What Color Is This Kitty?

[melontine]

Meet my new foster kitty Petunia, the shelter said she should have kittens anywhere from today to three weeks depending on how many are in there. She's so tiny though!
Her paperwork said she's an orange and white cat with tiger pattern (stripes). But just for fun I wanna get a little more specific.
Personally, her dusty coat reminds me of the pictures of lilac or fawn coloured cats I've seen, so I'm not totally convinced she's orange or buff. If I am understanding cat genetics right, I'll find out when her kittens are born. If she is orange, then all of her kittens would be orange or have orange on them. If she's fawn or lilac it's more likely they'll be black.

 

[Furballsmom]

awww, Petunia sweetie!!
Is she cream (dilute red)?
Cat Coat Colors And Patterns

 

[lutece]

Generally a lilac or fawn cat will be lighter in color than that. The dark stripes on her face look pretty normal for a red cat. My guess would be that she is a red and white cat with a ticked tabby pattern. Ticked tabby would cause her body color to appear lighter than the dark stripes on a typical red tabby, and would explain why her tabby pattern is very faint (normally a red tabby shows more of a pattern).

As far as the color of her kittens, if she is a red and white cat, you are correct that all of her kittens would have some red on them (the boys would be all reds or creams, the girls would be either tortie or red/cream depending on the father's color).

If she is lilac or fawn, the color of the kittens would depend on the father's color and the recessive genes that he carries. They could be brown tabby, blue tabby, black, blue, etc.

 

[Hala_Nala]

So sweet! Very similar in color to my little one. I always describe mine as being Tan or orange-Beige!

 

[melontine]

Ticked tabby huh? I was wondering about that, her stripes are clear on her face but nowhere else.
There are so many different shades of red and cream-coloured kitties. They're all so pretty. I thought my previous kitty was a weird sandy beige colour, but Petunia takes it a bit further, forever looking like she just rolled around in some dust.

 

[lutece]

If she's more of a sandy dusty beige color in person, she may be a cream tabby and white; it's hard to tell from pictures. The first picture you posted looks like it could be a red or cream cat, but the other pictures you posted look more red to me.

 

[catman187]

How sweet! Petunia is a beautiful name. My cats are named Henry, Astird, and Sean. The paws and neck look white to me, but it’s hard to say. Excited for the new litter!

 

[Willowy]

I've seen that color before; it's not quite red, but it's also too dark to be cream. It's pretty cool but I don't know what it's called.

We definitely will need lots of pictures of the little ones!

 

[calikitteh]

I've heard a cat that color called "buff" but i don't know if that's a correct term...what a cutie. Thank you fostering

 

[lutece]

I've seen that color before; it's not quite red, but it's also too dark to be cream. It's pretty cool but I don't know what it's called.

Are you thinking of cinnamon (the color that originally came from "red" Abys)? That would generally be darker than red.

 

[Willowy]

I mean like the OP's cat. But of course red-haired humans have all shades of red so I'm sure kitties are the same .

But, yeah, her genetic color will be obvious when the kittens come.

 

[nurseangel]

Hi,
It's nice to meet you. I am not sure what color your cat's coat is, but she sure is pretty.