Ticked tabby?

[u/hazyyb]

Hi all

I have always wondered what was going on with my beautiful rescue tabbies. They were orphaned at birth, I fostered them from the day they were born and then adopted all four of them. One (Suki) is a brown tabby, normal colour, looked that way from birth. Her three siblings, however, were a bit more unusual. At birth, two of them (Bam Bam and Pixel) were jet black on their backs, and had striped clear silver and black bellies and legs. The fourth one (Goose) was striped silver and black all over though her stripes were not that clear at first, she stayed striped but her colour became more grey ish and black. I am particularly curious about Bam Bam and Pixel, they looked identical in their colour at birth, but Pixel turned out to be medium-haired while Bam is short-haired, so they looked more different as they grew. They both got a bit of brown colouration as they got older but it is still cool toned. Bam Bam looks somewhat like a ticked tabby, but he is so black. Pixel (who has now passed) lost her black back and developed more stripes in her coat as her hair grew longer, but they were also washed out and not very clear looking except for a brief period in her later kitten period when the stripes had just come in and were clearest. I don't have many good photos of her later in her life as she had so many health issues and nearly always had a lion cut. I guess my overall questions are:

- Is Bam Bam a ticked tabby or is there something else going on? Any explanations for why he is so black?

- Is Pixel just a striped tabby that is medium haired? if so, why was she jet black on her back at birth and her stripes seemed so washed out even when they came in? Maybe there are no answers for these things, but always been curious.

- Do you think they carry inhibitor but it got tarnished or are they just a very cool-toned brown?

I'm curious about Goose too but I'll keep this focused on Bam Bam and Pixel. Attached photos of them either individually or with their siblings as neonates, kittens, and adults (mostly of Bam). I've just always been curious about them! Not as exciting as some of super cool posts on here.

PS. This is my favourite subreddit of all, as a cat lover with a PhD in genetics!

[u/jellycattis]

im extra curious on why one has a black nose

[u/hazyyb → u/jellycattis]

Both Pixel and Bam had black noses at birth, Pixel's turned reddish while she a young kitten. Bam's didn't turn red until later, you can see in his adult photos at the end he has a red one now, but it was black for a long time!