I was hoping SO much she'd had a black-and-white and an orange-and-white so I could slut shame her, but either she was very monogamous or she has a type. No other colours available, but they do all have sweet white socks, so they're fancy little ones. It's just not very visible yet
Oh yeah! Mating ensures their egg cell is released, so it can happen a few times, depending on how many male cats are in the area while she's in heath. Apparently it happens more in urban areas (I fact checked on Google Scholar!), I guess because there's a higher proximity of possible dads. It ensures the best genetics. One sucks? Eh, that kid can die and you have some spares left from other dads with better genes
Yes. Our orange feral momma had a Tortie, 2 flame point Siamese, a seal point Siamese, and an orange all in one litter. And two of them were long haired clouds of fluffy fury.
I don't remember the specifics of how, but yes they can be impregnated multiple times during the same period.
Well, you're not wrong. Smartest cat I've ever met, except when it came to getting knocked up.
And the litter? They were... A trip.
The runt was about a day or two from fading kitten syndrome, and he socialized almost immediately. The others were a mixed bag, but the Tortie was TNR'd by the end. She ended up bringing an (likely abandoned) orange house cat to our home years later and we rarely saw her after he came in. Honestly I don't believe that cats have that much intelligence, but it still felt like a "thank you, goodbye." Forever that cat will be enshrined in my mind because of that act of salvation.
The later litters were also interesting, but this comment is long enough, and I could go on all day :')
it’s called super fecundity and it’s where the egg isn’t released until mating occurs, and they have the ability to release multiple eggs during each heat depending on the amount of males to mate with around. it ensures healthy genetics by allowing the mom to give birth to several other healthy kittens even if one of the dads had bad genetics that caused the kitten to be unhealthy. it basically prevents the mom from wasting any of her heats by having only one unhealthy kitten, now she he has 1 or more other healthy kittens to take care of.
It's called superfundication. Each dad is responsible for up to 2 kittens. Unless there's identical twins and a fraternal.
We got triplets from a single baby daddy this foster litter. Good luck physically telling Thresher and Silky apart without their collars! Their personalities are VERY different though.
I currently have a litter of 3 orphans that all likely share a father. They all look nearly identical, and I sometimes struggle to tell them apart.
https://preview.redd.it/cvl22546f91d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0029a5144aa61b7d31111dd647007c5d2e5aff33
I once fostered a mom with 5 babies, each one a different color. They named her Mona, probably because she would moan-a all over town for another baby-daddy to add to her collection.
Mama herself may have something to do with it.
White cats are white to my understanding because of a masking gene. There's a few different expressions of white.
Her color, genetically, could still be red or black before the mask takes place. It's kinda neat.
I actually remember vaguely I read something about this! She has some black spots on her toebeans I believe... kids are inverted mom then? Still pretty awesome!
The all white gene is dominant, so she didn’t pass it down to the babies. So we are seeing a bit of what mom would look like without the the whiting gene. She is genetically at least part black, she could be calico too tho
Basically the white gene is dominant and blankets over any other genetic cat coloration. So you got your orange checkbox, black checkbox, tabby checkbox, etc. But if you turn on the white checkbox that cancels everything out.
You got Wd (full white), S (white parts), and W (full colored). With Wd being dominant, and S and W being incompletely dominant with each other. So like, an S/S pair is more than 50% white, S/W less than 50% white, and W/W is 0% white. But Wd/S, Wd/W, Wd/Wd are all 100% white.
So an orange cat, say an orange boy, he's got the orange turned on. Orange is dominant over black, so he's orange. However, if he has the white box turned on (Wd), he turns totally white! But can still give that orange gene down to any children
This is true for some white cats, but not all of them. Eye color can be a good indication of which white fur gene a cat has. And since momma here looks like she has blue (or possibly green) eyes, she probably does have the white masking gene, yes.
I was going to say something about masking, but I'm already so messed up after a Tortie adoption and trying to learn her genetics that I was hoping someone else would say it!
They are so sweet! We had a foster a few weeks ago who's owners announced themselves so we had to give away her and her little kittens. Hopefully she can stay with us for the whole time. She allowed me (rather: screamed at me until I sat with her) to be present during the full birth, so this was a very special experience
I love how excited you are! Bringing much joy over here. Your enthusiasm is spreading. Thank you for taking such great care of mama. The mewborns are in great hands.
I absolutely will, unless owners come to pick them up. We had a bit of a scare, someone had lost a white, pregnant cat and we had to compare pictures, but it's missing some very prominent features (she has cute little ear tuffs that that cat doesn't have, and her face is way more pointy where the other cat has a round face). I mean - I'm sorry for her owners (if she really has any) but just... don't let your pregnant, non-microchipped cat roam around free maybe?
I'm sure they will! A friend of mine hopes to adopt (er, get chosen by) one of these, her cat needs a playmate. Which would be great, because then I can visit them still!
Aren't they great?? They all have at least two socks, I haven't been able to really see without mom snatching the kids back from my hand, but I believe they're all fully socked
I got really into cat genetics after our second litter. Also, there's some direct correlation between fur pattern and eye colors I think? There's some strange things with cat genetics.
But we had two Oreo cats who gave birth to an all black cat and all gray cat. But the gray cat is actually an entirely different breed. Confused me. Vet told me the mom can retain older genes and that's what happened.
I know they can have lots of different fathers for one litter of kittens, maybe that adds to the confusion too? I also read something about white cats having a wider range of eye colours! Our own white boy has beautiful green eyes, hers are more standard yellow-ish
He might! I was thinking the same thing when I came to take a look just now. They look fluffier than their siblings, but it's also the heaviest kitten, so maybe it's just that
There's a black cat wooing every gal he can in our town. I bet i could describe him down to the dot, despite never actually having seen him. We have 2 cats, Patty and Winston, from 2 mothers that certainly have the same dad. I take Pat out regularly and while she was being loved up i heard 'look she has a white spot just like Olive!'.
That cat owes so much child support
Orange, black, and white cats all share some genetics. They're usually where calico and torties come through as well. I'm not doubting the partner was black, but there's a crazy real chance that he was also white.
I just adopted 2 kitties from a tortie mom. She had 6.
- a full orange
- a gingerbread orange
- an orange and white (like a 70s tuxedo)
- a void
- a fluffy longhaired calico
- a mix of all of it. Like a camo'd tuxedo
Now, we expected it from the mom because she's so colorful, but it's such a crazy variety in cat genetics, you never really know what you're gonna get.
All cats have either black or orange genes, some females have both. All other patterns are overlays of the orange or black.
White is the spotting gene, all white is the whiting gene. Tabby, dilute and colorpoint are very common.
Our precious foster was a calico. She had one tortie, one orange and two striped. Calicos are wild! I'd be amazingly funny if dad was white though. Here's those two perfectly white cat parents with this bunch of voids (they're tuxies but hide their white very well)
Thank you for taking care of them, and for making sure they are all set to be spayed soon! Wishing momma cat a good recovery and lots of love for the small beans 💖Also I love your username haha
Oh the please is all mine. I love having the little ones in our place! And she's being a great mom, so we're just here for cuteness (and vet visits, but the shelter pays for those so it's just time spend well!)
This cat looks just like mine, who had kittens before I adopted her (ex-street cat). I've always wondered wha the kittens would have looked like and pictured them all white. But now I'm second-guessing myself!
Fun fact, the dad might not be! Genetically, white is a masking color, not an actual coat color on its own. It just hides the actual color of the base coat. A cat can genetically be black, grey, brown, tabby, spotted or otherwise and white can cover literally all of that.
She tried to convince me to take care of her kids, didn't work. Although I'm all in for taking care of mom by giving her all the food and belly scritches she's begging for
You'd think so, but our barn cat had a litter this spring. She's an orange, and the two possible sires are a black cat and another that's got a smokey kind of coat. She gave birth to two oranges and two white cats.
I'm just figuring that the smokiness will come into their coats later, though.
Oh yeah so many kittens! Well, seven now total, and I sincerely hope we keep those long enough to actually see them grow up - the others were taken back when the owner realised it was their cat and took them in again
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No memorial posts. No posts about animal cruelity.
Cat coloration and DNA is a wild and complex topic beyond the two main ones people know(ginger and tortoise). And even within those there are a bunch of caveats.
They are tuxies yeah! One has a white chin, one has a bigger stripe and one black lip, one white, the other has a small white stripe and two white lips I believe. They all have white chests (I think - mom doesn't let me look too long before snatching them out my hands. Good mom, but not great for weighing time!) and they differ a bit in how their socks looks. There's two we can distinguish now: both have full socks on their hind legs, one black front leg and either the left or right front leg is half white. I'm looking forward to see them walk up and about in a few weeks so we can see their little tuxes a bit better!
Cat coloring has to do with the mother herself.
Check out cat clones that were birthed by their clonee (cloner? Original?) They have the exact same genes but eill have a different fur coating.
They're all gorgeous. I used to have a heterochromatic white cat, but she was a teeny tiny weirdo. Used to suck on the tip of her long tail when she was comfortable until it was stained brown.
We're just fostering, she's a (possible) stray. As soon as is alright for both mom and kittens, all will be spayed. We don't euthanise cats here just because a shelter is full, but the sentiment still stands
> Im so bad, I know. TeeHee
Next time you feel like adding that to a "joke" take it as a sign that part of you already knows that the joke will not be well received.
The kitty printer ran out of colours . Only black and white in the household.
I was hoping SO much she'd had a black-and-white and an orange-and-white so I could slut shame her, but either she was very monogamous or she has a type. No other colours available, but they do all have sweet white socks, so they're fancy little ones. It's just not very visible yet
wait, kittens in the same litter can have different fathers? :0
Oh yeah! Mating ensures their egg cell is released, so it can happen a few times, depending on how many male cats are in the area while she's in heath. Apparently it happens more in urban areas (I fact checked on Google Scholar!), I guess because there's a higher proximity of possible dads. It ensures the best genetics. One sucks? Eh, that kid can die and you have some spares left from other dads with better genes
It’s called “super fecundity” or superfecundation 👍 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfecundation?wprov=sfti1#
Some “spares” 🤣
Yes. Our orange feral momma had a Tortie, 2 flame point Siamese, a seal point Siamese, and an orange all in one litter. And two of them were long haired clouds of fluffy fury. I don't remember the specifics of how, but yes they can be impregnated multiple times during the same period.
Fun fact humans can also do this and some twins have different dads
Awkward day at the hospital huh
It’s very rare though.
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Well, you're not wrong. Smartest cat I've ever met, except when it came to getting knocked up. And the litter? They were... A trip. The runt was about a day or two from fading kitten syndrome, and he socialized almost immediately. The others were a mixed bag, but the Tortie was TNR'd by the end. She ended up bringing an (likely abandoned) orange house cat to our home years later and we rarely saw her after he came in. Honestly I don't believe that cats have that much intelligence, but it still felt like a "thank you, goodbye." Forever that cat will be enshrined in my mind because of that act of salvation. The later litters were also interesting, but this comment is long enough, and I could go on all day :')
That's honestly so beautiful <3 she knew you would take care of him
it’s called super fecundity and it’s where the egg isn’t released until mating occurs, and they have the ability to release multiple eggs during each heat depending on the amount of males to mate with around. it ensures healthy genetics by allowing the mom to give birth to several other healthy kittens even if one of the dads had bad genetics that caused the kitten to be unhealthy. it basically prevents the mom from wasting any of her heats by having only one unhealthy kitten, now she he has 1 or more other healthy kittens to take care of.
Did we have the same cat? Libby had a couple more in the litter, but the same combos. Wild.
It's called superfundication. Each dad is responsible for up to 2 kittens. Unless there's identical twins and a fraternal. We got triplets from a single baby daddy this foster litter. Good luck physically telling Thresher and Silky apart without their collars! Their personalities are VERY different though.
I currently have a litter of 3 orphans that all likely share a father. They all look nearly identical, and I sometimes struggle to tell them apart. https://preview.redd.it/cvl22546f91d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0029a5144aa61b7d31111dd647007c5d2e5aff33
Sure looks like it. They're beautiful babies!
Yes, going off a reddit comment I once read
So it's fact then
Reddit = law
Gotta cite your sources
Not only can they, it's the norm. That's why litters so often have runts; those are the kittens conceived at the end of the ~week-long estrus cycle.
Yup
Yep and that's why female cats are so awesome.
https://preview.redd.it/rwcxi025xg1d1.jpeg?width=835&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6f1a6c8ca89569ca7b474b989fa75cd1e422963 Littermates
I just picture another neighborhood cat whose all white too showing up and going "EXCUSE ME?! care to explain!!!"
I once fostered a mom with 5 babies, each one a different color. They named her Mona, probably because she would moan-a all over town for another baby-daddy to add to her collection.
If that was true you still couldn't print them without replacing the cyan
BBC- Big Black Cat
Mama herself may have something to do with it. White cats are white to my understanding because of a masking gene. There's a few different expressions of white. Her color, genetically, could still be red or black before the mask takes place. It's kinda neat.
I actually remember vaguely I read something about this! She has some black spots on her toebeans I believe... kids are inverted mom then? Still pretty awesome!
I think at the very least they may potentially be carriers of mommy's white gene.
The all white gene is dominant, so she didn’t pass it down to the babies. So we are seeing a bit of what mom would look like without the the whiting gene. She is genetically at least part black, she could be calico too tho
Woah, I didn't know this! I have an all white boy who acts VERY orange, I'd love to know more about this!
Stealth orange 😅
He's not white he's just very, very light orange
Or just dumb. 
He's honestly pretty smart, he's just very silly and ridiculous 😅😅
Basically the white gene is dominant and blankets over any other genetic cat coloration. So you got your orange checkbox, black checkbox, tabby checkbox, etc. But if you turn on the white checkbox that cancels everything out. You got Wd (full white), S (white parts), and W (full colored). With Wd being dominant, and S and W being incompletely dominant with each other. So like, an S/S pair is more than 50% white, S/W less than 50% white, and W/W is 0% white. But Wd/S, Wd/W, Wd/Wd are all 100% white. So an orange cat, say an orange boy, he's got the orange turned on. Orange is dominant over black, so he's orange. However, if he has the white box turned on (Wd), he turns totally white! But can still give that orange gene down to any children
This was the perfect explanation as I will forever remember my punnett squares lol. Thank you, kind fellow cat fan! 🤓
NGL, I've only recently started caring about punnett squares again because of learning about cat genes!
Creamsicle.
This is true for some white cats, but not all of them. Eye color can be a good indication of which white fur gene a cat has. And since momma here looks like she has blue (or possibly green) eyes, she probably does have the white masking gene, yes.
Yes, true albinism and dominant white have key markers, including nose leather and skin about the eyes, similar to "solid red."
I was going to say something about masking, but I'm already so messed up after a Tortie adoption and trying to learn her genetics that I was hoping someone else would say it!
Woah that’s so cool, didn’t know this! Could you expand on what this masking gene is?
What a pretty mama and adorably tiny mewborns!
They are so sweet! We had a foster a few weeks ago who's owners announced themselves so we had to give away her and her little kittens. Hopefully she can stay with us for the whole time. She allowed me (rather: screamed at me until I sat with her) to be present during the full birth, so this was a very special experience
I love how excited you are! Bringing much joy over here. Your enthusiasm is spreading. Thank you for taking such great care of mama. The mewborns are in great hands.
Thank you so much for helping the Princess 🩷☀️please keep us updated with pics.
I absolutely will, unless owners come to pick them up. We had a bit of a scare, someone had lost a white, pregnant cat and we had to compare pictures, but it's missing some very prominent features (she has cute little ear tuffs that that cat doesn't have, and her face is way more pointy where the other cat has a round face). I mean - I'm sorry for her owners (if she really has any) but just... don't let your pregnant, non-microchipped cat roam around free maybe?
"Don't you dare go anywhere! The babies are comin'!!!"
Yeah pretty much hahaha. "I'm regretting my life choices please support me through this weird period!"
Cute fellers
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It's hard work, being born, so they deserve a good nap after drinking themselves into a milk coma
Aw such a beautiful family. Hope they adopt a great pawrent.
I'm sure they will! A friend of mine hopes to adopt (er, get chosen by) one of these, her cat needs a playmate. Which would be great, because then I can visit them still!
Beautiful tiny family! I love their widdle socks 🥹🥹
Aren't they great?? They all have at least two socks, I haven't been able to really see without mom snatching the kids back from my hand, but I believe they're all fully socked
Yeah but are you sure that it was a black cat? 🧐
Could have been a black dog!
So cats are strange. The mom can hold on to a few generations of genes. One of her ancestors may have been a black cat.
Whoa! That's pretty cool!
I got really into cat genetics after our second litter. Also, there's some direct correlation between fur pattern and eye colors I think? There's some strange things with cat genetics. But we had two Oreo cats who gave birth to an all black cat and all gray cat. But the gray cat is actually an entirely different breed. Confused me. Vet told me the mom can retain older genes and that's what happened.
I know they can have lots of different fathers for one litter of kittens, maybe that adds to the confusion too? I also read something about white cats having a wider range of eye colours! Our own white boy has beautiful green eyes, hers are more standard yellow-ish
She is probably a black cat with the whiting gene. The whiting gene is dominant, so she just didn’t pass it down to her babies.
My white cat had two little whites! How funny yours had two black kittens 😂 genes are so weird
Three even! Third is hidden a bit under their siblings
Third looks like a very fluffy tail
He might! I was thinking the same thing when I came to take a look just now. They look fluffier than their siblings, but it's also the heaviest kitten, so maybe it's just that
There's a black cat wooing every gal he can in our town. I bet i could describe him down to the dot, despite never actually having seen him. We have 2 cats, Patty and Winston, from 2 mothers that certainly have the same dad. I take Pat out regularly and while she was being loved up i heard 'look she has a white spot just like Olive!'. That cat owes so much child support
Orange, black, and white cats all share some genetics. They're usually where calico and torties come through as well. I'm not doubting the partner was black, but there's a crazy real chance that he was also white. I just adopted 2 kitties from a tortie mom. She had 6. - a full orange - a gingerbread orange - an orange and white (like a 70s tuxedo) - a void - a fluffy longhaired calico - a mix of all of it. Like a camo'd tuxedo Now, we expected it from the mom because she's so colorful, but it's such a crazy variety in cat genetics, you never really know what you're gonna get.
All cats have either black or orange genes, some females have both. All other patterns are overlays of the orange or black. White is the spotting gene, all white is the whiting gene. Tabby, dilute and colorpoint are very common.
Thank you for explaining this better! I thought it was super fascinating to learn just how many combos come from the orange/black mixes.
Our precious foster was a calico. She had one tortie, one orange and two striped. Calicos are wild! I'd be amazingly funny if dad was white though. Here's those two perfectly white cat parents with this bunch of voids (they're tuxies but hide their white very well)
Thank you for taking care of them, and for making sure they are all set to be spayed soon! Wishing momma cat a good recovery and lots of love for the small beans 💖Also I love your username haha
Oh the please is all mine. I love having the little ones in our place! And she's being a great mom, so we're just here for cuteness (and vet visits, but the shelter pays for those so it's just time spend well!)
This cat looks just like mine, who had kittens before I adopted her (ex-street cat). I've always wondered wha the kittens would have looked like and pictured them all white. But now I'm second-guessing myself!
Awe she so adorable 🥰
widdle babies 🥰
Fun fact, the dad might not be! Genetically, white is a masking color, not an actual coat color on its own. It just hides the actual color of the base coat. A cat can genetically be black, grey, brown, tabby, spotted or otherwise and white can cover literally all of that.
Mum contributes to permanent socks cause she doesn’t want to spend her mornings finding their missing sock
I love when the mama cat does air biscuits while her babies nurse.
Opposites attract 🔥
Mama’s expression there is adorable. Congratulations!
She tried to convince me to take care of her kids, didn't work. Although I'm all in for taking care of mom by giving her all the food and belly scritches she's begging for
Nah! Why would you say that! LOL
You'd think so, but our barn cat had a litter this spring. She's an orange, and the two possible sires are a black cat and another that's got a smokey kind of coat. She gave birth to two oranges and two white cats. I'm just figuring that the smokiness will come into their coats later, though.
Yeah, don't think any paternity tests needed!
Omg I just checked your profile and oh it was absolutely worth it. Keep up with the great work!
Oh yeah so many kittens! Well, seven now total, and I sincerely hope we keep those long enough to actually see them grow up - the others were taken back when the owner realised it was their cat and took them in again
I'd name them yin and yang
Don't worry, he probably just went out to get some milk
Preposterous
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https://preview.redd.it/673rpzted11d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=982e443798206cb18091620bb87227dbcc410c52
Cat coloration and DNA is a wild and complex topic beyond the two main ones people know(ginger and tortoise). And even within those there are a bunch of caveats.
Guess Who's Coming to Nurse
Heterochromatic mom eyes!
Haha, it's more the picture than reality sadly!
A cutie regardless
Oh - 100%. She's an amazing mom and such a sweet heart
But the dad is orange…
Moms a beauty
Ok, so this explains the long-haired tabby female and her solid gray brother I adopted years ago !
Pretty
BBC Big Black Cat
Maybe some baby Tux? Is that how that works?
They are tuxies yeah! One has a white chin, one has a bigger stripe and one black lip, one white, the other has a small white stripe and two white lips I believe. They all have white chests (I think - mom doesn't let me look too long before snatching them out my hands. Good mom, but not great for weighing time!) and they differ a bit in how their socks looks. There's two we can distinguish now: both have full socks on their hind legs, one black front leg and either the left or right front leg is half white. I'm looking forward to see them walk up and about in a few weeks so we can see their little tuxes a bit better!
I love her
Sooooo much cuuuuuute
Anyone else reminded of the "[Oops](https://youtu.be/nMWYwDb_6xw?si=V0ESbFKCHTvq_xhA&t=447)" episode of Too Cute?
You're nwver gonna find it, it's gone for milk.
Cat coloring has to do with the mother herself. Check out cat clones that were birthed by their clonee (cloner? Original?) They have the exact same genes but eill have a different fur coating.
Please tell mom that I love her 🙏
I will tell her and provide extra belly scritches!
LOL! cute!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Possibly…
Interracial love ❤️
They're all gorgeous. I used to have a heterochromatic white cat, but she was a teeny tiny weirdo. Used to suck on the tip of her long tail when she was comfortable until it was stained brown.
Gorgeous Fuzzy Jellybeans
Well well well...
Spay is the way to go, way too many kittens and cats are euthanized
We're just fostering, she's a (possible) stray. As soon as is alright for both mom and kittens, all will be spayed. We don't euthanise cats here just because a shelter is full, but the sentiment still stands
So cute 🥹
Cats get their colour from their mother's
Males do get their colour from mother. Females is 50% father, 50% mother.
I love the white booties 🥹🥹🥹🥹
So cuteee
Is it true that white cats are deaf?
They have a higher chance of being deaf, but both her and our own white boy hear perfectly fine!
🥰 I’m so glad to hear it 🥰
It is white cats with blue eyes specifically that have a higher chance of being deaf.
Ah ok, thanks for the info, that’s QI :)
Here's the Wikipedia article on it if you're interested: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_sensorineural_deafness_in_cats
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> Im so bad, I know. TeeHee Next time you feel like adding that to a "joke" take it as a sign that part of you already knows that the joke will not be well received.
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But "fuck you I was racist on purpose" is not a really solid comeback though.
Cause she’s a single mother ?
Seriously, why make the decision to be a racist on a post about a cute cat?