your girl appears to be a black smoke, not a silver tabby. Here's a picture of a black smoke and a silver tabby next to each other so you can see the difference.

 

[lutece]

And here is another picture of a black smoke (left) and silver tabby (right), in this case Savannah cats, showing how some black smokes have obvious tabby markings, but you can still see that the cat on the left is a smoke and not a silver tabby.

The picture is from this page, which also has lots more interesting pictures and info about Savannah colors: LequoiaSVColors

 

[Kittenlove1]

By the way, as far as terminology is concerned, there's a difference between silver tabby and black smoke. Both are the result of the dominant "inhibitor" gene that causes the base of the hair to be white. A black smoke is genetically a solid black cat with the inhibitor gene. A silver tabby is genetically a brown tabby cat with the inhibitor gene. Your girl appears to be a black smoke, not a silver tabby. Here's a picture of a black smoke and a silver tabby next to each other so you can see the difference.

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Thank you for correcting me, I’m new to this. I grew up on a farm and never really thought about colours of coats until we got this girl and she was so out of the ordinary from the other cats I’ve seen. Thank you for being so helpful!

 

[AnSDRfanhere]

I'm guessing...black-smoke tabby?