What Type Of Coat Is This? Very Unique

[laughingduck]

My foster kittens all have very interesting coats. Most are sort of this black smoke (I think), then there is this little girl who appears to be some sort of calico, but her coat is very faded. On her head there is some “smoke” fur (dark tips and light roots) then on her back some of the fur is light at the roots, dark center, then light at the tips again. She also has these adorable freckles. Has anyone seen this type of fur before? What is it called?

 

[laughingduck]

Also, is she likely to be a long of short haired?

 

[Willowy]

It looks like she'll be shorthaired. . . you can usually tell by their tails. Her's isn't very fluffy.

I think the litter may have fever coats. The way you describe them doesn't sound like regular coloring. I would say she's dilute but because the fur is darker closer to the body, I think it's a fever coat and will grow out eventually.

 

[silvertortie]

She looks like a silver tabby calico to me!

 

[laughingduck]

Thanks for the reply. 5 of 7 have some “smoke” colouring, one is a tabby and one is black/greyish. How long will she likely have the fever coat for? The hair on her face is dark at the tips but light at the body. Here are some more pictures of her and mom and siblings.

 

[laughingduck]

Momma and babies

 

[laughingduck]

She looks like a silver tabby calico to me!

Thanks! She does look similar to those. Im goIng to google image that thanks!

 

[Willowy]

The mama could be silver. . .maybe. It's rare in non-purebreds but possible. But since one of the dark kittens has a silver head but black body, I'm still guessing fever coat. I think she'll look like the other little torbie when the fever coat grows out. They're so cute!

 

[laughingduck]

How can you tell if mom is silver? This is a better picture of her.

 

[laughingduck]

Sorry it didnt post for some reason. Here is mom.

 

[silvertortie]

No problem! You can tell the difference of the contrast in her coat compared to her littermate in the first of the pics you just posted. Her littermate has brown undertones in comparison to her silvery undertones. I agree a couple of the other kittens appear to be silver and/or smoke colored.
My cat Ash lost his fever coat completely by 4 months old.. looking back at pics makes me miss his cool roan colored fur!

 

[silvertortie]

Mom looks like she might just be a “normal” tabby!

 

[laughingduck]

The kitten that looked like it had a silver head and black body is actually black all over with a light undercoat. Here he is (the second cat in this video). The first one is a girl, her coat seems to be fairly straightforward without much colour changing. The second kitten you can see his undercoat especially when he moves!

 

[laughingduck]

Here is a video of all the kittens nursing. Shows a bit more of the colour variations.

 

[laughingduck]

Forgot the link again lol

 

[silvertortie]

I’m thinking silver tabby calico for the first kitten you posted in this thread, smoke/silver smoke tabby for the darker one, regular grey tabby for mom and a few of the other kittens, and no fever coat. Time will tell!

 

[laughingduck]

Thanks! You’ve introduced some new terms for me! I never knew there was a difference between silver or grey. I didnt realize mom was tabby either, I didnt know tabbies could have so much white on them! I find cat genetics quite interesting. I wish I knew what dad looked like. They are all gorgeous kitties, hopefully that will make it easy for them to get adopted! Thanks so much for your help!

 

[laughingduck]

Oh and your Ash is gorgeous too! I love black cats

 

[laughingduck]

Alright after watching several utube videos on cat genetics, I am pretty sure that mom is indeed a silver tabby with one copy of the non-silver gene. Pretty sure dad was a red tabby cat with no silver gene. This would lead to boys all being black solid or tabby with 50/50 chance of having the silvering gene (3 of the 5 boys are smoke, which is apparently a silver type) and the girls would be torties with 50/50 chance of the silver gene (which the diluted fever looking girl must have but the other girl does not). Cat genetics are really neat!

 

[silvertortie]

Very cool! Color genetics are super interesting.
And thank you! He’s actually chocolate, believe it or not! Just a really dark one. I do have a black kitty though and love them too