04/23/2022
Mama and babes are doing well. Just the 4 it seems. 2 orange tabbies, a black, and an enigma.
The runt of the litter, appears to be male and mostly black. It does have some spots of color, some appear grey and others pale orange. Now, if you know anything about feline genetics, you know that both color combinations are technically "impossible" for a male cat.
Without getting too technical, the color gene in felines is carried on the x chromosome. Females have 2 X's, so they can inherit a black and an orange gene. This makes a tortie or if the white spotting gene is also inherited, a calico. But males are an XY rather than XX. They only inherit 1 color gene. (This is why 75% of orange tabbies are male). So a male tortie either has an extra chromosome, XXY, kinda like a person with down syndrome, or they are a chimera. A chimera is an organism that has absorbed another organism early in development in the womb. It's not common in cats, but not unheard of either. I've seen one other feline chimera, which was a male grey tabby with white, except for the last half of its tail which was blazing orange and had longer fur!
Anyway, black and grey is also technically impossible. A gene modifyer is responsible for the "dilute" colors on a cat- the grey's, creams, lilacs, fawns etc. A black cat that inherited the dilute gene modifyer should be grey, lilac, blue- but ALL of the black is diluted not just patches. So again, an enigma. An anomaly.
One other possibility for the black with grey/rust is something called "fever coat". This happens when the queen (mom cat) is ill or is put through significant stress while pregnant. It causes a temporary lack of pigment deposit, and in this case the grey fur will grow out and be replaced with black. Our little enigma is the runt of the litter so perhaps it was stressed in the womb. Time will tell.
If course, perhaps it's a female and not really an enigma at all! I will let you know as they continue to grow! And once mama relaxes a bit I will get some pictures!
