Black smoke or just black?

Hi all!

I'm new here. I've got some foster kittens at the moment and I'm just looking for feedback on their colouring. These kittens are siblings, of no fancy breed or mix. Both kittens initially appeared solid black and then I noticed what I thought was balding, turns out it's just that the base of their fur is light grey. (so when it parts it almost looked like bald patches)

I have read really conflicting information about black smokes so I'm not sure if they are or if this is a kitten coat that will grow out. 

I have had the kittens 6 weeks now, they are nearly 4 months old. One long hair and one short hair.

The hair is not consistently pale at the base, in some areas it is beige rather than grey and in some areas it is black almost to the base. It is pale on the body, top of the legs and especially around the neck, it seems to get gradually darker towards the face, tail and feet.  Does the inconsistency mean it's not black smoke? Both have what looks like tabby ghost markings, on the longhair it just looks like rusting though. The shorthair appears totally black in artificial light, you can only see the tabby markings in daylight, so it is very slight.

What is confusing me most is that from what I've read, a fever coat would grow out, and end up white/grey on the tips? Most fever coat photos I've seen have had white on the tips rather than base.  Their grey is not growing out to the tips, it's staying at the base. I've also read that it's common for kittens to have a pale undercoat that grows out as they age. But this is not a pale undercoat from what I can make out, each individual hair is actually white/grey on one end, and black on the other. 

So what do we think, black smoke or kitten coat that will grow out? I'm guessing it's more likely a kitten coat.

Unfortunately it has been impossible to get these guys to stay still for a photo! I will try to get pics to add soon but they are WIGGLY and my camera isn't great.

Thanks!

Some pics do help! Always appreciated.

Welcome to our Forums!

Thanks for the welcome Stefanz! 

I've added a couple of photos(took forever to get these, he was in attack the camera mode!)

You can see how the hair parts naturally revealing the paler colour underneath in the first photo. And the second is where I tried to part it intentionally but he moved and it started to settle back together, so there's a bit of an illusion here, the pale part is longer than it looks in the photo, I'd say about a third of the hair length is pale.

Also there are some entirely black hairs, from root to tip and some entirely white/grey hairs. I'm guessing that might indicate it's not a true smoke coat, and will grow out?

I managed to get a shot of the shorthair too, you can see how the paler colour shows as she moves (around her neck)

Do you have a picture of her face? Smoke cats have ghost markins on their faces which is fairly easy to recognize. 

Also, do you happen to know mom and dad of the kittens? It might make it easier too

The first kitten seems to have some darker and ligher patches. Is it possible he/she has a classic tabby pattern? It's a bit hard to see A picture taken from the side (Seeing the kitten from a little further away) might make it easier to see. If it's not tabby, he could certainly be a smoke.

The second one does seem smoke, but a front face picture might make it easier to see. Also, the tail, is it completely black or is the underside also lighter and the topside darker (black) ?

Oh and the first cat is not tabby but he has what looks like brown rusting..that looks a little like its stripey like a tabby.*confused* I have no idea who mum and dad are unfortunately. The photos are overexposed. I'll get photos that show his colouring better.

Sorry my other comment and photo didn't post. Both kittens just appear solid black on the face, tail and legs.

I haven't been able to get a decent shot of the shorthairs face but it just looks like a typical black cat.

Yeah, the long haired one must be smoke. Just not very obvious when you see him normally, but the white to black fur is quite prominent. You can call him a black smoke.

The short haired I would say the same, though we only saw 1 picture I believe. If that one too has the obvious from black to white hairs, you can call him/her a smoke too.

I have no idea what the white section otherwise could be. It has to be silver. It's quite possible that it'd be more obvious when they are a little older

Thanks so much biancavd!

It would be so cool if they were smokes. I had read the faces etc should be white too so that was my main doubt, but I wonder if maybe they were standards set for breeding/showing purebred cats. Rather than a definition of the colouring for all cats including moggies like these guys. i also read about how different coat types display the colouring differently. Its all very interesting stuff!

Hello. I used to show Persian cats. Most of the black smokes I have seen have black faces and legs.  Smoke

can appear with any color combination. Red, Cream, Blue and also tabby, torti, patched etc.  and with mixed breeds

the sky is the limit!  If it is an adult and has a lighter  coat  at the skin and colored at the  mid to ends, not to be confused

with shaded or silver which are white tipped with color, also cameo,  it is a smoke. Confusing,  I know. but I hope

this explains it a little better.

biancavd said:

Yeah, the long haired one must be smoke. Just not very obvious when you see him normally, but the white to black fur is quite prominent. You can call him a black smoke.

The short haired I would say the same, though we only saw 1 picture I believe. If that one too has the obvious from black to white hairs, you can call him/her a smoke too.

I have no idea what the white section otherwise could be. It has to be silver. It's quite possible that it'd be more obvious when they are a little older

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I was wondering if someone could tell me what my kittens coat is? Some say it’s fever coat but her two brothers look nothing like her there tuxedo. I’m wondering is it fever coat or is it something else.

Mmabryxo , your kitten appears to be black with fever coat. One clue is that the hair is darker at the root, where the true color is coming in. A smoke cat is white at the root of the hair, as you see in the pictures earlier in this thread.

lutece well how can one kitten have fever coat and the other two don’t? And she has stripes and a m between her eyes.

Fever coat doesn't necessarily affect all of the kittens in a litter. When I have seen it in my litters, it has affected only one kitten at a time.

It is normal for solid kittens (black, blue, etc.) to have ghost markings showing the underlying tabby pattern. Some have stronger ghost markings than others.

lutece great to know thank you so much