This was a litter of kittens I fostered last year

[Freddieandchip]

I fostered these kittens last year, both parents were brown tabbies. All of the kittens were brown tabbies except for one. He was bigger than the others and had long black hair. He was so adorable. The parents were 2 strays that I care for (both are now fixed). I found them all outside with the mom, I have always wondered why the one cat looked so different from the others. He went to the shelter when he was about 3 months old, I wish I could see how he looks now.

 

[verna davies]

Bet you were tempted to keep them, they are adorable.

 

[Freddieandchip]

Bet you were tempted to keep them, they are adorable.

I actually ended up keeping 2 of them! My cat got diagnosed with cancer and passed pretty quickly and unexpectedly while I was fostering them, I just couldn’t give them up too. They made the whole situation so much easier

 

[GoldyCat]

Do you have any more pictures of the black one, showing his sides? It looks like he might be a classic tabby, but I can't really tell from the back. Tabby markings are always harder to see in longhair cats.

 

[Freddieandchip]

Do you have any more pictures of the black one, showing his sides? It looks like he might be a classic tabby, but I can't really tell from the back. Tabby markings are always harder to see in longhair cats.

Yes, here are some more pictures of him!

 

[GoldyCat]

Yep. Still a tabby, just harder to see through the long hair. Actually he's a mackerel tabby (stripes) the same as the others. The longhair gene is recessive, which means both parents carried it. Any kitten who gets the longhair gene from both parents will be longhair. A kitten who gets one longhair and one shorthair, or 2 shorthair genes, will be shorthair.

 

[di and bob]

There can be two dads involved too, cats release eggs when mated, so it is possible to have several dads in the same litter! They are absolutely adorable! Thank you for fostering them and keeping two!

 

[cataholic07]

The floofers are still classified as a brown tabby because really they are actually called black tabbies. Cool toned brown can look more grey/black while warm-toned browns can look light brown and even orange. Two brown tabbies can have solid black, brown, and grey kittens

 

[Freddieandchip]

Yep. Still a tabby, just harder to see through the long hair. Actually he's a mackerel tabby (stripes) the same as the others. The longhair gene is recessive, which means both parents carried it. Any kitten who gets the longhair gene from both parents will be longhair. A kitten who gets one longhair and one shorthair, or 2 shorthair genes, will be shorthair.

That’s so cool that he came out like that! I’m so curious about how he looks now

 

[Freddieandchip]

The floofers are still classified as a brown tabby because really they are actually called black tabbies. Cool toned brown can look more grey/black while warm-toned browns can look light brown and even orange. Two brown tabbies can have solid black, brown, and grey kittens

I never knew that! I always thought it was so funny how different he looked, everything about him was different. He was adorable, I still think about him every day

 

[Freddieandchip]

There can be two dads involved too, cats release eggs when mated, so it is possible to have several dads in the same litter! They are absolutely adorable! Thank you for fostering them and keeping two!

Thank you! It was so much fun fostering them, i definitely want to foster again one day

 

[Meowmee]

Such cuties

 

[StefanZ]

There can be two dads involved too, cats release eggs when mated, so it is possible to have several dads in the same litter! They are absolutely adorable! Thank you for fostering them and keeping two!

Yes, this is fully possible and does happens now and then. Its often clearly visible; say if you suddenly get a white cat from a non white family. Or a tabby cat where no other is a tabby...

but the most common solution to such riddles is cat genetics, for example the recessive long hair gene; as here.