Hair length

I was just wondering when you could tell whether a kitten will be long haired or short haired. I believe my babies dad is a long haired cat. They seem very fluffy but I don't know if thats just because they are so little (3 days)

One of the litters I had last year had two longhaired kittens and three shorthaired. I started noticing right away that the two kittens fur felt much softer than the others. It felt silky, like rabbit fur. It was very obvious by the time they were 3 weeks old which were longhaired and which were shorthaired.

I have a few pictures for reference of Woodward (LH) and Taco (SH)... both of which we ended up keeping .

Longhaired kitten at 6 days old:



Shorthaired kitten at 6 days old:



Longaired kitten at 3 weeks old:



Shorthaired kitten at 3 weeks old:



Side by side at 3 weeks old:

Thanks for the referance pictures! That will really help.
Here are 2 of mine at 3 days old.

They look like short hair to me

I think they look like shorthair too. And I agree with bnwalker, it's easier to tell when they get older, but is easier if you have another kitty to compare them too.

That said, last year one of our fosters had a litter of 4, there were three short-hair and one longer-hair. But she wasnt a fluffy long-haired cat, her fur was silky like. Kinda hard to explain, I guess... in fact, at first I predicted her to be the short hair cuz her hair laid so flat. Turns out she was the long hair, and we did end up adopting the oddball

LOL I have pics of her... by pics alone, it is hard to tell she is a long-hair, but if you pet her, her hair definitely is longer. And she is one of the softest cats I ever felt!

Her name is Squeaker - she was the whiner of the litter.

Lindsey, do you have a pic with a side view... maybe that top kitty does look a little bit fluffier on his body, but it's kind of hard to tell at that angle.

It'll be fun watching those babies grow and seeing their personalities blossom!

Originally Posted by bnwalker2

I have a few pictures for reference of Woodward (LH) and Taco (SH)...

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Woodard is a beautiful kitty! And Taco is a hilarious name!!!! Great finds!

Here are a picture from the side of each of my babies.
Harley


Punky


Amelia


And Roxie

My Brothers Cat had 4 Kittens 2 have Long hair and 2 Short Hair. My Oreo and Jasper the one my Sisters bf got are short hair. The one my brother Kept has long hair and the black one his friend took did too. The father was a stray he took in took in. No one knows where the long fur came from.

One thing I have noticed is that shorthair kittens are actually fluffier at a young age than the longhaired ones... the ones with long hair have closer lying fur and it feels silky like rabbit fur. Of course, as they get a little bit older, the longhaired ones do obviously get fluffier!

The only one who has soft silkie hair is the calico girl so we'll see I guess when they get older. Thanks for the help. Oh I also heard that longhaired kittens open their eyes alot later than short haired ones. Is this true?

Oh I also heard that longhaired kittens open their eyes alot later than short haired ones. Is this true?

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You know what? As strange as it sounds, I think there might be a little truth to that. Out of that litter, the three shorthaired kittens had their eyes completely open by 11 days old, while the longhaired kittens didn't even start opening their eyes until day 12 & 13 and then it was another two or three days before they were completely open. Then again, maybe it was just a coincidence?

I think your calico does look like she may be long hair. Again, BN is right, the hair on longer hair kitten does stay closer to the body, like maybe the weight of it keeps it down

And your Roxie looks like she MAY be fluffier too... but hard to tell for sure.

You should definitely know in a couple weeks! Time is going to fly by!

BTW - they are too darn cute!!!

Agree that Roxy may wind up a semi-longhair cat Rest are shorthairs

Roxie does have the fluffiest hair of the bunch and Punky the calico has the silkiest hair that is actually starting to get long. I will have to take pics. I can't wait to see how they turn out as they grow.

I just looked at Roxie closely and she has a bunch of long whispy hairs all over that stick out like she was electrocuted. Does this mean she is longhaired?

Not necessarily. I've had a barn kitten that seemed to have short hair and when full grown, she turned out to be a semi-longhair.

I don't go by kitten coats much cause they can change over months. By 5-6 months old you should be able to tell if its a long or short hair.

And to make matter worse... Not all long hairs are created equal. LOL

My 3 cats are long(er) haired cats. My black girl doesnt appear to have long hair by first site, her hair is SUPER silky and lays close to her body, But if you check out her tail, or if you pet her, her fur is easily longer than the thickness of my fingers when I run them through her fur.

Now my Roly is just a walking fluff ball! He has an undercoat that Squeaker lacks.

Our current foster, Twix, is a longhair too, hence my infatuation with her, and I have been inspecting her kittens daily since they've been born, trying to predict their coat length. Ha! I dont imagine I'll have a good idea for about 3 weeks.

Kitty #1, Blarney, is a red harlequin girl, and she has captured my heart already. Ugh. Part of me hopes the dad was homozygous short hair (doesnt carry the recessive longhair gene) so all the kittens will be short hair and they dont tempt me further.

LOL

I'm still trying to figure out how to sneak Twix into the clan, let alone her itty-bitty

I am in the same situation. I really want to keep a baby but I don't think I will have a choice if one is longhaired. I love longhaired kitties. The possible daddy had extremely long fluffy hair and looked like he was wearing baggy pants lol.

I love the pants look. A co-worker and I call them pantaloons lol. I am attracted to long hair cats too.