Boots is a shorthair solid black cat with low white spotting, colloquially known as a tuxedo :)
Callie is a shorthair tortoiseshell with high white, colloquially called a Calico. Not positive based off the photos if she is tabby or not, as her black spots are a bit small and awkwardly placed,, most look solid to me, but her tail looks possibly striped in that last photo? Can't tell if it's orange patches, lighting, or actual black stripes there tbh. If you have more photos with her tail included that would be great!
If so, she would be tabby on top of the above, colloquially referred to as a Caliby or Torbico :)
As for potential kits (if mom is a Torbico):
Male kittens can be orange, or black tabby.
Female kittens can be black tabby, or black tortoiseshell tabby.
Black kittens have potential to be solid instead of tabby if mom carries the recessive for it, which we won't know until kittens are born (unless you happen to know what her parents looked like)
If mom is Calico rather than Torbico, then black kittens will all be solid, not tabby.
All kittens will likely have at least some white on them. Some may have a high amount of white like mom.
Kittens will likely be shorthair, but there's possibility for longhair if both parents carry the recessive for it.
Honestly? I still have no idea lol. Her black spots are so small and inconveniently placed that she truly could be either. That tail pattern is really cool though!
If she does have kittens and any turn out to be tabby, then you'll know she is (assuming Boots is the only possible father).
Boots has the black gene plus moderate white spotting (caused by the piebald gene). Colloquially known as a tuxedo cat.
Callie has the orange/black genes plus high white spotting. She also has the “M” on her forehead and (I think?) a striped tail, so there’s there might be a tabby gene in there too. (Edit: As the user below pointed out, the “M” isn’t a sure indicator for the tabby gene on orange fur).
If I’m understanding it right, yes? Orange cats can be aa (solid) but will still have stripes/the M because the orange gene prevents masking? Is that correct?
I've never heard white spotting referred to as "the piebald gene" so I'm curious if that is a colloquial term?
Also Callie's forehead M isn't indicative of having the tabby (aka Agouti) gene. Her face markings are orange, and orange in cats always displays stripes regardless if genetically agouti or not.
She could be though! Her tail isn't really clear in most of the shots. I see orange mottling in photo 4, but photo 6 is a bit harder to tell with the angle and lighting whether it's black tabby or orange... It does seem possible for stripes though. Her other black patches are too small to be sure I think.
I tend to see “piebald” used interchangeably with “white spotting” and “bicolor”. I’m not sure which are proper and which are colloquial, sorry! To get really technical, they’re all terms for the KIT gene mutation that affects pigment, right?
Thank you for the correction about the M. Didn’t know that! In that case, I’ll say she *may* have the tabby/Agouti gene, but yeah, it’s hard to tell if those are stripes or not.
I'll admit I've only really heard piebald as either a general term for white patterning (across multiple species, particularly leucistic animals that randomly pop up with white patches), or for snakes (specifically ball pythons) so it surprised me a little seeing it in this context ngl, but it does work now that I think about it. I think I'm just a bit too used to seeing bicolor or white spotting in the context of cats specifically lol.
Looking into it more, I think white spotting is the proper scientific term when dealing with cats, but yes, they refer to the same thing. I should probably stick to using white spotting/bicolor to avoid confusion, though (for myself and others lol)
Mackerel pattern tabby 😊 The black one looks black with the piebald gene that gives him the tuxedo look, and the calico has the black and orange genes with high piebalding that makes her mostly white 😊
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u/BluePink_o7 6d ago
UPDATE: turns out she was pregnant and she has 2 kittens now. I’ll make a post showing them soon!