What determines the color of new kittens?

Question

We have a grey/white female cat that produced four kittens, two tabbies, one black with white, and one beige with white. Can they all be from the same father?

Answer 1

When the term COLOR is used, it refers to color only (blue, cream, black, red, etc.). When PATTERN is used, it refers to pattern only (tabby, shaded, smoke, etc.). When both are affected, the statement will contain the term COLOR/PATTERN.
Male kittens always obtain both color genes from the dam. The male offspring in a litter will always be either the color of the dam (or one of the colors in the case of parti-colors) or the dilute form of the dam's color.
Female kittens take one color gene from each parent. The color of the female kittens in a litter will always be either a combination of the sire's and dam's colors, or the dilute form of those colors.
To obtain any of the red or cream color/patterns in female kittens, the sire must be one of the red or cream color/patterns PLUS the dam must in some form demonstrate red or cream (see #21).

Only the immediate parents determine the color/pattern of a kitten. The color/patterns found in the pedigree of a kitten will NOT always directly affect the color/pattern of the kitten. One notable exception is the colorpoint gene, which can carry through a number of generations .
A kitten's pattern can be inherited from either parent.

A dominant characteristic (all dominant colors and patterns such as shaded, smoke, white, tabby, bi-color, etc.) cannot skip generations. The characteristic cannot be transmitted from one generation to the next without showing that characteristic in each generation.
A cat displaying a dominant color (black, red, tortie, etc.) must have a parent which displays a dominant color .
Two recessive color parents (cream, blue, etc.) cannot produce an offspring of a dominant color (black, red, etc.).

Two colorpointed parents cannot produce a non-colorpointed offspring.

To get a colorpointed kitten, both parents must be carrying the colorpointed gene (even if they do not appear colorpointed themselves).

The mating of a colorpointed cat and a cat with no colorpointed background will produce NO colorpointed offspring.

A (non-silver) tabby must have at least one parent that is either a shaded or a tabby. A silver tabby must have at least one silver tabby, shaded or smoke parent (see #13).

All red cats will have some tabby markings. Whether or not a red can produce as a tabby will depend on whether it is a true tabby with a tabby or shaded parent or whether it is a red with ghost tabby markings and neither a tabby nor a shaded parent. A red tabby that is not a true tabby cannot produce a tabby offspring of any other color without being bred to a true tabby or a shaded.

A cat with a white undercoat (smoke or shaded) must have a parent that has a white undercoat.

A shaded cat must have at least one parent that is a shaded.

A shaded parent can produce a smoke offspring, but a non-shaded (smoke) parent cannot produce a shaded offspring unless bred to a shaded.

A bi-color must have a bi-color parent.

Parti-color cats (blue-cream, tortie, calico) are almost always female, but males can and do occur occasionally (and are not always sterile).

A white cat must have a white parent.

A white cat breeds as both a white (which you see) and a masked color (which you don't see) and can produce based on both white and the unseen color/pattern. The masked color/pattern must be determined, based on the white's pedigree and the offspring produced in a controlled breeding, in order to effectively predict the color/pattern of the expected offspring.
Interestingly, white kittens may have a small spot of color on top of their heads when born. This color should be noted as it is the color that the white is masking and the color that the cat will breed as when an adult. The spot of color may be visible for several months, but often disappears as the kitten matures.


Genetics for solid white cats can affect the possible color/pattern of expected kittens in that the white parent may be masking the color/pattern needed to produce this result.

Two longhair parents cannot produce a shorthair kitten.

Two classic tabby parents cannot produce a mackerel, spotted, or ticked tabby kitten. A ticked tabby must have a ticked tabby parent. A mackerel or spotted tabby must have a mackerel, spotted, or ticked tabby parent.

The dilute gene must be present in both the sire and dam's pedigree in order to produce a dilute offspring.

The chocolate or lilac gene must be present in both the sire and dam's pedigree in order to produce chocolate or lilac offspring.

Answer 2

Genetics determines Color, of Course.

Cats Ovulate 1 Egg per Intercourse, stimulated by a Spike on the Male (and Thus the Aweful Yowling known to Accompany). Kittens can be Fathered by Several different Males with access.

Kittens sound like they have 1 Tabby Father, and maybe 1 in the Brown/Tan area, at least.

Answer 3

Color Kittens

Answer 4

kitty genetics is much different from the genetics of a human. colors and patterns are usually unrelated to each other, but the breed of the cat can determine what patterns/colors are most common. when white appears on a cat, it is masking all other colors that are beneath it.
and for your question regarding the father of the kittens, how could one female cat mate with two males, and have both the kittens in the same litter?! it is possible in cats, for a kitten to display a color/pattern not present in either of the parents.
the litter you described, seems to be a very common combination, and yes they are all from the same father to sum things up.

best of luck with your new kittens!

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What determines the color of new kittens?
We have a grey/white female cat that produced four kittens, two tabbies, one black with white, and one beige with white. Can they all be from the same father?

Answer 6

Gray And White Kittens

Answer 7

You can learn a lot about cat coloring and genetics on www.messybeast.com
Like people, it's all in the genes. Have fun with your new kittens!

Answer 8

Females can mate with more than one tom when she is in heat and it's possible that each male will be the father of one of the kittens. That's why sometimes you will have,let's say, a grey mother cat and a grey kitten, a black kitten and a black and white kitten.

Answer 9

It's possible they're all from the same father (especially if the father was a tabby), but you would need a DNA test to be sure.

After the kittens are weaned, please have your cat spayed. Twelve million un-wanted cats and dogs are euthanized in animal shelters nation-wide every year. Your cat will also be less likely to develop certain cancers if she is spayed.

Answer 10

Genetics...
It's all a function of recessive, and dominant genes, and also the fact that house cats are basically a single centuries long experiment where cats have been domesticated from various wild cats.

Unless you have two pure cats, say like siamese, you'll never know what your going to get.

Cheers,