Could My Cat Be A Chimera? Snowshoe Siamese?

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AshleySalv

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That's a myth. A half-and-half face, with one side red and one side black, is a normal variation of the tortoiseshell pattern. It is very striking, but it doesn't indicate that the cat is a chimera. Although it is possible for a chimera to have a half-and-half face, most do not; most have random patching on the head and body.

Lots and lots of pictures of chimeras and mosaics here:
CAT CHIMERAS (MALE AND FEMALE)

When to suspect a chimera:
* Impossible combination of colors, patterns or hair lengths. For example, blue patches and black patches, or brown tabby and solid black.
* A male tortoiseshell may be XXY or a chimera.

Yes! Amazing explanation
 

JoyM

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Chimera don’t necessarily have the split-face or have any special markings. Most human chimera never know it until blood DNA doesn’t match the DNA of their child or an organ in their body doesn’t match the DNA of their blood... basically until multiple tests don’t match.
Granted a male calico or a cat with uncommon color patterns could be a sign of chimerism, it can only be confirmed with MULTIPLE DNA tests. For a cat with strange color combinations, I believe DNA through a skin scraping on each of the areas of different coloration would have to be done to see if they match. A simple blood, saliva or cheek cell scraping would only show one of the DNA sets. Finding where the other set of DNA is “hiding” could be difficult.
Male calicos can be the result of an extra X chromosome from 2 sperm fertilizing one egg (not the same as a chimera which is when 2 already fertilized eggs fuse in the womb) or some other type of chromosomal abnormality. As a nurse, I actually had a patient with XXY chromosomes (called Klienfelders syndrome in humans) but he wasn’t a chimera.
With all that said, I do believe chimerism is MUCH MUCH more common in cats than we realize. I just haven’t found any studies to say exactly HOW common they are. If anyone has found a study about this, please send me a link because I am very curious!!
 
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