Mostly Black Kitten with Blue Eyes

[kopec]

Hello!

I have a male kitten at my house (5 months old about two weeks ago). He is mostly black with white paws and white on his chin/throat. His eyes are still ice blue and several people have suggested that they will stay this way.

I am just trying to understand the genetics behind how he could have blue eyes. Is this because he has some white on his face? Does this mean one of his parents had blue eyes for it to show up? His siblings eyes have turned amber/green from what I was told. I did not see the parents.

I just am very curious on how eye color is inherited and from what I am reading it seems that maybe pigment did not reach his eyes (am I understanding that correctly?) though his face is mostly black.

Thank you for helping me to understand better :-)

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[PushPurrCatPaws]

Beautiful kitty! I love tuxedo cats. I currently have one about the same age as yours.

Perhaps he has some siamese or birman or similar genes in his family tree. There are several cat breeds that have points. Colorpoint cats usually (always?) have blue eyes.

 

[LotsOfFur]

What a beautiful and unique cat!

 

[StefanZ]

Beautiful kitty! I love tuxedo cats. I currently have one about the same age as yours.

Perhaps he has some siamese or birman or similar genes in his family tree. There are several cat breeds that have points. Colorpoint cats usually (always?) have blue eyes.

True.  But colorpoints have fair, light bodies.  Always, even if they sometimes can darken up with age.

So here, I think he is a natural. Very rare, but it surely must happen.   After all, there are some breeds who are blue eyed.   Eyez Azules  [Ojos Azules],  Turkish Angora can have them, surely some other too...

If the kitten likes people and been watched on, you could perhaps try and participate in cat Shows?   He would manage nicely, as beautiful as he is.

 

[nbrazil]

If his eyes remain blue and he has the demeanor for cat shows (calm in the chaos), I think he would do well. Blue eyes in unpointed cats is quite rare.

I don't know enough about cat genetics to say whether this should be an exception to having him fix and instead breeding him in a controlled manner. Regardless, he is one special boy. Let us know more as he matures into his personality.

Perhaps he could contribute to the ongoing effort to create a stable Ojos Azules breed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojos_Azules

 

[kopec]

Thank you guys. He is very striking. I am not sure when kittens eyes completely stop changing. I have always been a dog person and you can typically tell if you have blue eyed puppies pretty early. Cats seem a bit different.

I posted on a cat breed forum about him potentially carrying a blue eyed gene (not necessarily Ojos Azules gene) and was told he would not be considered an Ojos Azules because bicolor cats can have blue eyes. I am thinking that it is because tuxedo is part solid and part white spotted (again, if I read and understood the articles correctly!). From what I am reading, white spotted gene cats can easily have blue eyes. Also, I was told that Ojos Azules do not have white, they are solid colored. I am still researching that one because I have read several articles that have mentioned white present on Ojos (tail tip and muzzle), and the well-known orange with blue eyes pictured for the Ojos Azules has white on the face.

So basically, I am trying to understand how he has blue eyes because I did have interest in his genetics and I am curious how it differs between bicolors with blue eyes and Ojos Azules.

Sorry for the mouthful! :-) I find it very interesting.

I would like to try and enter him in a show. He has a very outgoing personality at home, though I admit he can be a stinker! He is a bit skittish at first and then is a complete ham. He is a good boy with my kids though, and that is important to me. It will be neat to watch him develop, and also see how his eyes continue to develop. They are an icy blue, very clear and pretty.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

True.  But colorpoints have fair, light bodies.  ...

I wasn't saying this one was a colorpoint, but that it may have had colorpoint genetics in its ancestry.

I know many instances of Siamese cats, for example, having black and white kittens (one parent of the pair, or at least a grandparent of the kitten having been Siamese). And perhaps the blue eyes popped up as a result.

Definitely, though, I have zero expertise.

 

[fostersrule]

Oh his eyes are definitely going to stay blue! Kittens begin losing their baby blues around 6 weeks. They'll stay a bluish color for a bit but you can see the changes. They're generally not really an ice blue either.
They're usually a darker blue that lightens and changes. It is sort of difficult to explain. I've had many a kitten come through my house and watched many eyes change color. My understanding is that some continue changing for a while so a green eyed 4 month old may end up being yellow green at a year old but I definitely have never heard of a blue-eyed 5 month old drastically changing eye color. He's beautiful and oy 1 of 2 dominantly black cats I've seen with blue. The other was solid black 9 week old kitten with 1 blue eye and one golden eye.

 

[bemba]

He is truly striking and very rare! I think when people say Ojos Azules don't/should not have white is really to rule out the blue eyes being caused by white spotting (piebald) so of course you could have a piebald cat that had blue eyes from the Ojos Azules gene, it's just that when you have a cat with zero white and is non pointed it is a safe bet it is Ojos Azules or something completely new. If you bred him to a non piebald cat and some were born with blue eyes and no white then you would be able to say that he indeed is an Ojos Azules! I've read about piebalds commonly having blue eyes but honestly it's much rarer than what it says on the net. I've looked at hundreds of pics of piebald cats and very few of them have blue eyes. I rescued a kitten a few months ago his name is Argo... He is a spotted tabby piebald and has 2 stunning blue eyes.

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• bemba
• Sep 16, 2015