Solomon & Audreys Kittens

At approx 3.26 AM on April 11, 1999 Audrey Catburn announced the imminent birth of her and Solomon's Kittens. She promptly delivered a bouncing baby boy on my bed! She then proceeded into her delivery box (located at the back of our walk in closet) and proceeded to have (get this) 7 MORE! Solomon came to check on her periodically and sneek a peek over the box top. The first time he came to check he sprayed ( the first time he has ever done it in the house) the front of the closet, including my legs (I was sitting on the floor). I think he was marking the whole arrangement as HIS. There are 5 Blue (gray) kittens 3 of which are Solid, two Bi-Color(Tuxedo), and there are 3 Black Bi-bolor's. Notice Solomon stamps his get. They are Bi-color or Blue or both. They all look like HIM! I was very concerned with Audrey having 8 for a first litter, but everyone is fine. She is an excellent mother. We have 6 males and 2 females. Audrey’s coat pattern under her black coat must be Classic Tabby, Solomon’s is Mackeral non-agouti (as he got older the stripes went away.) The kittens are a mixture of classic and mackerel going non-agouti. I admit I know little of Audrey & Solomon's genetic heritage. I do know Audrey has 2 brothers and 2 sisters 3 black 2 of which are long hair and a long hair tortie and her mother a short hair black oriental type just like Audrey.

The kittens began displaying some ring tail traits as early as 2 weeks old. It appears that the trait is related to forward motion, pushing and balance. They bring their tails up and over their backs when confidently moving forward.

They also appear to use their tails to catch their balance by holding on to objects such as the lower rung of the bannister on the stair. It takes time for them to develop their tail muscles. They do not hold their tails in a ring all of the time, and they appear to go through phases where they "ring up" more often. I can only guess that this is due to the development of muscle and bone and that as their tails get longer they need to work on the muscle all over again.

Please note I am not an experienced physiologist or a professional cat breeder. I am a cat rescuer and enthusiast who has had cats all of my life. My observations are probably biased and its difficult at this stage to prove that the kittens will be ring tailed as adults.

I frequently look back at Solomon's baby pictures for reference. When he was displaying these same traits we did not recognise them as much different from normal cats. Only with careful observation do the differences become apparent at this stage.

It appears that the Blue kittens (note that is gray to the layman) show the tail more strongly in general and the Blue kittens with the wider base of tail show it most of all. Audrey has a whippy long and expressive tail. Solomons tail is quite muscular and tends to be held in a ring or a relaxed ring. I believe the kittens with more muscle initially have an easier time of holding their tails in a ring and the kittens who favor their mothers tail have more expression ( question marks, tip movement etc) and the ring trait but not as strongly. UPDATE at this time, none of the kittens have Solomon's exact tail carriage. However all of the kittens have some unusual tail carriage. Its possible we are dealing with a dominant gene with variable expression or a recessive gene. Only time and future breedings will solve this.

This photo was taken the same day as the photo above.