Would you call this kitten black smoke?

[twilightcoons]

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• twilightcoons
• Sep 15, 2016

She's a Highlander x Maine Coon kitten. I have a black smoke Maine Coon so I know that color, just didn't see pics of her at this age which this kitten is 4 weeks old. I don't see black smoke in the background of either parent cat. She was born black with some silvery fur over her black fur.


Michelle

 

[red top rescue]

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• red top rescue
• Sep 15, 2016

I found this photo when looking up Highlander cats on the http://www.catsofaustralia.com/highlander-cat-breed-description.htm web site, and it looks a lot like your kitten in my opinion.  I would not be surprised if your kitten is a black smoke and would suggest you study the cat genetics involved.  Here is an excerpt from one fascinating site:

"Smoke is heaviest degree of tipping. Unlike tipped and shaded cats, smoke cats are genetically solid colour, not tabby, cats. The pale undercolour is reduced to a small band near the hair root. A smoke longhair often appears to be solid coloured with a pale ruff or frill. In shorthairs, smoke varieties appear solid colour until the coat is parted or the cat is in motion, exposing the undercolour. The width of the silver undercolour is variable, resulting in lighter and darker smokes, but show standards set out clear definitions of the degree of colour permitted on a show-quality smokes. Smoke cats have coloured nose leather.

In smoke cats, the undercolour varies from almost white to a bluish grey. Cats with darker undercolours may look self coloured, especially in black cats. It is possible to have a cat which is genetically a smoke, but which is visually solid black! The heavy tipping combines with a very narrow white hair base so that the smoke effect is lost. This variation in the relative amounts of undercolour and top-colour appears to be due to modifier genes and mirrors the way in which modifier genes act on shaded silvers to produce both shaded cats and chinchillas (and often in the same litter). Some smokes, known as overlaps, never develop the silvery undercoat and only prove to be genetically smokes when bred. "  (emphasis added). 

That could explain why you see no black smokes in the pedigrees.   They may be registered as blacks.

You would probably enjoy reading this site, which is an older site that has been updated over time.

http://messybeast.com/chinchillas.htm