Genetics and Colours - as promised

[Kay]

Finally I have managed to get down to writing this thread on genetics and colours as promised in a previous thread.

I can only tell you what I have learn't through my breeding of colourpoints and colourpoint carriers but the basis is the same for any cat. I have no dealings with White, Bi-colour or silvers as I am not allowed to use them in colourpoint breeding.

Firstly the male kittens get their colour from their mother and the girls get theirs from a mix of both parents. The dominant colours are Black (Seal in colourpoints or Brown in Tabbies ), Red and Chocolate with the dilutes being Blue, Cream and Lilac. Dominant Tortie is the usual Black/Red tortie or Chocolate Tortie with the dilutes being Blue-Cream or Lilac-Cream. So basically you can not get a dilute from two dominants unless they both carry the dilute gene, i.e. one of their parents was a visual dilute, which we will go into later.

Therefore if you have a Seal point dad and a Red point mum it would potentially produce Red point males (from their mum) and Sealtortie point females (a mix of the seal and the red ).

Let me know if you get the hang of this so far and I will carry on. It took me a while but now I think it is great.

[Fran]

I love colour genetics. Have to say that it is much easier in dogs than it is in cats I just about get it so far Kay - I think

Question!...two dilutes? can only produce dilute, yes?

[Hreow]

"Firstly the male kittens get their colour from their mother and the girls get theirs from a mix of both parents.". This contradicts what I have learned, but I've just perused books and haven't looked at colourpoints. If two Aa mate, one kitten will be aa (theorhetically speaking here) and that would not be sex-related. Red/Tortoiseshell is sex-related. There is an article here:
http://messybeast.com/tricolours.htm
Feel free to tell me I'm ignorant.

Dilutes will only give dilutes, in my basic knowledge. Dilute is recessive.

Added later: Rereading this it sounds "catty" in the wrong way. What I mean to say is, thanks for writing this, hope you don't mind it if I spout the odd comment to better understand. That's all it is, honest, I just get the phrasing wrong at times.

[Booktigger]

Do you know which is recessive and which is dominant in the hair genes?

[Hreow]

Robinson's "Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians" says the longhair gene is recessive. Is that what you meant?
Rex (except for the Selkirk) is recessive as well. Wirehair is dominant, with incomplete penetrance. Same source. The "Incomplete" bit is that although it is dominant, not all cats show it, as far as I can tell (it's one of the bits I don't quite get at the moment) maybe means it is easily "disguised" by another factor?

[Snoof]

Gotcha Kay Thanks for doing this!

[Kay]

Fran:- Yes two dilutes will only have dilute kittens.

Hreow - This article goes against everything I have ever learn't in colourpoint and colourpoint carries (that is self colours carrying the colourpoint gene). I also found that article to be misleading on another occasion about all reds being tabbies. If this is the case then why does every cat registering body register both red selfs and red tabbies under totally different breed numbers. I have always worked out my colours this way and so have all my breeding friends and it has never ever failed in 6 years of breeding. But I am not a genetic expert just a breeder. You are quite right about the hair genes.

Snoof - Glad you like it so far it was done specially for you.

Next step:- If we take the same colour parents as before, Seal point dad and red point mum, but add the fact that they both carry the dilute gene ( i.e. both sets of their parents had a dilute ) the colours possible go up to Red point and Cream point males (from mum) and Sealtortie point and blue-cream point females (from both). The best possible mating colour wise is a dominant male carrying dilute to either a dominant tortie carrying dilute or a dilute tortie or a dilute male to a dominant tortie carrying dilute. These matings will give you Seal, Red, Cream and Blue point males (the Seal is not coming from the dad but from the tortie of the mum) and in females you could get Seal, Blue, Sealtortie and Blue-cream tortie points.

This is without introducing the chocolate gene, of course.

[Hreow]

Note to self - works completely different in colourpoints. Thanks for explaining.
Faint but persuing. {gets fresh cuppa and settles to find out more}

[Fran]

Hmmm it's getting complicated now Kay

[candyshandy]

I'm trying to work out Foofoo's genetics (lilacpoint) - will carry on reading...............