Cat colour genetics

[aliencat]

Hi guys,

Reading through a few colour threads, I've become a bit lost and confused, especially with how genes work - what colours you can expect out of particular colour combinations, etc.

I had never heard of caramel, cinnamon, or fawn before joining here. I had never seen a ticked tabby.

I'm particularly interested in Abysinnian, Ocicat and pointed cat colouring, but I have no idea how it works.

I would be very grateful if somebody could provide some info on how basic cat colour genetics work (and any information on how Aby, Ocicat and pointed colours work would be excellent.)

I'd like the facts, with correct terms - I've been getting confused between what breeders say and what regular cat owners say.

I understand horse colour genetics, so I understand dominant, recessive and dilute terms etc.

Thanks very much!

 

[orientalslave]

OK, the short splurge version:

There are three basic colours of cat:  black, chocolate and cinnamon.  Black is dominant over chocolate which is dominant over cinnamon, so a black cat could carry chocolate or cinnamon, and a chocolate cat could carry cinnamon.  All cats including gingers (reds / creams) are one of these base colours.

The dilute gene is recessive and turns black into blue, chocolate into lilac and cinnamon into fawn (UK colour terminology).

All cats have a tabby pattern, but if the cat has two copies of the non-agouti gene then the tabby pattern isn't developed and the cat is a self - the same colour all over.

The Orange gene is sex-linked - it's only on the X chromosone. So, normal male cats have it or don't have it as they only have one X. Female cats can have it on both Xs, on one (torties) or neither.  It alters the type of pigment (melanin) in the fur, and the non-agouti gene isn't effective on orange fur.  The correct term for an Orange cat is red, and the dilute version is cream.

Caramel and Apricot are the result of the Dilute Modifier gene on blue/lilac/fawn, and on cream.  This is dominant but the effect can only be seen in a dilute cat, so it can lie hidden for a long time in black / chocolate / cinnamon cats.

There is also a series of genes causing varying amounts of albinoism - Burmese and Siamese colour restrictions are the ones in pedigree cats.  There are also genes for blue-eyed and pink-eyed albinos.  Cats with Siamese colour restriction always have blue eyes, but the wonderful deep sapphire blue almost always only occurs in pedigree cats where it's selected for over many generations, and the colour is deeper in Seal (black) and chocolate cats than in blues and lilacs.  The Burmese gene is incompletely dominant over the Siamese, so a cat with one of each is Tonkinese colour.

Siamese kittens are born white and the colour gradually fades in from the coldest parts of their bodies - initially the nose, the edge of the ears followed by the tail & paws.

There is also a white spotting gene.  Cats with two copies tend to have more white than cats with one copy.  This is always expressed.  It leads to your typical black & white pattern.  Birmans may have a specific white gloving gene which is different to this one and least to their having those lovely white feet.  I'm not clear (and maybe the cat fancy isn't clear) if this is white spotting with great poly-gene control or a different gene.

Finally there is a dominant white gene.  A cat with one copy of this will be white all over, and the kittens sometimes have a mark of the underlying colour on their head.  Some of these cats are deaf, especially where they have a blue eye or eyes.

Sorry cannot help with tabby pattern genetics but I'm sure someone else can.

 

[northernglow]

Very minor correction as it should say "black cat could carry chocolate AND/or cinnamon".

 (Got one of those here, black carrying choco & cinnamon).

And short addition to the colorpoint thing: it's a recessive gene. Both parents have to be points or point carriers to produce pointed kittens.

 

[missymotus]

Just quickly as I'm at work, link to Oci genetics
http://www.blackwaterocicats.com/ocicat-genetics.htm

 

[missymotus]

Caramel and Apricot are the result of the Dilute Modifier gene on blue/lilac/fawn, and on cream.  This is dominant but the effect can only be seen in a dilute cat, so it can lie hidden for a long time in black / chocolate / cinnamon cats.

There is also controversy over whether the DM gene actually exists, it cannot be tested for and many say colours like a  blue based caramel is just a bad blue. Caramels don't exist in my breed so I only know what a friend who breeds Siamese and Orientals has told me. 

Genetics are genetics, it doesn't matter the breed certain colours mated to certain colours can only have a set outcome. Some colours don't exist in some breeds, such as we don't have red (and therefore Tortie) in Ocicats. Some breeds allow all colours and patterns, sometimes breeders of those cats will choose a certain colour or pattern to work with. 

Since you mentioned Ocicats, along with the link above on genetics, this is a chart showing which combinations produce which colour kittens

http://catiators.ocicat.com/Ocicolorchart.htm  Doesn't include silver, but you simply add silver to each combination  One parent must be a silver to get silver kittens.

My next litter is a blue spotted carrying cinnamon girl to a chocolate spotted silver carrying dilute male.  

Blue is the dilute of Tawny, so can produce tawny (black) spotted and blue spotted kittens. With the male being silver we can add black spotted silver and blue spotted silver.

Male being chocolate adds in chocolate spotted and chocolate spotted silver kittens. Along with their dilute lilac spotted and lilac spotted silver. 

So there are 8 possible colour combinations from that mating. 

 

[orientalslave]

Very minor correction as it should say "black cat could carry chocolate AND/or cinnamon".

 (Got one of those here, black carrying choco & cinnamon).

And short addition to the colorpoint thing: it's a recessive gene. Both parents have to be points or point carriers to produce pointed kittens.

How can a black cat carry chocolate and cinnamon?  It only has two genes for base colour. 

If you mate a black cat carrying cinnamon to a chocolate cat carrying cinnamon you can get all three colours.  The chocolate gets it's colour from the chocolate parent, and cinnamon from the black parent so it's chocolate carrying cinnamon.

 

[orientalslave]

Caramel & apricot cats are now championship status in GCCF in the UK, and they are clearly a different colour to blue / lilac / fawn to *somthing* is going on.  I suspect in time Dm will get added to the list of colour gene tests.

Orientals in the UK come in just about every colour and pattern except for Burmese & Siamese colour restrictions.  They even come with white now, but when my future breeding queen is old enough and big enough she is going to a self stud.  Breeders don't usually mix tabby & self cats as with tabbies you want well-defined patterns, wherease in self cats you are breeding away from ghost markings and the two aims are contradictory.

 

[missymotus]

Caramel & apricot cats are now championship status in GCCF in the UK, and they are clearly a different colour to blue / lilac / fawn to *somthing* is going on.  I suspect in time Dm will get added to the list of colour gene tests.

Having only seen one lilac based caramel I can't comment on the differences.

Caramel is recognised here and the standard reads "Point colour: Cold, bluish fawn with a slight metallic overtone" Apricot also accepted.

 

[aliencat]

Ok, so this is what I understand so far about the basics.

Black with one dilute is blue, 2 dilute genes caramel?
Chocolate one dilute is lilac, 2 dilute genes...?
Cinnamon one dilute fawn (is this also called lavender?) 2 dilute genes...?

As pointed is recessive, a cat must have 2 copies of the gene to express the pointed colour. This can be passed on if two self cats with 1 copy of the gene mate.

A cat with one or two agouti genes is tabby (any of the different patterns). 2 non agouti is self.

Your regular joe bloggs tabby, browny grey colour with dark stripes is actually black. This is tawny in Ocicats.

You've got your striped tabby (mackeral), classic (long blotches with a kind of bullseye pattern), spotted (Ocicat) and ticked (Abysinnian).

Chinchilla, smoke, shaded silver are all in the same group, just with different amounts of tipping.

Still a bit confused about X's, and the red gene.

Has anybody got pics of Cinnamon, caramel, fawn (not on an Aby), lilac?

 

[missymotus]

And Cinnamon

View media item 138977

 

[orientalslave]

Ok, so this is what I understand so far about the basics.
Black with one dilute is blue, 2 dilute genes caramel?
Chocolate one dilute is lilac, 2 dilute genes...?
Cinnamon one dilute fawn (is this also called lavender?) 2 dilute genes...?

Some nice photos of a very handsome cinnamon Oriental stud here:

http://www.mullsisiamese.co.uk/show-news.html

(not my cat, not my photos, I hope to see him in person in a couple of weeks)

 

[aliencat]

Thanks for that! I'm fairly sure I get the general gist of the basics.

Now... How do mink and Burmese come about? How do they look different?

 

[orientalslave]

Mink appears to be the US name for tonkinese colour restriction - a cat with one gene for Burmese colour restriction and another for Siamese.  If that is the case then the body will be a bit paler than the same colour in Burmese, and the eye colour is different - ideally aqua for pedigree Tonkinese.

 

[northernglow]

How can a black cat carry chocolate and cinnamon?  It only has two genes for base colour. 

If you mate a black cat carrying cinnamon to a chocolate cat carrying cinnamon you can get all three colours.  The chocolate gets it's colour from the chocolate parent, and cinnamon from the black parent so it's chocolate carrying cinnamon.

I've had her DNA-tested, I'll try to find the paper somewhere to give you the genetic code for her color.

*edit* She's "B/bl Full color, carrying brown and cinnamon". Her father is black, mother is chocolate carrying cinnamon. (All silver colorpoints).

If I should think the sample was contaminated (I did take it myself so it is possible), the options would be black, very tiny possibility to chocolate get mixed in. None of my others are cinnamon carriers, Tomu might carry chocolate but he hasn't been tested. I had the lilac point at that time but he was staying at my friend's place.

*another edit* She was just mated with a chocolate silver spotted stud, but we will very likely have to try again. But maybe the results from that mating can give more info about this.

 

[orientalslave]

B/bl is black (or blue if the cat is dilute) carrying cinnamon.  I think there must be some sort of typo in the description but you can see only two genes in B/bl. 

Mated with b/bl (chocolate carrying cinnamon) you will get (on average) 1/2 black carrying chocolate or cinnamon, 1/4 chocolate carrying cinnamon and 1/4 cinnamon.

 

[northernglow]

B/bl is black (or blue if the cat is dilute) carrying cinnamon.  I think there must be some sort of typo in the description but you can see only two genes in B/bl. 

Mated with b/bl (chocolate carrying cinnamon) you will get (on average) 1/2 black carrying chocolate or cinnamon, 1/4 chocolate carrying cinnamon and 1/4 cinnamon.

I thought so too, but assumed they wouldn't do a mistake like that (uc davis). She's black(seal) herself.

*typo fixed*

 

[missymotus]

I thought so too, but assumed they wouldn't do mistake like that (ucl davis). She's black(seal) herself.

Not one I've come across either, but also haven't tested for that combination. I use UC Davis too, wouldn't think they'd make a mistake like that.

 

[orientalslave]

Would 'brown' be another word for 'cinnamon' rather than 'chocolate'?

 

[northernglow]

Chinchilla, smoke, shaded silver are all in the same group, just with different amounts of tipping.

No, smoke is non-agouti, the others are agoutis.

Would 'brown' be another word for 'cinnamon' rather than 'chocolate'?

No, in their terms brown = chocolate.

 

[missymotus]

No, in their terms brown = chocolate.

Not sure about that since choc is different to brown

Will have to pull out my tawny reports when I get home