I have a pair of sibling cats and they are both black and white and yes when close up you can tell them apart. They are both very similar looking except my male is a bit bigger then my girl who is very petite. But when they are rolling around together it's hard to tell them apart, or when they dart by me and I'm without my glasses I get them confused..



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My brother-in-law has 2 black cats (amongst a slew of 6 or so ) and at first it was hard to tell them apart, but we stayed for 5 days and by the 2nd night, I could easily tell them apart. I had to look REALLY hard, but could figure it out. He and his wife and no problems at all.

Editing to add...just saw the picture. Their faces are very different...bigger mark of black over the nose versus the other.
But yes, without glasses, ha, I wouldn't know if any of mine were raccoons or cats, LOL.

 

We had a pair of identical gray brothers at the shelter I volunteer at. Both were solid and had no unique identifying markings. Someone mentioned their microchips needed to be scanned to tell for sure which is which. I imagine they have individual personalities or mannerisms that their owner can tell them apart by, or maybe just colored collars


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Yes, I have two brothers that are gray tabbies (one with spots and one with stripes). I also what two all white ladies with blue eyes, one has longer fur. Lots of people have trouble telling the boys apart and the girls apart. I can easily tell unless it is the middle of the night, but even then I can usually tell if they chirp or if I pet them who is who.

The girls:

The boys:

 

These are my girls at home. They're sisters and while I can tell them apart easily, they've started looking more alike as they've gotten older.

Bowse on the left and Feef on the right

It was harder when I first found them and had their brother, too. Feef in the back, Bowse on the left and Oliver on the right.

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These are my girls at home. They're sisters and while I can tell them apart easily, they've started looking more alike as they've gotten older.

Ack! I LOVE all of the orange kitties. Too cute.

 

OMG...so many cuties!!!!

 

Wow the last few pictures they all look the same , I would have such a hard time telling them apart .. They are all so cute :catsm

 

Curious...anyone wish they had gone more different in coloring when getting them in the first place or does it not really matter when one darts by who isn't easy to identify? It sounds like most who have responded have siblings...like mine...and maybe there wasn't a lot of choice in the coloring. I guess I'm kind of glad it worked out that ours do not have the same coloring, but maybe it wouldn't really matter.

It is fun to see all the "twinsies". Kayla--cute baby pics, brother does look a lot like the girls! tiliqua--double twinsies! Heckle and Jeckle--I think a post/pic I saw of your cats made me wonder this in the first place Wallycat/Catmonkeys--thanks for your observations as well. It would be strange to have 2 that were so identical that you needed to scan the microchip! Have they been adopted? I wonder if someone would adopt them together.

 

Ours was a feral litter of 5 that we rescued so whatever colors/markings they had, it was just the way it was. The black 2 year old that came after them, also was a feral.
I think my BIL and his wife have rescued all 6 or 7 that they take care of.

If I were allowed to pick, I would probably prefer different colorings, but when you can't pick, you enjoy what you have

 

I have no regrets about my double twinsies - not that I had much or any choice in getting them (they chose me). The boys were found on the side of the road with their little gray sister (who my best friend has) and the white ladies are grandmother / granddaughter that came as bonded fosters and didn't leave. So I didn't really chose color at all but I really don't mind, they are all wonderful kitties.

I can tell them all apart and any time an unseen / unidentified cat gets into trouble it is blamed on Orion (for good reason). So everything works out well!

 

Also, forgot to mention how beautiful all the pics of the above posted cats are

Haha-Orion...there is always one in the litter and you just know who it is!

 

The two matching boys were adopted together- they were very sweet and got a home very quickly. I wonder how their new owner is doing telling them apart.

 

Growing up my family raised and trained Hungarian Vizslas. To walk through the kennel during the peak times of the year there would be 60 Vizslas who all looked (to a stranger) exactly alike. Once you get to know them they all have SOMETHING a little different. The shape of their eyes (or ears), the freckle pattern on their nose, or the shape of their feet, or even the sound of their bark. Of course there was always the old standby of calling the dogs name and whoever responded was the one you wanted.

Puppies were always a problem though.... and we'd have to put colored colors on them to tell them apart.

 

MowMow-My friend just got a Vizsla and I saw pics of the litter (of 10?) and I get what you are saying about looking alike. The breeder put colors on the little ones to tell them apart. Interesting that since you were with them a lot you could see minor details that were different. Running past in a pack of 5 or 6 though, I'm guessing you'd be stumped as to who was who?

 

I have dogs that look similar, other people get them confused, but I never do.

 

My bratz don't really look alike, but you can certainly tell they're sisters. Do NOT let the innocent faces fool you.

If you click on the link below my signature, they looked more alike when they were tiny kittens, they seemed to have mirror images.

 

Funny how things happen I had been looking to rescue an orange kitten and a normal brown tabby the whole black and white kitten had never dawned on me at all. Then my kids and hubby spotted the black and whites and that was it they were all in love , I was still on the fence I Liked them but I was sure of what I wanted . Then we go into the room and that was it they were such love bugs and so sweet they won me over in that instant. The thought of them looking alike has never occurred to me at all before this thread crazy I guess lol..
I'm sure glad my kids and hubby looked outside my box with them because in all the years of me being a cat owner these two are top notch :luv

 

I don't, but I know some people with a brother and sister cat that look very similar (seal point markings)... the male is bigger and more friendly... but if one is just running by I'd have no idea who it is.

 

I had two solid white cats a long time ago. Both were short haired but one was slightly sleeker and the other had thicker fur, so that's how I could tell without looking too closely. Besides that, one was a boy and one was a girl.

I've also had a foster that looked almost identical to my brown and white girl Muffin, but Muffin has a mustache. At a glance though, it was hard to tell.

Besides that, I try not to have look alikes. If I'm able to choose, I like variety.

 

I don't find it difficult telling the difference between two of my black cats (I've had this discussion with Lotu before ), although guests who see them for the first time (or infrequently) certainly do. My brother, who visits weekly, can now tell them apart. I also believe that it's easier to identify cats who look the same in person compared to a still photo. It's not all about their appearance. How a cat moves and vocalizes i.e. its personality, can serve as obvious indicators in determining which cat is which.

With Newt and Newton, there are times when I know which is which without even looking at them. If it's the middle of the night, and a cat is crawling all over me, 99% of the time, it's Newton. Newt just isn't that kind of a touchy-feely cat Both of my cats are also slightly different shades of black, although this doesn't show up on most photos. Oh, and their eye colour are also a little different.

Now if you want hard to tell apart, Newton's siblings, Duke and Duchess were immensely difficult to differentiate. The one saving grace being they were brother and sister. Their personalities were fairly closely matched, and their coat patterns were virtually identical. I finally found facial markings to different them, but at a quick glance, there's no way I could tell them apart.

 

It's not all about their appearance. How a cat moves and vocalizes i.e. its personality, can serve as obvious indicators in determining which cat is which.

Very much agree with this!

I actually got asked this question a couple of days ago in the offline world - I was mentioning that our shelter had lots of black cats, and a friend asked me how I could be sure the cat I had adopted was Bentley.

I was kind of startled by the question, because... well, it just wouldn't have been possible for me to adopt the wrong black cat, and it wouldn't have occurred to me to wonder that. They certainly aren't all identical. They have very different faces, builds, ways of moving, vocalizations, eyes, coat length/type, etc.

We do have a couple of pairs of cats at the shelter who look very similar, but of the ones I've worked with there are always small ways to tell them apart once you get to know them. I'm sure perfectly identical twin cats exist, but I also think they're a lot more rare than people would assume at first glance.

Another thing about Bentley is that we knew each other before I adopted him. Even if I was blindfolded, the cat that took a flying leap into my arms and gave me a hug would be Bentley. A random cat wouldn't do that. Once you get to know them, you know their behavioral cues.

I don't think it would be impossible to have cats there would be truly no way to tell apart, but I think it would be exceedingly rare.

 

Awww...Newt and Newton (Duke and Duchess too). I was thinking of the time you had someone cat sitting and they couldn't find one of your cats, but couldn't tell which one was missing! I think that was you, tezster?

 

Yes it was me - it took awhile with the cat sitter trying to describe to me over the phone which cat was still accounted for before I figured out which one she was referring to

 

Luckily for me, Hallie is a gray tabby and Nash is solid black. But the other two kittens in their litter were black and tray tabbies. They looked exactly a like. They were adopted together but I have no idea how they tell them apart, aside from one was a boy and one was a girl.

My mom has two orange cats that at first glance are hard to tell apart. If you look close enough and know them well enough, it is pretty easy to tell them apart. One is more of a buff color, and the other is more orange. And of course their tabby markings are different.

 

My own cats all look quite dissimilar from one another, but I have 2 foster boys, brothers, who look very much alike. I can usually tell them apart, but sometimes when they're running around playing it's very difficult to tell which twin I'm looking at.

Gilbert is the more gregarious of the twins, although Sullivan has become much more outgoing since he ended up with me. Gilbert also has greener eyes and there is slightly less contrast between his stripes and the background colour of his fur, which makes him look a touch lighter than his brother.

Sullivan is a little shyer, but much less so than when I first trapped him. I occasionally confuse him and Gilbert now because I'm used to him being the shy guy, so I initially tend to think it's Gilbert if Sully comes galloping up to me or jumps up on my lap. Sully's eyes are orangey, and he looks slightly darker than his brother because there's more contrast between the colour of his stripes and the colour of the rest of him.

 

Yes! My 2 cats look very much alike. Luna is 7 months and Phoenix is a year old. They aren't related. Rescued them at different times, did not pick their color.

I can tell them apart if they are close up. If they are far, it's hard to tell. I've only had the girl for 2 months so maybe that's why sometimes it gets confusing.