Black kittens changing color/Gray tabby question

newkitties

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As some may know, my cat Buttons just had six beautiful kittens two weeks ago today :)

This is about three kittens in particular.

Three were born "solid" black, one black and white, but the black was still a solid black.

Three of which are female, one male.

Now here comes the part I'm not familiar with! I thought black kitties only got darker!

They were all born a sleek black, where you could see on three of them very faint tabby stripes as you can with a lot of black cats and kittens.

Over the past two weeks, two of those black kittens (a boy and girl) have become an even darker black, very solid, very sleek yet still so fluffy! Which is what I expected.

But the other two (two girls, one has white patches) have gone from dark black to a very "muted" black! They seem a dark dark "blue/gray" all over, except the center of the back. The stripes on them have started becoming more obvious.

I guess my question is, are these two kittens going to darken back up, are they going to lighten up? Is it because they are "smoke" kittens? I'm not sure. The father is a smoke, the mother is a mackerel tabby. 

I will post higher quality pictures showing the differences when I can, but for now these are what I have!

Kitten in question at a few days old, you can see she has a few bald spots, which are now gone. All black fur.

    

Kitten in question a few days ago, you can see she is getting random gray hairs on her body, it isn't pictures very well but her siblings are OBVIOUSLY way darker than her!

    

Here is a picture of one of her siblings who has become darker rather than lighter:  

 

And here is the second kitten in question a few days after birth

   

and a few days before 2 weeks old:

   

The lighting in the two pictures are different, so it doesn't capture the differences as well as it is in person, again, I will upload better pics when I can take more, but I just couldn't wait for possible answers as to why, or what colors they may become :)

I do have another question that isn't related to the black kitties, but to the gray tabby boy!  His color has faded a bit, his back doesn't really have any stripes anymore, when he was born he looked just like a completely gray tabby, and his tummy has turned white. His back is not pictured but I will take a picture! He was born with obvious gray stripes and now only has obvious stripes on the sides of his tummy, his head, and his tail. You can see here however that is has faded slightly from his face, and that stripes are nearly all but gone from his legs. What do you think lies in his pattern future?

Here is is: 

      <-- a few days after birth                

             a few days before 2 weeks old -

-> 
 
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StefanZ

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Interesting question with blackie getting some real white.  We have in this moment a somewhat similiar question, by  @redbowlingball
 

pushylady

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They're all very cute! All I know is that it's quite common for kittens to change colour, sometimes quite dramatically, as they get older. Some still change years later. I don't know the specifics of it though. I'm sure it will be interesting to see what your kittens will look like when they're a bit older.
 

redbowlingball

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My 'black' kitten is getting strange grey markings too. I guess we just have to sit it out and see what they become! That kitten with the white strip is super cute :)
 
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newkitties

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@redbowlingball  Yes I guess we have to wait! I was hoping someone had had it happen to their kitten already. It's odd we both have this happen at the same time! :)

And thank you! She's is adorable, she looks like a skunk.
 
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StefanZ

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At this moment she looksto me  almost alike a black point.  Ie, reminds me much of a fever coat.  I thought the fever coat comes from the vomb, I had no idea it could come also on kittens whom are already here...

So, the question is, if its a fever coat, or just happens to look similiar.
 
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newkitties

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@StefanZ  Thanks for the info, I had no idea a "fever coat" is a thing, it looks pretty interesting! The kittens parents both seem like the average kitty, dad is blue/gray, stubby and has green eyes, mom is a tiny mackerel tabby with white spots and yellow eyes. Both DSH as far as I know. Possible the father could be a Russian Blue perhaps or a mix because he does have dark green eyes, but I doubt it.

I don't know the relation with the fever coat and breed, or what genes cause it, and what the requirements are, etc. Or if it just "looks" like a fever coat.

I just wanted to be sure nothing was wrong with her! The others are so fluffy and dark, her fur is short, a little sparse in spots but is there, and more rough/coarse compared to the others.. The bi colored (black and white) kitten above, is starting to get more obvious tabby markings oddly enough, but is a mute looking black with deeper black stripes. It's pretty faint, but there way more than any of the other kittens that have a "ghost tabby" pattern, but it seems more like they are showing up more as she grows rather than her changing color significantly. The other kitten is definitely getting lighter on the chest, stomach, upper legs, and sides! So much so it looks gray and not even a muted black. Maybe it'll move to her back too.

I figured either she was turning gray or white in spots, or had an odd coat, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a sign of something going wrong! She looks and acts healthy, she is the smallest though, but I just thought it was so odd! My boyfriend thought she was a werewolf/lykoi cat that wasn't as "obvious" as the established breed because he read somewhere it's a mutation that theoretically could happen to any DSH but I told him he's crazy! That would be a 1 in a million chance! 
 
 
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