question about coat color genetics

i recently trapped a female cat in my backyard that had small (~4 week) kittens. unfortunately, because i could not find the kits i had to let her go after having her spayed. Around that same time I found a 4 month old kitten living inthe shed and I assumed it was hers from a previous litter since the body shape was similar (long siamese like). However, I am not sure the coat color thing makes sense, so i am hoping you guys can help me discover if there is yet another unspayed female lurking having kittens in my shed!
the mom is obviously part siamese, her base coat being that tan-ish color. however, her tail and legs are tabby (where the "points" would be!). and she has blue eyes. The kitten I found is a dark calico with a fair amount of white.
I am trying to figure out if this is possible.. any experts care to take a stab? I have seen an adult calico lurking, but she belongs to someone, so I would THINK they would know if she had kittens...
thanks.

The momma cat you are describing is Lynx point an actual Siamese point color.
I'm not sure excatly what you are asdking about the kit though.
The feral is more than likely a mixed breed with some siamese throw in to give her 'the look', kittens do not always looks like their parents where mixed breeds are concerned.
So yes, it is possible, and more than likely that the little patched calico girl is hers.

i just wanted to confirm that the "mom" i caught *could* be the source of the kittens I am finding. I know the little ones are hers, because they were with her. however, this one (the calico) showed up around the same time, but I never actually saw them together. I started to wonder if the siamese coloring could give rise to a calico, or if there was another breeding female I need to find.
thanks for the info. I wish I could have kept the mom and rehomed her, but she hid the little kittens so well, I had to let her go to them.

<<i just wanted to confirm that the "mom" i caught *could* be the source of the kittens I am finding>>

Sure - With the female you mention, a dark calico (tortie and white) could be accomplished by dad being a red tabby and white bi color. That's most likely what he is.

Pointed color is recessive - both parents have to be pointed or be carrying pointed in order to get pointed kittens. As a previous poster mentioned, she sounds like she is a lynx (tabby) point. She will never give birth to a pointed kitten unless the male is also carrying pointed.

Actually, the father would either have to be a red and white OR a red tabby and white carrying non-tabby and the mother would also have to be carrying non-tabby since the possible resulting kitten was listed as a calico (red, black and white) - not a TORBIE and white (which is what the kitten would be if she has barring in the black parts of the color in addition to the red parts.

True - I wasn't even getting into what he was carrying - I was trying to keep it simple Do you think the male could be any other color combo besides red and white?

BTW, I think we have met at a TICA show a while back. I was showing SGA Glor-ee Duncan at the Mid Atlantic Regional in Sturbridge(?) a couple of years back and I think we were benched close together. Small world, huh?

Hi Barb:

Of course, it was the Northeast Regional. I remember how nice it is up there and how much fun my husband had looking in all the shops while I was in the showhall. The show was a lot of fun too.

I showed Duncan the 2001-2002 season and part of 2002-2003 season. He is a black smoke OSH neuter. I acquired him from the Adlers, who are dear friends of mine going back about 12 years or so. Duncan loved shows like no cat I have ever known. He is the most outgoing cat I have ever met - totally "bombproof"! To this day, if he sees me moving the carrier he walks under it, screaming to be let in. He finished 10th in the MA region. I probably could have gone further, but he had a slight tail fault and I didn't bring him out until September.

Much to my dismay, I have not shown the past two seasons, as we recently purchased a house, and the "house projects" we are currently working on have cut into the money we used to use for showing!

Prior to Duncan, I showed GP/SGA Glor-ee Danny Boy the 2000-2001 season in TICA and finished up 21st best international alter. Missed the IW by 51 points (ugh). When I show, I tend to totally throw myself into it, and never realized just how much money I was spending until I totally stopped. Once things level off on the homefront, I hope to get another nice alter to show in CFA (more local shows - not as much traveling!), while still going to the occasional TICA show. Got my start in CFA way back in 1992.

I am crazy about genetics too! Susan Adler has taught me almost everything I know, and Heather Lorimer and Lindajean have answered weird questions I have had now and then. I'm going to be precise myself here - wouldn't pointed-to-pointed, always throw pointed only (or pointed and white if one is bi-color pointed). I had almost written that the sire of the calico could possibly be red point, but since mom is pointed, I thought recessive-to-recessive only throws recessive? And aren't all cats carrying agouti to some degree? This is the kind of stuff I love to talk about!

The Cape Cod show is a lot of fun. I was there the weekend before 9/11 showing Duncan at his first show. It was small, but well run and we had a really nice time. Good luck with your alter!

Cathy