Which breed does my cat look like?

[jannacamilla]

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• jannacamilla
• Mar 14, 2016

image.jpeg

• jannacamilla
• Mar 14, 2016

Both of my cats are sisters and were adopted together. The mother was Orange and White. The fluffliest cat was the only one who turned out to be fluffy. I was wondering what my furry cat could be because she was nothing like her sisters.

 

[molly92]

Long fur is a recessive gene, meaning there have to be 2 copies of it, one from the mother and one from the father, for a kitten to have long, fluffy fur. If the mother was short-haired like her other kittens, then she had one copy of the short hair gene and one copy of a long haired gene. The father must have at least been a carrier for a long haired gene, like the mother, or had long hair (and 2 copies of the long haired gene) to pass it on to your fluffiest kitty. Her short-haired sisters have at least 1 copy of the short haired gene, maybe both.

Since their mother was orange, she had 2 copies of the red gene (specifically on her X chromosomes). The father would have likely been black, with one X chromosome carrying the black gene (and a Y that does not code for any color). So, all of the female kittens would get an X from their mom (orange) and an X from their dad (black) to give them black and orange spots. The white comes from a separate gene, which they could have inherited from either of their parents.

The fluffiest one is likely a domestic long hair, and the short haired ones would be domestic short hairs, which are the breeds that are given when there's no other clear breed lineage. Their coloring is called calico. They are both gorgeous kitties!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

They are very stunning. :nod: