What Breed is my kitten?!?!

[Meg97]

Hi guys, this is Merlin / Mr Floofkins (his Russian alter ego)
My dads friend that lives on a farm had a stray cat give birth in his barn so no idea on the mum or the dads breed.
Merlin is mine - the super chonky floofy one, and my sister took Django who’s much smaller and short furred so other than they’re faces they hardly look related, it’s made it extra hard identifying their breeds because their markings and fur are so different!
Everyone always asks if they’re pedigree because they are so beautiful but we have absolutely no idea what they are, can anyone help?!
Character wise they are so so playful, obsessed with toys of all sorts and constantly carrying them around in their mouths. Merlin follows me around everywhere and also as has to be a part of what I’m doing, my makeup, in the bath, on the loo, at my desk, washing up it never ends. If I shut the door on him to go for a wee he’ll scream to the high heavens (probably more lockdown separation anxiety tho)
They both do this strange trilling chirping noise all the time so very vocal and extremely loving although dislike being held.
We live separately but when one of us is out for the day we drop the other kitten round and the two get on like a house on fire even if it’s been months they haven’t seen each other - unsure if this just means they’re sociable, or perhaps know they’re related?
Anyway, if those characteristics + their looks sound like a certain breed to you please please let me know!!

 

[lutece]

They are lovely!

Can you get a picture of Merlin from the side so that we can clearly see his tabby pattern?

I would describe Django as a brown classic tabby domestic shorthair, and Merlin as either brown mackerel or brown spotted / broken mackerel tabby domestic longhair.

Most cats are not any particular breed, and are not "mixed" with any breed, unlike dogs... but that doesn't make them any less special! Cats don't have to be pedigreed to be gorgeous, as we can see by looking at these two

 

[Meg97]

The best side on ones I have!
So strange that they’re from the same litter yet are both so different, there was one other and that one looked like Django, Merlin came out a ball of fluff

 

[lutece]

I think he has a broken mackerel tabby pattern, but if you get clearer pictures later on, feel free to post them

Kittens in a litter can look very different, because each kitten gets a different mix of genes from each parent.

• Long hair is recessive, so we know Merlin inherited genes for long hair from both mom and dad, while Django got at least one short hair gene from either mom or dad.
• Classic tabby (Django's pattern) is recessive, so we know Django inherited classic tabby from both mom and dad, while Merlin got at least one mackerel tabby gene.

Boys are also usually larger and more massive than girls, so that can account for some of the visual difference, too.

 

[Meg97]

Thank you!