Kitten colour help

[Meeko101209]

Hi everyone!
I was wondering if anyone could help with the colour combinations of these kittens and how it happened?!

mum (Meeko) is a black (possibly grey?) tabby. Her parents - dad broken ginger tabby, mum - same as Meeko. The sire to these kittens is a blue silver tabby.

Mama and kittens are all doing really well. Happy, healthy and very content.

 

[StanAndAlf]

Mumma cat looks like a standard brown mackerel tabby, which pretty much explains to two tabby kittens. Though sometimes blue cats appear tabby as kittens, so I think that lighter coloured kitten could possibly turn blue as it matures. As ginger is carried through the x chromosome (that's why ginger females are rare, they need two ginger chromosomes where males only need one), its likely mumma cat carried a ginger gene from her dad, which expressed itself in the ginger kitten. Same with the white kittens, though that could be from the kittens' father, it really depends. I'm not an expert either, just my basic understanding.

Also, you are certain on the father? If she had access to the outdoors at the time she fell pregnant, the kittens could actually have different fathers.

Beautiful babies!

 

[di and bob]

The two grey and the ginger are easy, the grandparents and parents carry the same color genes. The two 'white' ones will almost certainly be color points, they will have darker legs, muzzle, and tail, which colors it is hard to say until they start to develop them. It could be ginger or tabby. Their eyes will most likely stay blue too. This all means that BOTH parents carry the colorpoint gene somewhere in their background.

 

[StanAndAlf]

The two 'white' ones will almost certainly be color points, they will have darker legs, muzzle, and tail, which colors it is hard to say until they start to develop them.

Do you think they could be albino? The light pink ears and skin make me wonder...I have had a white kitten who developed darker points, but even as a baby she had dark tips on her ears and tail....

 

[di and bob]

The chances of them being albino are truly almost nonexistent. Their eyes when they open would have a pink cast. Even if they happen to stay white that would be a little rare too, check them for deafness then, many pure white cats carry a gene for deafness. MOST colorpoint cats are born completely white. It takes several months to develop the color that will come, and even then darkens over at least a year. My Flamepoint in my avatar, white with ginger, was born pure white like your kittens. He had a ginger nose, ears, and tail with some spots on his legs. Your kittens having pink skin may mean ginger, or Flamepoint too. This can indicate a strong Oriental background too, though not always because it is coloring. Even if the parents don't show it. They will be very talkative and mischievous if that is so!

 

[Meeko101209]

Thank you both for your replies! Definitely sure about the dad, and she didn’t have any access to any other male during the time of conception. I expected the tabby and ginger, but the white ones were throwing me off!

I used to have the most beautiful lilac point ragdoll boy, Mr Fuzzypants. He unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. I hope they are flame point, that colour is absolutely stunning!

Also, how common is it for a litter to only contain boys?

 

[di and bob]

Very unusual, though it DOES happen, my cat had a litter of 5 boys once. I would trade you, I have almost all girls right now with my outside cats, getting them all spayed (and the boys neutered) is a nightmare because they are so feral. (I can tell because of all the torties!) I DO NOT want more kittens! They multiply like rabbits!

 

[Willowy]

The mama cat is a (black-based) torbie; you can see the orange patches on her side and her right front paw. She has to be, since her dad was orange. So that's why she can have an orange kitten. That one has to be male.

The white ones must be pointed (all-white cats almost always have an all-white parent, there are only extremely rare exceptions) possibly flame point (if they're male) but seal/blue point is possible too. It looks like one of the dark tabbies inherited the blue from daddy cat. I'm not as familiar with silver so I'm not sure how that goes when it comes to inheritance.

Mama cat is longhaired, if the dad is shorthaired there may not be any longhaired kittens, but if he carries the gene one or two might be longhaired. If he is also longhaired, all the kittens will be too.

A single-sex litter isn't too rare. I've raised single-sex litters, one of 4 males and one of 3 females. If you want confirmation, you can post some booty pics here, we love those, haha.

A fine looking batch of babies! It looks like she's a good mama too.

 

[Meowmee]

Such cuties Looks like you have two brown tabbies, a ginger tabby, has to be male unless there was another father and two possible color points, if both carried a colorpoint gene. For a girl to be a ginger tabby she has to be OO one from each parent and the father would have to be red tabby I think. The points should show soon if they are seal or blue, on the nose first, usually by week 2-3. Some may be longhair if the dad is or carries a longhair gene.

 

[Maurey]

Doubtful dad is blue silver, given none of the kittens visibly have the inhibitor gene. Genetics don’t always follow odds, but highly unusual that not even one of the non-pointed kittens is silver if the father is. If the pointed kittens also lack the inhibitor gene, chances are dad is just blue. Blue is commonly mistaken for silver or blue silver. Blue comes in a huge range of shades. The inhibitor gene is also pretty uncommon in moggies.

As ginger is carried through the x chromosome (that's why ginger females are rare, they need two ginger chromosomes where males only need one), its likely mumma cat carried a ginger gene from her dad, which expressed itself in the ginger kitten.

Red isn’t carried, it’s not recessive. A cat is either red, tortoiseshell, or doesn’t have the red gene.

 

[cataholic07]

Yep the kittens are colorpoints. Males can be either color of mom so brown tabby or orange, or the dilute version grey. Colorpoints can be any gender just both parents must have colorpoint gene. I do hope you spay mom after they are weaned.