Sparkling Kittens

[oregon sparkles]

     Hi, I am brand new here and it is some sparkling kittens that have led me to this site. I have adopted a momma cat that was at a friends house, she is a dilute calico short hair (that his daughter brought home) that was pregnant. Her kitten have this incredible sparkle all over them (to varying degrees) It shows up like the sparkle on snow. This only can bee seen in direct sunlight.

    I am totally confused as to what this might be. Momma cat has the same sparkle on the end of her tail - it is in the grey area but I don't see any in the white or orange area. Her kittens have this sparkle independent of color (1 kitten has a cinnamon color and it actually sparkles gold in that area, but an orange colored male just sparkles silver.)

    All of the cats (including momma) have a beautiful rainbow glow to all of their fur (I think this is the glow of a healthy coat) but will also 'glow' in direct sunlight.

    I have looked up everything I can on sparkle and glimmer and shine and grizzle but cant tell the difference. And would it show up on a mixed breed cat if it is a trait only seen in purebreds (i.e. Bengal?)

 

[oregon sparkles]

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I did the best I could with my cheap camera-- you can just barely see some sparkle-- of 10 kittens 6 sparkle and 4 have a white glow.   ?????    :0)

 

[zed xyzed]

cute kitty looks like she has a raccoon tail thingy going on 

 

[oregon sparkles]

Hi Zed. TY. Momma cat really is beautiful. And so sweet.​ A complete girly-girl.  :0)

 

[ceedee]

I think I see it, especially in the first and second-last pics. Is the sparkle kind of yellow and blue?

Cuz my current grey-and-white girl, Cleo, has fur that sparkles yellow/blue in sunlight!

Kinda like the middle section of this gradient:

I'll try to get a pic of Cleo's fur next time the sun shines directly into my window, to show you. Warning: I'm in central Canada and it's winter, so it may be a loooooong time, lol!

 

[oregon sparkles]

     Hi. I know what you mean, I am in Oregon and the sunshine is hard to find this time of year.   :0)   The sparkles will 'glint' mostly silver but do show every color of the rainbow depending on how you are looking at the cat (from far away or the first look only shows silver). I actually did not even notice the sparkle in the beginning (as you can only see it in the sun) but what I did see was this strange white 'frost' I see on 4 of the kittens --- it is like a reverse smoke.... does anyone know what that would that be called? I thought it sounded like grizzle but it is also on an orange kitten.

    At first I thought the sparkle was glitter from one of my children's art projects (the really fine kind of glitter).... but nope. It is part of the cat.  :0)   I would love to see a photo of your kitty... is the sparkle all over the body? Is the hair totally straight or just a little kinky?

   Someone suggested (on another website) that maybe it was called a 'chinchilla' coat but when I looked that up on the internet it did not sound quite right. The end of the hairs are not dark colored, and the roots don't show white on all of the kittens, and it appears only on momma cats tail but all over the kittens (saturated around the base of the tail.) Cat colors are sooooo confusing.

    Would any vet be knowledgeable enough in cat colors or should I try to find a breeder/shower to tell me what it is?

These are bob-tail kittens if that make any difference. And their hair is ever so slightly kinked. I did read something about an Oregon Rex that died out years ago but I don't think any of the pictures I saw were of that kind of cat..... and I just cant tell if the slight kink is Rexing on a short hair.  I do understand and see the Agouti and Ticking on the kittens... but the sparkle is not that.     SIGH!!

I have learned so much from the internet but still feel I don't know anything.  :0) 

TY and have a great day!!  Can't wait to see your sparkling kitty too!!

 

[StefanZ]

could you please show us some pics on whole them? as a comparison, to see the whole pic?

 

[oregon sparkles]

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I hope these are good enough... let me know if you want a close up of any one kitten. (please remember I am working with a cheap camera)

.  :0)   TY!

P.S.  I used a guinea pig habitat for her home... it worked perfect for having the babies!!

 

[oregon sparkles]

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Hi! I just loved these photo's and had to share-- there were 2 runts in the litter (photos are at 7 weeks) and a kitten with a flower on his back... it even has a white dot in the middle!  Blk. and white is Goofy (F) and the calico is Piglet and the orange and white (with Van markings?) with the flower is Tiger (M). 

 

[oregon sparkles]

I should mention that NONE of the cats have 'goopy' eyes- those are grey spots or black lines in the corner of their eyes.  I tried to rub it off for several days before I realized this.  :0)

 

[StefanZ]

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You had got yourself a nice assortiment of kittens over there. They seems to carry among them every imaginable combination of colors and patters from momma.

You had even got two pointed cats, the first is a pointed tabby with white, or  Mitted Lynx Point...  Exact what  color Im not sure of.  You being there can perhaps tell for me?

Apparently both momma and the daddy were carriers of the point gene.

Re the shining effect, I dont know much, sorry   But as you experience it as particularly strong in this little family, much more than in other healthy cats you meet,  save perhaps some bengals,

so we may suspect its some gene for such, being in the mom too, among all the other possible and impossible genes she does carry.

Tx for the tip re Guinea Pig habitat.  Its a common problem to safekeep small kittens before they got big and sturdy enough to dare risk them on some adventures.   Becoming of age, they must take some riskt to develop healthy, but stupid risks before that are unnecessary.

Nice you could give this family such a wonderful start in life!

.

P.S.  I used a guinea pig habitat for her home... it worked perfect for having the babies!!

 

[zed xyzed]

they are beautiful!!!

 

[Willowy]

I've seen it before. . .I think it's caused by their fur being fuzzier than usual. So that what would show up as a uniform shine on a cat with slicker fur instead is more of a diffused shine, looking sparkly .

They're a good-looking bunch! A large variety of colors. It's a large litter too---am I counting 9? Or 10? (Oops, nevermind; I just saw where you said there are 10. That's a huge litter!)

I use a rabbit cage (with a solid bottom) for small kittens. I'm always so alarmed when people let baby kittens wander all over the house unattended. So many dangerous situations they can get into!

 

[misterwhiskers]

My RB cat Tootsie was a shiny cat too; I never thought too much about why, but her fur was itself striped, and I think the little bands of white caught and reflected the light. Have you examined individual shafts of fur on your cat and kittens?

 

[oregon sparkles]

Hi!  StefanZ.  TY!!  What a very beautiful sounding color. I am not exactly sure what color he would be... but he is a VERY dilute orange..... buff maybe? cream? pale tan?  He does have white on chest and feet, and the very prettiest pale green eyes. LOL!  I agree there seems to be every color possible in one litter. I think I did manage to identify one of their colors... a Heavily Ticked Brown Mackerel Tabby. That took a good part of a week for me to come up with that, I hope it's right.  :0)   Anyway, the Guinea Pig habitat I used had 2 compartments and a little door with a closeable ramp and removable lid. I could put a litter box or food in the adjoining side. It worked very well until the kittens were about 4 weeks- then they wanted out.  :0)  Thank you for the help and have a great day!! 

 

[oregon sparkles]

Hi Willowy!   Thank you!!! That makes perfect sense about the hair being shin​y and fuzzy so the kinky spots look like a sparkle... momma cat is VERY shiny. So they might out-grow the sparkle and be just be shiny if their hair straightens out.  I get it.  TY so much-  that would explain why nothing sounded quite right when I read about glitter and the like. And OMG! YES a lot of kittens!! Makes me wish I had a farm. It is time to find them a home - they are going on 9 weeks now .....   I am both sad and happy about this.    :0) 

 

[oregon sparkles]

Hi Misterwhiskers! I did look at the hairs as close as possible, at first I thought the sparkle was just at the ends, but it is down the entire hair shaft. I wish I had a microscope....    :0)   And I am sorry but I do not know what an RB cat is but would love to see a picture.    :0)

 

[misterwhiskers]

Hi Misterwhiskers! I did look at the hairs as close as possible, at first I thought the sparkle was just at the ends, but it is down the entire hair shaft. I wish I had a microscope....    :0)   And I am sorry but I do not know what an RB cat is but would love to see a picture.    :0)

I'm so very intrigued by this post. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

"RB" is a term many use when referring to cats we have had who have passed away. RB= rainbow after the poem about our pets greeted by angels and other pets in a happy rainbow heaven.

 

[oregon sparkles]

​Hi Mr. Whiskers, I have been totally intrigued by them too....   I have never been around exotic or show cats but I have been around plenty of 'moggies' and I have never seen anything like them before. Maybe it is my lack of familiarity with kitten fur that makes it look so strange.  I don't know.  How would I go about finding out if it 'normal kinky baby fur shine' or something more....'special' (for lack of a better word.)  And should I even bother with so many cats in the world already?   I think they are beautiful and fancy images of sparkling kitties is sure easy to entertain.  :0)  Do I just take them to a vet and do some sort of blood test?    (OK this might sound totally stupid .... but.... is there any chance their father could be part Bobcat?  I know he was a wild cat in the hills of Central Willamette Valley in Oregon but that is it.) 

 

[oregon sparkles]

Hi MisterWhiskers!   I started to wonder if I had totally misunderstood your comment.  :0)   The reason I would like to have microscope is because some the hairs on a few kittens look hollow.... to a point..... almost like they have a clear outside and a solid (colored) inside (not the kittens with the sparkle.)  I was just curious how much was an optical illusion from the hairs overlapping and if that was not the case how on earth would the hair would be striped to make it look that way.  I cannot take pictures well enough for anyone to clearly see it, and I cannot seem to find anyone around here to tell me what that and the sparkle looking stuff 'is for sure.'  But I have come to the conclusion they cannot be any part Bobcat... they simply are way too tame.  Oh well, I may never know about the color thing, they really will need new homes very soon.         Anyway, I hope one of the two answers satisfied your intrigue.  :0)   Have a great day!

P.S.  Oregon, USA      :0)