# Questions about our kitten..



## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

I have sooo many questions about our kitten, I hope I don't over do it in one thread. His name is Olive (but we call him Ollie)

First, I know the mother is a oriental breed, however, I have no clue what the father's breed is. When we first got him (at 6 weeks), he was white body with black points on his ears, nose, feet and tail. Now he is 3 months old and he has like a black mask (around his eyes, nose and cheeks), black feet and grey on his extremities, and a black tail as well as black ears. His coat has started to change a bit too. He has darker points between his shoulder blades and near his rear end by his tail. He also has a very faded brown stripe through his coat. Ollie has a "kinked" tail. At the very end of his tail it feels like it is bent (I am 100% certain there was absolutely no abuse, so not sure why his tail is kinked). He has beautiful blue eyes!! 

Okay to get to my questions. 
Could an oriental cat and a stray cat have a kitten that would resemble a Siamese? 
I have heard Siamese’s coats darker in winter and lighten in summer, is this why his coat is darkening in places? (I hope so, I really hope his coat isn't changing to all black)
What could cause the "kinked" tail?
Also his mom was a very tiny cat (in fact her name was Itty Bitty), so chances are he will be a little kitty too? He is already 3 months old and still seems little ... little 

He is a very lovable and happy kitten, he loves to play and is very outspoken lol he definitely lets us know when he wants us. In fact if I go to the kitchen and he follows, when I leave the kitchen if he doesn't realize I have left and he can't find me, he will sit in the kitchen and cry until I come to get him ... I have never had a kitten like this, I've always had a all grey or all black cat, nothing with any "certain" breed so to speak, so this is new to me and I am loving his behavior. He is just the most adorable little thing ever! He also acts like a dog at times lol. My daughter has a storage container full of Webkinz and he will get out one of the lil kinz and carry it in his mouth to another room to play with it. He enjoys everyone in our family but he is very close to me, he is always wanting to be right next to me or wanting me to hold him, always!! Anyway, thanks for sticking with me this long and reading everything, I will post a couple pictures below.. Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

This is when we first got Oliver
(laying on me of course, which I love ...!!)









He wanted to be held so much, I had to get a towl and lay on the couch so after he fell asleep I could lay him next to it, so I could get some things done lol


















Here I was going to another room and he perked up and wanted to come with me 









This is Oliver now

I just took this tonight real fast to show you how he looks now, but you can see a difference in the points on his face and paws.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Oh, he's a cutey. I want to cuddle him! I love his markings. He's going to be incredibly beautiful when he gets big. I love the pic where he looks like he's hugging that green pillow.

Hehe. Mow used to do that when I first brought him home from the shelter. If he couldn't find me he'd yowl. I'd have to call back "I'm in here!" and he'd come trotting into the room chirping at me.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Ollie is a sweetheart! He has what is referred to as a pointed coat coloration, meaning he is primarily white, but has dark coloring on his points (extremities): feet, tail, face, ears and pontially smaller areas of his body. This type of coat arises in many cats, including Siamese, Balinese, Burman, Himalayan, Ragdoll, Snowshoe, and various others. His coat will darken as he gets older and he likely won't reach his mature coloring until he is around 3 or 4 years old. But, he won't be all black. 

His feet, tail, face and ears will keep getting darker as he gets older...and the dark color may eventually cover more of his face, but his body will stay white. He might also get small "patches" of darker colouring on his body, although these "patches" will be much lighter than his face, ears, etc. I have a Ragdoll and her coloring has also darkened over time. I'll see if I can dig up a baby picture and a current picture so you can see the change.

I can't help you too much with the kinked tail. I understand many Siamese used to have kinked tails, but I thought that feature had been bred out of most Siamese these days. I'm sure someone who's more familiar with Siamese will be able to help you with this issue.

As for his size, if he's currently small and his mother was small, he might end up being small -- although that will depend on how large his father was and, of course, his future diet, etc. Abby (one of my two cats) had small parents. Her mother was 4 lbs and her father was 5 lbs. Abby is now 7.5 lbs, and she's full grown. So, she's bigger than her mom and dad, but she's still small for a full-grown cat.


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks so much for your fast replies!! 

As far as the kink in the tail, it is at the very end of his tail, just the last inch or so of his tail is bent, you cannot tell just by looking at him you will only know it is there if you feel it. I really wish I knew his father's breed. Is it safe for me to refer to him as a Siamese even though I don't know his background?


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I managed to dig up a couple of pictures of Muffin, my ragdoll. She is what is called a "bicolor", which means her face is dark except she has an upside-down "V" from her nose to her chin, which is white. The first picture below was taken the day I brought her home, whereupon she was about 11 weeks old. The second picture was taken a few days ago (she's now 20 months old). You can see how much darker her face and ears are relative to when she was a baby, and the dark color now covers much more of her face. But her body is still primarily white and, because Muffs is a bicolor, she will always have the inverted "V" between her nose and chin. That's the sort of thing that will happen to Ollie's coloring as he gets older (except he won't have the inverted "V", since he's not a bicolor). 

11 weeks:










20 months:


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

Wow! That looks like two completely different cats! Like I said I have never had anything other then all grey or all black so learning how their coat changes as they get older is pretty interesting! 

I know this sounds odd but I didn't realize until just yesterday that Ollie's points had gotten darker. I was looking at pictures with the kids and couldn't believe how much more of his face was black now then it was in the pictures we had taken prior. 

Truely amazing, thank you for taking time to find those pictures, I appreciate it!

What do you think, is it safe for me to call him a Siamese? His coat is also softer then I have ever felt before, it is so smooth and just so soft, I just love him to pieces lol We weren't getting anymore animals, we had our Paisley (our female calico) and a shih tzu dog, but our calico just doesn't want nothing to do with anything lol she just wants to do her own thing and when she wants your attention she will come find you otherwise, let her be haha.. so we got another kitten (Ollie) for the kids to cuddle with and it just so happens it is working out perfectly!

BTW, you kitty has a beautiful coat!!


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I doubt Ollie is a purebred, but you can refer to him as a Siamese or a Siamese mix. Actually, even I hadn't realized how much Muffin's color had changed until I put those two pictures side by side! The change happens so gradually that you don't notice it on a daily basis.


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

I was just reading about the coat being heat sensitive. All this is so confusing, I give you all loads of kudos for having so much knowledge! There are so many different breeds of kittens that have these characteristics lol wow... 

I am sure he is not pure bred either, I am almost certain his mother was oriental, but no clue what dad was, and the people we got him from weren't sure either.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Cali has a definite kink in her tail, but as you can see from this thread, you can't tell anymore unless you feel it.

http://www.catforum.com/forum/41-meet-my-kitty/116096-cali-charlee.html

Cinderella was an adult when she adopted me, but this is probably what she looked like as a kitten:










She changed colors also.

Your kitten is ADORABLE!! :luv


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

If a kinked tail is a characteristic of a Siamese, how would one out breed that trait?


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

From what I've read, the kink isn't necessarily a bad thing (and not something that can be bred out, it just happens sometimes):



> Siamese cats have long, thin and tapering to fine point tails, and often have a kink in their tails, because the original breeders saw that as a unique feature of the breed.


Stories about how they got there:



> One story tells of a valuable missing goblet and two Siamese cats that were dispatched to look for it. When they found the goblet one cat stayed to look after it while the other went back with the good news. The guard cat was so worried that the goblet might go missing again that she wound her tail tightly around the goblet and held it so tight that the tail became permanently kinked. All the time she was waiting for the other cat to return she stared at the goblet so it didn't disappear and her eyes developed a squint. Another story tells of a princess who was so scared her rings would be stolen she entrusted them to her Siamese cat to look after. The rings were placed on the cat’s tail but when the cat fell asleep the rings fell off. So the princess tied a knot in the tail of the cat so that the same thing could never happen again.


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

Your new pal is a hunk! His points will likely continue to spread and darken. It looks like his mom may have been a seal point, which is the darkest color. I have a Balinese and a Javanese. Franny (the seal point Bali in front) and Franklin (seal lynx point Javanese) both started out almost white as kittens, except for their points. Franny now has some of her color everywhere and very dark points. Franklin is much lighter but does have the dark patch between his shoulders. He's not yet 3 so that may expand. The personality you describe sure sounds like meezer  It's one of the main reasons I got my guys


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks again for the replies (so many helpful posts!!) I have a feeling he will end up like your Franny. I say this because he is starting to darker in certain areas and is only 3 months old. Which isn't that big of deal I just don't want an all black cat again lol He is unique that is for sure, unique for us anyway.. Now we just have to figure out how and what we are going to do when we put up the Christmas tree... I just know he will not stay out of it lol


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

kalena said:


> Now we just have to figure out how and what we are going to do when we put up the Christmas tree... I just know he will not stay out of it lol


Good luck with that!


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

kalena said:


> Now we just have to figure out how and what we are going to do when we put up the Christmas tree... I just know he will not stay out of it lol


I would screw a hook into the ceiling (like one of those plant hooks), make sure you hit a beam with the hook(not just drywall), and connect a wire (or string if you don't mind it being so visible) from the top of the tree to the hook. Don't suspend the tree from the wire, but pull it tight. This way the intrepid feline tree explorer can't knock it over. As to decorations, I would go all plastic (things you wouldn't mind having broken), OR you can have fun and turn cat toys into ornaments! Avoid tinsel and fake snow as these can be hazardous to the feline tree explorer's delicate tummy. 

Hope this helps!


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## Jan Rebecca (Oct 14, 2010)

He is soo darling! I just want to cuddle him..


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

raecarrow said:


> I would screw a hook into the ceiling (like one of those plant hooks), make sure you hit a beam with the hook(not just drywall), and connect a wire (or string if you don't mind it being so visible) from the top of the tree to the hook. Don't suspend the tree from the wire, but pull it tight. This way the intrepid feline tree explorer can't knock it over. As to decorations, I would go all plastic (things you wouldn't mind having broken), OR you can have fun and turn cat toys into ornaments! Avoid tinsel and fake snow as these can be hazardous to the feline tree explorer's delicate tummy.
> 
> Hope this helps!


Thanks for the idea! Last year it was hard enough with the calico (was her first xmas then) so I can only imagine how he will respond! Ya know, in a weird quirky way we are looking forward to the laughs we will get with him and the tree (just not the troubles after the laughs are over lol), just as we did with Paisley.


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

Jan Rebecca said:


> He is soo darling! I just want to cuddle him..


Thank you so very much! He is definately one to cuddle! 

You have heard of "puppy dog eyes" well let me tell you this kitten can work his eyes like a puppy too! He just looks at you so sweet and innocent, it wasn't him that knocked that plate over and broke it... lol


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

I agree Seal Point Siamese mix. Yes, the kinked tail is a siamese defect and is usually bred out, but we still have lots of cross eyed cats and cats with kinked tails...nothing to be concerned about. He will most likely grow up to look something like this:










and yes, he definitely has the usual siamese personality, which makes total sense. He is a cutie; enjoy him!


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## kalena (Nov 21, 2010)

Thank you for that picture, that is a beautiful cat and I would love for Ollie to look like that. Funny though when I got him he looked really nothing like a Siamese, just a white kitten with some grey in the normal point areas, I picked him because of his pretty blue eyes and sweet personality! I sure appreciate everyone's comments and help on this!!


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