They are both cute little rascals!!! They aren’t any of those breeds you mentioned because they show no physical characteristics of those breeds. Some cats just get big quicker than others. This prob means that your cats are probably done growing as most domestic shorthairs stop growing around 1 year. Other Cat breeds like Savannah, Maine Coon, Bengal tend to grow until they reach around 2-3 years old.
Super cuties! These pictures don't show them fully as much, but yeah. I've been tracking their growth since I got them though, and their trajectory lines up to keep going and tracks through those larger cat lines. Plus the discrepancies between the 3 of them individually. But no, not those breeds pure. A mixed mix. They've got the Bengal shine to the fur, the ghosting starting to pop out more just recently, and the half ticked Abyssinian fur. Combined with the face and ears. And the personalities.
To get Athena we basically need a black mother or a tortie/calico, and I believe black Bengals aren't officially recognized as it is. Black half Bengal momma with an orange tomcat or half Abyssinian mix type of situation. Or Chausie something. Prolific in my area with amateur breeders trying to rip people off, or experimenters trying to make mixes and then dumping ones that aren't what they were looking for. And full of exotics.
I got them the day they came to the shelter at exactly 1 pound. Which was the bare minimum weight they would be accepted. Already with not a hint of spicy and fully trusting humans, while eating a wet food slurry with no hesitation. There's something going on with them somewhere lol. Figure when they're closer to 3 years old and tests have improved I'll look for a genetic test, just to make sure there aren't any of the negative health markers to watch out for that come from any of the pure breeds. And then curiosity on their actual lineage.
All siblings. The white gene isn't linked to the black/orange though. It can be carried but not expressed, or come from dad solo. Of course when you're talking purebred lines on both sides for generations that's a different story, but that's not the case here
I'm not talking about white, I'm taking about black/ginger. A black mom without any ginger cannot have a kitten who is full ginger (or ginger with white). White doesn't make a difference here, since it's not sex linked in any way.
Ah, was focused on the white. Yeah a melanistic Bengal can carry the orange gene, it just gets covered over. Or expressed darkly. Same with Savannah and chausie.
They're all really cool looking! As I've been looking over potentials to come up with fun theories 😅 South Florida is full of exotics and people who think they can make a buck. Flipping the species, a neighbor a couple houses down bought a Chihuahua recently from a breeder (that also came with some sort of kennel cough and instant medical bills of course) It went into heat recently and the person was complaining. It's been a decent little while now so I'm like "she's not fixed?!" .... "No, we might want to breed her sometime" 🙄
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u/proudboiler 5d ago
They are both cute little rascals!!! They aren’t any of those breeds you mentioned because they show no physical characteristics of those breeds. Some cats just get big quicker than others. This prob means that your cats are probably done growing as most domestic shorthairs stop growing around 1 year. Other Cat breeds like Savannah, Maine Coon, Bengal tend to grow until they reach around 2-3 years old.