I am caring for a litter of kittens that a stray cat gave birth to under the porch. The Mama is a tortie. There were four kittens, but one was still born. One of the kittens, and the stillborn one are both torties (female of course), the only male in the litter is a mackerel orange tabby, and the other female is gray, although if you look at her in the right kind of light, you can see she also has "shadow" stripes.
All the cats/kittens I've ever had have all been spayed/neutered so I've never actually cared for a litter of kittens before. I tried to find some information on cat coat color genetics, but it just made my head spin. I've read that females can become pregnant by more than one male, so I'm wondering if that might be the case here. If it IS possible that all these kittens could have the same father, what color possibilities would there be for the male cat to produce a litter with this variety of coat colors?
(I will also add that the sole male in the litter, the orange tabby is much longer and lankier than his siblings.)
(Also, in case anyone is concerned, I have the three babies, and the mama, who is semi-wild set up with an appointment for low cost spay/neuter and shots before I work on finding the babies homes. I am absolutely against letting a cat have a litter just so she can have a litter. The mama was pregnant when she showed up on my doorstep.)
Here are photos, so you can get a better idea of their coat colors.
We named the orange tabby Jupiter. This photo gives you an idea of how long he is! He's less than 4 months old.
This is Luna, the torte female. She looks a lot like her Mama.
This is Ash, the other female.
And, I'm including this one of Ash and Jupiter because here, you can sort of see Ash's "shadow stripes". (I'm not sure how else to describe it. She looks solid gray but in some light, you can see there's a tabby hiding under there!)
All the cats/kittens I've ever had have all been spayed/neutered so I've never actually cared for a litter of kittens before. I tried to find some information on cat coat color genetics, but it just made my head spin. I've read that females can become pregnant by more than one male, so I'm wondering if that might be the case here. If it IS possible that all these kittens could have the same father, what color possibilities would there be for the male cat to produce a litter with this variety of coat colors?
(I will also add that the sole male in the litter, the orange tabby is much longer and lankier than his siblings.)
(Also, in case anyone is concerned, I have the three babies, and the mama, who is semi-wild set up with an appointment for low cost spay/neuter and shots before I work on finding the babies homes. I am absolutely against letting a cat have a litter just so she can have a litter. The mama was pregnant when she showed up on my doorstep.)
Here are photos, so you can get a better idea of their coat colors.
We named the orange tabby Jupiter. This photo gives you an idea of how long he is! He's less than 4 months old.
This is Luna, the torte female. She looks a lot like her Mama.
This is Ash, the other female.
And, I'm including this one of Ash and Jupiter because here, you can sort of see Ash's "shadow stripes". (I'm not sure how else to describe it. She looks solid gray but in some light, you can see there's a tabby hiding under there!)
