Here is a photo of my cats. Given that
They are littermates.
The middle one, the tabby-and-white, is named Buster.
Their mother looked just like Buster.
The paternity is unknown, since the litter resulted from the mother’s one-time escape from the house.
And assuming that
Is there any way to know what the father cat looked like?
I don’t know, but I have a male kitty (nine years old) that looks just like Buster!
I know that they cloned a kitty recently, and the clone did not have the same markings as the “original.” You might get an idea of the color(s) of the father, but don’t know much more than that.
IANACat geneticist, and one may be along to correct this info, but what we can tell:
The one on the right is a female (she shows 3 colors).
The father was orange-and-white, or orange.
The white patches are hereditary (two solids don’s make a white-patched kitten). Mom has white. Females can be one-color plus white or two-color plus white as the color is on the X chromosome and females have XX. Males have XY so can only have one color plus white (separate genetics for white patches).
Mom is black-tabby and white like the center kitten. The right-hand one had to get her orange from Pop, Mom doesn’t have any.
If the left kitten has no white, I don’t know if that means Pops had none because I don’t know whether white patching is dominant. If solid color is dominant, Pops had to be solid; if recessive, he could be solid or patched.
The kitten on the left (Jack) has white only on the underside of his chin. He’s tabby everywhere else.
Papa cat wasn’t pure Siamese, or pure Persian. If there is more to know from the picture, someone else will have to provide it. We have plumbed the depths of my gnorance (opposite of ignorance).
Look for an orange, or orange-and-white, male. Are you looking for kitten support?
Nahh, I’m just curious.
This variation must be common in cats. Although I do not have a picture, my two cats (littermates) are remarkably different (size, markings, personality.) The “odd” one might be considered the offspring of some stray father - but for the fact that it is identical to it’s aunt (mothers sister.) Why the traits were not expressed in the mother but still passed to an offspring are unknown, just regressive expression I would guess.
