Strange looking kittens?

Johnny B

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Hi, we have taken in these strange feral kittens born in a neibours shed. They have short stubby whiskers, strange sounding meows, thin pointy tails, thin fur and long thin legs. They seem quite different to other kittens. The mother looks like a normal Tabby (very young, not much more than a kitten herself). Not certain who the dad is though. Any ideas about these odd looking kittens? They are to be homed in a few days through a local animal rescue charity (grey one already homed).
 

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Willowy

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Yep, their whiskers and fur will grow in nice and thick once they're healthy, and their legs won't look so long and skinny once they've put on some weight. And their voices will (probably) improve with proper care too, although some cats naturally have a raspier voice. So it's all very normal for kitties in their situation.
 

cataholic07

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Yep like everyone has said its most likely just that they are sick, I hope the rescue doesn't adopt them out until they are healthy. They been to the vet?
 

Kieka

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The meow doesn't sound way off. It actually sounds better then my cats meow, we often joke that Rocket has a broken meow. No joke, I once took Rocket who is 7 pounds and very delicate looking to the vet. When Rocket meowed from under the counter the vet seriously though I had another cat hidden in the carrier because of how off her meow is and, at least to human perception, off from her apperance. Kittens who didn't grow up around humans can end up with different sounding meows.
 
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Johnny B

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Thanks, I was expecting someone to suggest there was some Rex in these kittens. We have looked after some other litters of strays and these do seem quite different from the those. Even the animal rescue lady said "that's odd" when she turned over the strangest looking kitten to sex it. I am not sure what she was referring to? Maybe because there was some bald areas there?
 

molly92

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Maybe their mom was also sick/undernourished while pregnant with them, which is why they look worse than other kittens in similar situations. I agree it seems environmental rather than genetic. In addition to getting them to a vet, they should be fed high quality wet food and be isolated from other cats to reduce the risk of them getting other diseases. Their immune systems are likely not as strong as they should be, although they've been strong enough to survive this long which is great! But there is a chance they will be a bit more fragile for the rest of their life and future owners should probably be advised to keep them indoors and avoid boarding them in situations where they will be around other cats, just because something like a cold might be worse for them than a cat who was born healthy and strong.

Feeding them well and getting them on medication for the inevitable parasites they have will do them a world of good. It's amazing the difference in a cat's fur when they are sick and when they are healthy.

These are also going to be such grateful and happy kittens when they start to feel better and learn what being healthy feels like. Thanks for helping them!

Just for fun, did mom have any orange on her? If not, then you know dad was an orange or cream cat because of the multicolored one.

That "strangest" kitten should be a girl because she has both black/brown and orange. If the rescuer said she was a boy, than either it's difficult to tell, or, that cat either got an extra chromosome or is a chimera. Both are uncommon, and usually don't cause noticeable problems. Just interesting genetic phenomenons! But I'm speculating widely here. If you want to know what she thought was odd, it's probably easiest to ask her.
 
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Johnny B

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Maybe their mom was also sick/undernourished while pregnant with them, which is why they look worse than other kittens in similar situations. I agree it seems environmental rather than genetic. In addition to getting them to a vet, they should be fed high quality wet food and be isolated from other cats to reduce the risk of them getting other diseases. Their immune systems are likely not as strong as they should be, although they've been strong enough to survive this long which is great! But there is a chance they will be a bit more fragile for the rest of their life and future owners should probably be advised to keep them indoors and avoid boarding them in situations where they will be around other cats, just because something like a cold might be worse for them than a cat who was born healthy and strong.

Feeding them well and getting them on medication for the inevitable parasites they have will do them a world of good. It's amazing the difference in a cat's fur when they are sick and when they are healthy.

These are also going to be such grateful and happy kittens when they start to feel better and learn what being healthy feels like. Thanks for helping them!

Just for fun, did mom have any orange on her? If not, then you know dad was an orange or cream cat because of the multicolored one.

That "strangest" kitten should be a girl because she has both black/brown and orange. If the rescuer said she was a boy, than either it's difficult to tell, or, that cat either got an extra chromosome or is a chimera. Both are uncommon, and usually don't cause noticeable problems. Just interesting genetic phenomenons! But I'm speculating widely here. If you want to know what she thought was odd, it's probably easiest to ask her.
The mother seemed very young, not much more than a kitten herself. We are feeding them Butchers tinned cat food, some fish and kitten milk. All the other feral kittens we have looked after in the past have done very well on this regime. The black kitten seems to be doing well, the white one seems okay but we are a bit concerned about the Tabby one.My partner has just spoken to the animal rescue lady who suggested they may have worms. She said she will have a good look at them before taking them to their homes and will be wormed and given flea treatment, the white one has a tick which presumably will drop off in due course with the flea treatment. Here is a pic of the mother.
 

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