Question About Siamese Appearance And Charastics In Mixed Breed Cats

[lorie d.]

If a Siamese cat mates with a mixed breed DSH will the Siamese genes be dominant or reccesive?(sp?)

Also, if the kittens from this mating are allowed to reproduce and mate with other mixed breed cats, and this same pattern continues through several generations, which genes are dominant?

The reason I'm asking is my cat, Snowball, was born to a Tortie mother whose owners allowed her to randomly produce litters of kittens for a number of years. In each litter, there was always one kitten who looked like a Sealpoint Siamese.

Snowball resembles a Flamepoint, he has blue eyes like a Siamese and is very vocal. He is from a litter of four and had a littermate who looked like a Sealpoint, the two remaining kittens were both solid colored. There is no information about the tom(s) who fathered the litter.

I am mainly wondering which genes are dominent in my cat, and where his resemblance of a Flamepoint Siamese comes from.


Thankyou

 

[elizabeth a.]

Well, part of the problem is that we humans think of color as one thing, but the genes actually see it as a lot of different components.
What do I mean? Well, there are many pairs of genes that decide color, whether it is diluted, etc., etc. Then other genes decide patterns. And other genes decide whether and how the color genes can even be expressed. And that's where the siamese gene comes in. The dominant allele in its "family" says "OK, go ahead, color genes and do your stuff". The siamese gene is recessive to this and says "hold on, you color genes, you can only do your thing in the cooler areas of the body". The burmese allele is in this family too, and the blue-eyed white is a recessive to every one of these. Its message is "sorry, color genes, but stay quiet in this kitty".
So non-siamese cats can carry the siamese gene but not show it.......it only pops up if they mate with a siamese or with another non-siamese carrier.