Snowshoe? What color is he?

[rocio]

I've been trying to decide what COLOR this little guy is. I'd been calling him a Siamese mix and hesitating between Lilac and Blue but unable to decide. Trying, once again, to determine his point color, I came across the Snowshoe breed and was immediately struck by the resemblance. I mean, the pictures I was looking at looked exactly like a picture of this little guy. So I'm guessing maybe he's a Snowshoe just without the inverted V in the middle of his face (only one white cheek)? Any thoughts? And please, please, what color do you guys think he is?

First pictures he's about 4 months old.

4co6.jpg

• rocio
• Jun 20, 2013

Here he is between 7-9 months old.

4ahp.jpg

• rocio
• Jun 20, 2013

I have no clue as to his parentage. Neighbor knew I was the crazy cat lady in the neighborhood and led me to this little guy he said he found under his car.  He's about 9 months old right now.  The 2nd set of pictures gives you a better idea of his color. Its a warm, greyish color I think. And his tail appears to be banded?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Forgot to mention, he does have blue (cross-eyed) eyes and does cry (chirp?) a lot. I've never actually heard him meow just chirp/cry.  Mostly it sounds a lot like "why won't anyone play with me?" type of cry. He's so rambunctious that he has my two other cats completely worn out before he's even half way done playing. ^_^

 

[franksmom]

So very pretty, he looks a little like my seal point ragdoll ( in the first pic) but with shorter hair. I agree with you his markings look like a snowshoe. I do not think he is a pure bred and could just be the result of two moggies with pointed genes breeding, though he probably has some Siamese in his background. My guess he is either a pointed moggie or the result of a byb. If he was from a reputable breeder he would have a microchip and would have been fixed. People who spend $500/$1000 on a cat usually do not just throw them out.

 

[maewkaew]

 Welcome to TCS!     Being the known neighborhood cat lady ,  it sounds like you will fit right in here!  

This young cat fellow is Blue Point and White.     Or some would say Blue Point Mitted. 

  he is SO cute and he sounds like quite a cat!    lol he sounds about as indefatiguable as my own blue point Siamese ( Thai)  Sammy .   Sammy is 4 yrs and still the Energizer Kitty. 

Your  handsome boy has  2 copies of the pointed gene ,   which means almost certainly some Siamese ancestors but that doesnt tell us how recent they were -- could have been just a few generations back or  they could have been 50+ generations ago ,  because the gene for this pattern has been spread through the general cat population over the past century. 

  It also could have been passed down via another breed like Ragdoll . 

He also got the gene for white spotting from a parent.   Of course the white spotting gene is something common in the general cat population.   

So he has a combination of pointed and white that is similar to  Snowshoes. And while the ideal is the white is just on the paws and in an inverted V on the face,  in reality that is difficult to breed for exactly and a Snowshoe could have white markings like this cat.

.....     but the reality is  that is a very rare breed.  It just never really took off much and there aren't many of them.      I honestly don't think he is a Snowshoe --    in his case the mix of markings probably happened more by chance.     If he came from a breeder I doubt he would have been wandering around as a young kitten.   Someone is not  likely to pay hundreds for. a pedigree kitten and almost immediately dump him. Well, it's not impossible someone could have bought him at  about 12 weeks old and then he soon got lost (  someone surely would have been looking for him though! . ) 

   but  there are a LOT more random-bred "Domestic Shorthair" pointed and white cats than there are actual Snowshoes.   So the odds are a lot more on the side of him being a random- bred pointed & white DSH ,  fondly called a 'moggy".  

Which doesn't make him any less special, of course!     ( I can't even express how much I loved my blue lynx point and white DLH who had been found  nearly dead after being badly burned in a fire.  ) 

 There was another post on here recently with a cat that I think really may be a Snowshoe that was adopted from a shelter as an adult.  I think it was the first time I have told someone I thought their cat of unknown background really was likely to be a Snowshoe.  If you are interested to look at that cat's photo,  is the post with a title that says something about  '2 Siamese?' 

 

[rocio]

Thank you both so much for your help. Yeah, I didn't really think he was a purebred. I'm pretty sure someone would have come knocking if he was.  ^_^  As no one ever did I was pretty sure he was either a stray or abandoned. Poor thing was only about 5 1/2 weeks old (my best guess) when I found him last September and so flea infested I was scared my two other cats and house would be infested in a matter of hours!  He seemed too friendly and not scared to be a feral baby so I really thought someone would come looking for him.  As no one ever came he ended up becoming one of my own. 

Blue point is what I was thinking as well! The only thing that kept throwing me off is that his color was too warm.

Anyway, thank you both again.  Sorry if I'm not making much sense. Super sleepy right now and work was too long. Going to bed now I think.  ^_^ 

 

[maewkaew]

  Yes , sometimes blue points do have a sort of warm tone,  especially on the body  they can have a sort of tan body with dark grey points.  He is definitely blue point though.     

 and he was a lucky little kitten that he was found and brought to you and you took him in.   

Lilac points usually have a paler body even as adults.    I have a   lilac point  2 yrs old and his body is still "magnolia white" as the TICA color description says.  and the points on a   lilac point with good color have a different sort of warm  tone that is pinkish grey.   But lilac points are not often seen in the random-bred  DSHs  & DLHs because they have to inherit the chocolate gene from both parents,  and that is not very common,  not nearly so common as as black  or red ,  or dilute ( which makes black into blue or  red into cream.)   

 Your blue point boy looks like a character.  looks to me like a smart young fellow. 

Thank you both so much for your help. Yeah, I didn't really think he was a purebred. I'm pretty sure someone would have come knocking if he was.  ^_^  As no one ever did I was pretty sure he was either a stray or abandoned. Poor thing was only about 5 1/2 weeks old (my best guess) when I found him last September and so flea infested I was scared my two other cats and house would be infested in a matter of hours!  He seemed too friendly and not scared to be a feral baby so I really thought someone would come looking for him.  As no one ever came he ended up becoming one of my own. 

Blue point is what I was thinking as well! The only thing that kept throwing me off is that his color was too warm.

Anyway, thank you both again.  Sorry if I'm not making much sense. Super sleepy right now and work was too long. Going to bed now I think.  ^_^ 

 

[rocio]

  Yes , sometimes blue points do have a sort of warm tone,  especially on the body  they can have a sort of tan body with dark grey points.  He is definitely blue point though.     

 and he was a lucky little kitten that he was found and brought to you and you took him in.   

Lilac points usually have a paler body even as adults.    I have a   lilac point  2 yrs old and his body is still "magnolia white" as the TICA color description says.  and the points on a   lilac point with good color have a different sort of warm  tone that is pinkish grey.   But lilac points are not often seen in the random-bred  DSHs  & DLHs because they have to inherit the chocolate gene from both parents,  and that is not very common,  not nearly so common as as black  or red ,  or dilute ( which makes black into blue or  red into cream.)   

 Your blue point boy looks like a character.  looks to me like a smart young fellow. 

LOL. Thanks. He is.  He is such a little monster. I laugh at him all the time.  The thing that gets me every time is he has this habit of just spotting some random object on the ground, looking at it for a second, then deciding he's going to eat it.  He looks, spots something, and CHOMP. He starts chewing it. When I see him do it I yell "What is that? What are you eating? Don't eat that!" He looks up, sees me coming and starts chewing faster even as he takes off running.  All you see is this little kitty running away, weaving and ducking, all the while his little jaws are going a mile a minute.  When I finally catch him and force his mouth open I rarely find anything.  And he just gives me this little, triumphant look. "I ate it. I beat you." One of these days he's going to choke chewing so fast. ^_^