Advice/Opinions Welcome!

These are my two babies Charlie (left in blue) & Mary (right in pink). They're NOT brother & sister although they look it!!
Charlie is short haired, black with faint tabby markings & he goes a lighter almost dark reddy/brown in the summer
Mary is long haired, black with no distinctive markings and she also goes lighter in the summer
Firstly, I was wondering what sort of breeds are in them (if it's possible to tell) as Charlie has gotten Mary pregnant! (Unplanned litter, she got pregnant the week before we were due to have her spayed[emoji]128528[/emoji])
And secondly, what colours will the kittens be?

Christie97 said:

These are my two babies Charlie (left in blue) & Mary (right in pink). They're NOT brother & sister although they look it!!
Charlie is short haired, black with faint tabby markings & he goes a lighter almost dark reddy/brown in the summer
Mary is long haired, black with no distinctive markings and she also goes lighter in the summer
Firstly, I was wondering what sort of breeds are in them (if it's possible to tell) as Charlie has gotten Mary pregnant! (Unplanned litter, she got pregnant the week before we were due to have her spayed[emoji]128528[/emoji])
And secondly, what colours will the kittens be?

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Nay, its impossible to pinpoint any breed, possibly to tell what somewhat look alikes they are.   Esp as several good pics are always welcome.

But dont worry,  97% of cats doesnt belong to any especial breed, nor are fresh mixes thereof.  This is for USA and most of Europe.

In some parts of tthe world they have sometimes established natural breeds.  Such a breed may be very common in that place...

OK, your shorthair may be compared to a Bombay-look alike...   His  wife and foster sis?  Take a pic among blackish longhaired breeds...  Sorry, stands still in my head at this moment.

These stripes are prob ghost markings, ie, he isnt no true tabby.   Tabby gene is dominant, and if its there, it will manifest itself loud and clear.

My guess is, the kittens will be black, and most probably, shorthaired, or possibly half each...  (the longhair gene is recessive, so both mom and dad must be carriers).

Last.  If you wanted to have a litter after them, its your decision, etc.

But if you really didnt wanted to take a litter, it was just to go on and spay them at the appointed spaying.   A pregnancy a week old is no pregnancy.  The vet wouldnt even notice anything.

I know, quite a few doesnt realize this, but such early spaying is no deal either for vets, nor anybody else.

Later on, it becomes more touchy of course.

Good luck!

Thank you StefanZ! Your comment is very helpful
And just so it's clearer, Mary is about 10 days from her due date! I didn't know you could terminate a cats pregnancy through spaying, and although I'm aware of the overpopulation of cats, I don't believe in 'playing god'.
And just as an addition for those who may disagree with my belief, I have already found potential homes for however many kittens and I'll be keeping AT LEAST one (more if my partner will let me)

Christie97 said:

Thank you StefanZ! Your comment is very helpful
And just so it's clearer, Mary is about 10 days from her due date! I didn't know you could terminate a cats pregnancy through spaying, and although I'm aware of the overpopulation of cats, I don't believe in 'playing god'.
And just as an addition for those who may disagree with my belief, I have already found potential homes for however many kittens and I'll be keeping AT LEAST one (more if my partner will let me)

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You are welcome to start a tread on Mary, her pregnancy and her kittens in our subforum for  Preg & Kitten care.  Im there too, trying to advise, and participate,  as best I can.

StefanZ said:

 
You are welcome to start a tread on Mary, her pregnancy and her kittens in our subforum for  Preg & Kitten care.  Im there too, trying to advise, and participate,  as best I can.

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    Here is @Christie97's thread in Pregnant Cats and Kitten Care...  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/295671/help

The kittens will be black/dark. You might get some tabbies if they both carry the tabby gene (actually, no, I just read up on this and solid color is recessive. So 2 solid black cats can't have a tabby. All kittens will be solid, although small kittens do frequently show "ghost" tabby stripes), you might get some gray babies if they both carry the dilute gene. But definitely no white, tortie/calico, or orange kittens . Mary doesn't look very longhaired, although it's hard to tell by just that one pic. How fluffy is her tail? If she is longhaired and he carries the longhair gene you might get some longhairs but shorthair is dominant so that's more likely.

Be sure to have Charlie neutered before the babies come, or keep him away from Mary until she's spayed. Cats are capable of getting pregnant again right away after giving birth (they don't all go into heat again right away but you don't want to take that chance, I'm sure!). Even after he's neutered, keep him away from her for a couple weeks because some sneaky sperm can hide in the tubes for a while. I think 2 weeks ought to be safe but there are stories of pregnancies even longer after neutering than that.

For any kittens you keep, be aware that females can go into heat as young as 14 weeks (most wait until 5-6 months but again, there's a chance) so make sure Charlie's been done before any girl kittens get to that age. Don't want any incest going on!

Thank you again! And I have some wonderful news- At 10:44 last night Mary went into labour & after a sleepless night of observing the births, she's had 5 GORGEOUS babies! You were right in saying she's had solid colour kittens; 3 black & 2 grey!