Update on my color changing kittens.

goldenkitty45

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I got a reply back from my genetics breeder friend. She says it sounds like my kittens are black smokes or pointed black smokes. Apparently black smokes go thru a lot of color changes and will appear "grey/blue" at birth and for the first few months until they get their proper color.

That might also explain the other person with her himi kitten colors being dark instead of white/pointed. She might want to check her pedigree for any smokes in the background.

I'll have to check the kittens when I get home and see if they also have the smoke base too.
 

tailsoluv

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I got a reply back from my genetics breeder friend. She says it sounds like my kittens are black smokes or pointed black smokes. Apparently black smokes go thru a lot of color changes and will appear "grey/blue" at birth and for the first few months until they get their proper color.

That might also explain the other person with her himi kitten colors being dark instead of white/pointed. She might want to check her pedigree for any smokes in the background.

I'll have to check the kittens when I get home and see if they also have the smoke base too.
In order for the kittens to be smokes, one of the parents MUST be a smoke or a silver (same gene). Silver (smoke being the effect of the silver gene on the non-tabby cat) is a dominant. Therefore, it CANNOT be carried. Is one of the parents a smoke??? Have you seen any silver tabbies in your area?

BTW, a smoke shorthair doesn't really go through the same sort of changes you describe. In fact, the correct smoke is described as a cat which appears to be a solid color until you turn the coat back. The undercoat is white.

Barb A.
 
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goldenkitty45

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Its very possible that the father of the kittens could have been a smoke or a silver - we don't know WHO the father is.

My breeder friend is a rex breeder and she's going by smoke rexes - which change color - rexes having only the inner coat and not the outer coat will not look like a normal smoke shorthair.

I'll recheck the mother too - she's a tortie/white but never really looked to see if she was a smoke or not.

Unless someone comes up with another explanation, I'll have to go by this one. I know enough genetics to know the difference in blue and black and like I said before - my blue rexes stayed blue, my blacks stayed black - never have I seen blue change to black!
 

moriah

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I got a reply back from my genetics breeder friend. She says it sounds like my kittens are black smokes or pointed black smokes. Apparently black smokes go thru a lot of color changes and will appear "grey/blue" at birth and for the first few months until they get their proper color.

That might also explain the other person with her himi kitten colors being dark instead of white/pointed. She might want to check her pedigree for any smokes in the background.

I'll have to check the kittens when I get home and see if they also have the smoke base too.
This sounds somewhat similar to one of my previous cats -- the moggy-line she came from would produce black kittens with very light silver tipping. After about four months the tipping disappeared.

I've never been able to determine what that trait was from, but they were certainly beautiful and smart kittens.
 
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goldenkitty45

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I was looking at them again; while they are NOT a good example of a true smoke (with the white undercoat), they do have the off-white/greyish smoke coloring I've seen in rex cats. Smoke rexes technically can't be smoke (tho they do exist and I've had them) because if by definition "white undercoat/black outer coat" - the cornish rex does NOT have an outer coat - its only the undercoat and a "smoke" would be a white cat by definition.

However, most black smoke rexes are black with off-white/grey at the base of the hair and that's what these kittens are. I know they are not part rex (as I only have one rex and he's been neutered since 8 months old!) - the the color is similar.

I'll see what happens over the next few months to the coat (as she's 3 1/2 months old and will probably change again).
 
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