Busy Renae, busy kittens
It occurred to me tonight that it’s been a week since I’ve made a post and may well be another week before I’m able to make another. I have a lot going on right now, including hosting a large party this weekend, and I’m probably not going to be cooking anything new, let alone taking pictures of it. In the meantime, please enjoy the kittens and I’ll be back in a week or so.
Do you see the orange M on Torticia’s forehead? I’ve been reading about cat genetics and apparently orange in cats is always tabby; what appears to be solid orange in some cats is really striped. That goes for the orange in tortoiseshells. Additionally, tabbies almost always have an M on their foreheads (both Tigger and Brachtune, as well as every other tabby I’ve ever known, did). So although most of Torticia’s colouring seems to be entirely random, in many places, her orange appears as tabby stripes. It’s particularly obvious in the orange bands around her front legs (totally adorable), but I missed her orange M for a couple of weeks. Once I spotted it, though, I can’t NOT see it. Mark claims the M stands for Mark; I claim it stands for my last name.
Gomez’s black-on-black stripes (not really visible in this photo; I love that you can only see them sometimes) are called ghost stripes. I had a black cat, Dracula, growing up (I have a tattoo in his honor), and I’ve been friends with several other black cats over the years, but Gomez is the first black kitty I’ve met with noticeable stripes, though apparently it’s fairly common because the gene that suppresses the tabby stripes in solid cats doesn’t always manage to fully suppress it. You can make out a faint M on his head as well, but it’s much harder to see than Torticia’s scarlet letter.
Lisa G/K Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 10:11 am
Gomez looks like he’s guardian of the wine bottles!
Good luck with getting everything ready.
Looking forward to your next food post….
Jes Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 10:14 am
Ghost stripes! <3 And the "M" definitely stands for both–though since they both have an M maybe you could claim one and he could claim one? 🙂
Jes Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 10:14 am
*for both of you
Josiane Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 11:35 am
Good luck with hosting the large party this weekend! I wish I was able to do that, but I’m afraid I’d feel overwhelmed just thinking about it, sadly… I think it’s really cool you can pull these off the way you do!
radioactivegan Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
What beautiful cats! My calico doesn’t have any hidden letters that I’ve noticed. I’m definitely going to check out my parents’ tabbies next time I’m home for the M’s, though.
vicki Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
around my house the M stands for monster.
BTW I love your site, I’ve used quite a few of your recipes.
Tiana Said,
July 21, 2010 @ 9:25 pm
I just love your kitties! They are adorable.
I hope everything goes well for your party =)
leigh Said,
July 26, 2010 @ 5:39 pm
My black kitty Miles had very noticeable ghost stripes when he was Gomez’s age. Sadly, he grew out of them.
Penny Said,
June 13, 2011 @ 5:13 pm
Gorgeous black cat. He looks just like the one I received for my birthday this year. Exactly! Ghost stripes and all. I thought I was looking at my own kitten when I seen this picture. By the way my kitten is; Little Bear and he is so much fun to watch.