Long or short haired?

bnwalker2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Messages
8,991
Purraise
4
Location
Rising Sun, Indiana
This has probably been asked a million times, but I haven't been able to find it. Is there a way to tell when a kitten is very young (3 weeks old), whether they will be shorthaired or longhaired? My youngest litter of kittens is 3 weeks old yesterday, and there are two that I am wondering about. Since around a week old, their fur has felt very different from their siblings. It feels like rabbit fur... soooooo soft and silky. Now that they are a little older, these two are obviously fuzzier than their littermates and still so silky. So does anyone know how to tell when they're this young if they'll be longhaired or will it just be a "wait and see" kind of thing?
 

inspiredelement

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Messages
46
Purraise
1
Location
Eugene, Oregon
well, a long time ago when my grandmas cat had her babies, I noticed that the ones that grew up to be longhairs had really long whiskers at birth, and fuzzier ear hair too. I don't remember if they felt softer, I was quite a bit younger


hope that is any help to you!
 

lisasha3

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
1,825
Purraise
2
Location
Home of the black squirrel
It is hard to tell and you can only "guess", but most of the kittens I've seen that end up DLH appear to have a permanent bad hair day or appear very staticky. Hard to explain and this isn't a way to tell definitely - but they just appear to have a lot more hair and because they are so little it sticks out all over the place. It will be a little easier to guess once they are older (6-8wks). That said though - things can definitely change and you never know.
Here's an example (and again - there really is not definite way to tell).

This is a DSH baby. You can kinda see that the fur is "calm" per say:


These babies all turned out DLH. Can you see how their fur is a little more wild? kinda sticking out?:


These guys were all about the same age - around 6wks (give or take. Hard to tell with strays).

Edit: do you have any photos???
 

lisasha3

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
1,825
Purraise
2
Location
Home of the black squirrel
Originally Posted by bnwalker2

I'll get pictures tomorrow and post... thanks!
That will be great! I'm sure we all are anxious to see them....and it can become a contest! See who can guess the kittens hair length.
 

xxtashaxx

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
3,113
Purraise
1
Location
uk london
i was just looking at some of the pictures you posted on the other thread the 17 day old ones at the time? some do look like they could be DLH or DMH but hard to tell.
 

pinkrhinos4

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2007
Messages
358
Purraise
1
Location
Leeds (England)
I think Sophia's hair is growing alot more she is coming onto 10 weeks now... I will post a picture aswell and see what you think, someone has actually said that she has a look of a Maine Coon cat..
 

tx cat

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
5
Purraise
0
Location
Angleton Tx
Originally Posted by lisasha3

It is hard to tell and you can only "guess", but most of the kittens I've seen that end up DLH appear to have a permanent bad hair day or appear very staticky. Hard to explain and this isn't a way to tell definitely - but they just appear to have a lot more hair and because they are so little it sticks out all over the place. It will be a little easier to guess once they are older (6-8wks). That said though - things can definitely change and you never know.
Here's an example (and again - there really is not definite way to tell).

This is a DSH baby. You can kinda see that the fur is "calm" per say:


These babies all turned out DLH. Can you see how their fur is a little more wild? kinda sticking out?:


These guys were all about the same age - around 6wks (give or take. Hard to tell with strays).

Edit: do you have any photos???
how do u get them to pose?
 

xxtashaxx

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
3,113
Purraise
1
Location
uk london
how i do it is get a toy and dangle it above to get them to hold still lol. dont know if thats how them ones was taken though.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

bnwalker2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Messages
8,991
Purraise
4
Location
Rising Sun, Indiana
Ok, I have pictures!

Taco (left) and Woody Jr. (right)


Woody Jr.




Winnie




Yukon




Not a great one but you can kinda see the difference in their fur... Taco (left) and Sadie (right)
 

lisasha3

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
1,825
Purraise
2
Location
Home of the black squirrel
Originally Posted by Tx CAT

how do u get them to pose?
Originally Posted by XxtashaxX

how i do it is get a toy and dangle it above to get them to hold still lol. dont know if thats how them ones was taken though.
Actually I find at this age they don't respond all that well to wiggling toys, but they love wiggling fingers. I wiggle all my fingers of one hand right in front of them then continue wiggling and move my hand up. Works pretty good most of the time. It's actually more difficult to take pics of the 8-10 wk olds cause they're such busy bodies!!
 

xxtashaxx

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
3,113
Purraise
1
Location
uk london
how cute are they? sadie and woddy JR look like they will either be meduim or long hair the others its a bit hard to tell. but i think they look more S/H
 

lisasha3

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
1,825
Purraise
2
Location
Home of the black squirrel
Originally Posted by XxtashaxX

how cute are they? sadie and woddy JR look like they will either be meduim or long hair the others its a bit hard to tell. but i think they look more S/H
I totally agree. Just from what I've seen with past kittens - both Woody Jr. and Sadie appear that they are going to be DLH or DMH. I would guess that Sadie would lean more towards a DLH. The rest of the bunch - DSH.
They are absolutely adorable by the way!!!!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

bnwalker2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 17, 2006
Messages
8,991
Purraise
4
Location
Rising Sun, Indiana
Thanks! That's what I was thinking too... those are the two that have really soft, silky, "rabbit" fur.
 

goldenkitty45

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
19,900
Purraise
44
Location
SW Minnesota
The cream/white, red/whites and tortie and white will probably be longhairs or semi-longhair from the photo. The tabby will be shorthair. The cream/white is iffy - not quite as fluffy looking.

But I had one barn kitten that was rather short and turned out to be LH and another I thought would be LH (pretty fluffy as a kitten) but turned out SH. You'll know by about 3-4 months old one way or the other.
 
Top