Curious, how would you describe my cat.... Lots of questions I've been wondering about since 2017

[SpecterOhPossum]

She's not a breed; I found her on june 23 2017 under a milkcrate on someones proch; they took her from her mom who was
EITHER

1. a short haired calico girl with 2 sons, one was tuxedo and one was orange and white.
   
   (those 2 in the back would be the siblings)
2. a black and white girl with ... about 7 kittens all black and white; mostly white.

It's the 2nd one most likely, right!?! me and my friend debate over this often! There was also another black and white one who I think was from the 2nds earlier litter so that could be an option; but no clue how old that cat was.

So the other questions I have are..

• Those baby pictures are first day we rescued her, how old do you think she was?
• Is she long haired? Medium? Short? No clue.

THANKS IN ADVANCE! I've been wanting to know these things for the whole 2 years I've known her.

 

[lutece]

First things first, describing your kitty -- Do you have a recent picture that shows her full body with tail? That will help to determine her hair length.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

First things first, describing your kitty -- Do you have a recent picture that shows her full body with tail? That will help to determine her hair length.

Oh sorry! It's hard to get full body pics but the top is the newest ,(today)

She's all white besides the left big black patch on her ear; a spec of black on the right ear, a black tail, and some black spotting on her back feets. i say black but its actually a fairly light brown that fades to white/blonde-ish on the underside of her tail

 

[lutece]

Genetically, cats are either longhaired or shorthaired; there's no "medium hair" gene. Your girl appears to be a genetically longhaired cat, judging from her toe tufts, fluffy hair on the neck, fluffy tail and britches. She isn't as fluffy as the average longhair, but she might get more fluffy as she continues to mature.

As far as your first question, are you asking whether it's more likely that her mom was a calico and white, or black and white cat? Either could have been the case, and I can't say which would be more likely. Also, her mom could have been either a longhaired cat, or shorthair carrying the recessive longhair gene.

Judging from the color of her tail, it looks like her color may be dark brown tabby and white, not black and white. So, if her mom was either calico or black and white, we can guess that her dad would have been tabby and white, since tabby is dominant.

Her pattern would be described as "van pattern" (mostly white, with color restricted to the head and tail). Van pattern was originally named after the Turkish Van cat, but doesn't mean a cat is related to the Turkish Van. It's simply the result of having two copies of the white spotting gene, the same gene that is responsible for white spotting in tuxedo and bicolor cats. So we can make a good guess that both of your girl's parents had white spotting, and she inherited this gene for both parents.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I'm not a breeder or any kind of expert but she might have some Turkish van in there somewhere. I know van markings are common but your kitty reminds me of my boy Tik (RIP) they don't all have ginger markings does she get a ruff in winter. And is she quite big. The face looks very similar they feel soft no undercoat.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Genetically, cats are either longhaired or shorthaired; there's no "medium hair" gene. Your girl appears to be a genetically longhaired cat, judging from her toe tufts, fluffy hair on the neck, fluffy tail and britches. She isn't as fluffy as the average longhair, but she might get more fluffy as she continues to mature.

As far as your first question, are you asking whether it's more likely that her mom was a calico and white, or black and white cat? Either could have been the case, and I can't say which would be more likely. Also, her mom could have been either a longhaired cat, or shorthair carrying the recessive longhair gene.

Judging from the color of her tail, it looks like her color may be dark brown tabby and white, not black and white. So, if her mom was either calico or black and white, we can guess that her dad would have been tabby and white, since tabby is dominant.

Her pattern would be described as "van pattern" (mostly white, with color restricted to the head and tail). Van pattern was originally named after the Turkish Van cat, but doesn't mean a cat is related to the Turkish Van. It's simply the result of having two copies of the white spotting gene, the same gene that is responsible for white spotting in tuxedo and bicolor cats. So we can make a good guess that both of your girl's parents had white spotting, and she inherited this gene for both parents.

Oh interesting, I didn't know that. Very foreign with genetics... she oddly doesn't have a winter or summer coat change. Dunno what that means, but throwing it out there. Thank you for the response! No clue either that long hair is a recessive gene wow! OMG! that confirms then who I thought the dad was at least, there was only one intact male in that town with said coloring - he was my most favorite feral.. We called him simba!
Lol.. sorry, I gushed..
That makes a lot of sense because there are slight rings in her tail fur of a tad lighter brown (think of a leemur, vaguely) and I as curious why. Also, that makes sense too, a lot of people tried to convince me she was a turkish van and all of that but she's just a regular former feral from a run down; low-income city. Thank you again!! I've been curious forever but had no way to know!

 

[lutece]

The Turkish Van is a moderate looking cat, similar in appearance to a van pattern domestic longhair. So, lots and lots of domestic longhairs have a resemblance to this breed. But actual Turkish Vans, with ancestry going back to Turkey, are very rare in most of the world.

Just to give a rough idea of how rare this breed is in the United States, in the CFA statistics for 2017 (the most recent published), I see that only 7 litters of Turkish Vans (28 individual kittens) were born and registered in 2017. That puts this breed almost at the bottom of the list in terms of litters born, just above the American Wirehair.

 

[Willowy]

Honestly, either one could have been the mom. And since the orange kitten had a lot of white, too, I'm leaning toward the calico.

What did the suspected dad cat look like?

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

I'm not a breeder or any kind of expert but she might have some Turkish van in there somewhere. I know van markings are common but your kitty reminds me of my boy Tik (RIP) they don't all have ginger markings does she get a ruff in winter. And is she quite big. The face looks very similar they feel soft no undercoat.View attachment 308782View attachment 308783

I highly doubt it but your tik was beautiful. The only breeds we have in the ghetto (where I grew up, where she was found) was Siamese because apparently the old residents were richer but left their cats upon moving yeaaaars back; so a lot of cats there used to have Siamese heavily but it's been bred out mostly. Nope! No ruff. Her chest fur is pretty big year round but she doesn't have any winter or summer coat changes at all, oddly..She will shed heavily year round, but no difference happens..
She's pretty big though, very long; narrow and lanky; tall. Hard to keep weight on, she's 8.4lbs now, goes to 8.2..
Not sure how to tell if there is an undercoat! Uh she's soft though! Sorry, I'm not great with anything outside of cat husbandry and nutrition and biological stuff.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Honestly, either one could have been the mom. And since the orange kitten had a lot of white, too, I'm leaning toward the calico.

What did the suspected dad cat look like?

Maybe! I'm at a loss there cause they had kittens super close toghther... lol
He was big, brown & white; with a major attitude sometimes! let me go see if i have a photo

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I highly doubt it but your tik was beautiful. The only breeds we have in the ghetto (where I grew up, where she was found) was Siamese because apparently the old residents were richer but left their cats upon moving yeaaaars back; so a lot of cats there used to have Siamese heavily but it's been bred out mostly. Nope! No ruff. Her chest fur is pretty big year round but she doesn't have any winter or summer coat changes at all, oddly..She will shed heavily year round, but no difference happens..
She's pretty big though, very long; narrow and lanky; tall. Hard to keep weight on, she's 8.4lbs now, goes to 8.2..
Not sure how to tell if there is an undercoat! Uh she's soft though! Sorry, I'm not great with anything outside of cat husbandry and nutrition and biological stuff.

I used to say my boy felt like a rabbit his fur didn't get tangled and wasn't hard to care for. I'm in the UK the Turkish Van's were brought here from Turkey so you do see more of them here. I can see why people immediately say Turkish van that's why I said there may be some in there somewhere. She's beautiful and a very lovely look alikey.

 

[lutece]

It doesn't look like the Turkish Van is very common in the UK either, I went to check the GCCF registration statistics and in 2018, there were just 16 Turkish Vans registered in the UK. It is easy to get the impression from looking around that there are more of them than there really are, though, because van pattern domestic longhairs can look very similar to a Turkish Van.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Your right but by just typing in Turkish Van's for sale in the UK you will get alot of results I managed to find 4 13week old kitten's for sale GCCF registered on the first page of searching. There is however alot more without paperwork for sale I was looking myself for a new van unfortunately all those 4 have been reserved. Maybe they just aren't registering don't suppose it matters for pet's.

 

[lutece]

If you are looking for a Turkish Van, you may want to contact the UK Turkish Van Cat Club and see if they can help:

Welcome to the Turkish Van Cat Club

When someone is advertising unregistered kittens and cats, it's hard to say whether they are selling Turkish Vans, or van patterned domestic longhairs. However, there is nothing wrong with a nice van patterned domestic longhair, they are lovely cats too!

 

[Tik cat's mum]

If you are looking for a Turkish Van, you may want to contact the UK Turkish Van Cat Club and see if they can help:

Welcome to the Turkish Van Cat Club

When someone is advertising unregistered kittens and cats, it's hard to say whether they are selling Turkish Vans, or van patterned domestic longhairs. However, there is nothing wrong with a nice van patterned domestic longhair, they are lovely cats too!

Every time I look on there they don't have any kitten's lol. I would not pay silly money for a cat with no paperwork. And I certainly get what your saying about DLH being sold because of a van pattern. I've seen cat's advertised that certainly aren't anything like they should be that's why I haven't got one yet. I am not bothered about show quality and I would buy one not registered that's how I got Tik. But I want to see mum and at least pictures of dad. I'm definitely beginning to think your right there's ads all over but when you get into them they are cross breeds. Looks like I may have a wait on my hands. Thankyou for the heads up.

 

[lutece]

Do the breeders have a wait list? I understand that with Chartreux breeders in the UK (also a very small group), there is a wait list for people wanting kittens. You could contact the club and ask.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Do the breeders have a wait list? I understand that with Chartreux breeders in the UK (also a very small group), there is a wait list for people wanting kittens. You could contact the club and ask.

They probably do but I'm very spare of the moment I'll see a picture and that's it I might even see another moggy that I fall for patches misses his brother I got them 4 weeks apart so waiting might not happenThankyou for the suggestion.

 

[lutece]

Nothing's wrong with a nice moggy, that could be a great option Good luck, I hope you find the perfect kitty soon!

 

[Sugar Plum]

Whatever this cat is, it's gorgeous!

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Whatever this cat is, it's gorgeous!

Thanks, absolutely! I feel so lucky to have her.
(suicide warning, mental health warning)
She rescued me days before I had planned to commit suicide out of town, and at first I tried my damndest to give her to the ASPCA or a rescue when we found her because of this and I was scared she would become sick and pass; or I wouldn't do a good job, but my family refused (my dad kept going "BUT WE NEVER HAD A WHITE CAT..!" and I was disappointed in him!) and I fell in love by the end of the night with her bratty personality and decided to not go through with the suicide because I was the only one I trusted to take care of her. (She bites and has a serious attitude; my family sprays their cats for this, and one member hits her pets.)

Likewise the care I gave her has allowed her to flourish over my families cats visibly, you save them; they save you.

She's just a "moggy"? thats the word right? like.. A mutt! I like that better. I will say she's got the spirit of a tiger though....We take harness walks and she becomes a squirrel; jumping up trees and darting through the fields.