What affects us affects cats
The blue-cream cat coat is a dilute version of the black-red cat coat which describes the tortoiseshell coat so the blue-cream coat is a dilute tortoiseshell. Blue is a dilute black. It is blue-grey. Grey cats are called ‘blue cats’ by the cat fancy as you probably know in recognition of the slight blue …
My book on cat genetics (Robinson’s) tells me that there are three kinds of white spotting. Actually, it includes the all-white cat within cats described as having white spotting but, in this article, I will describe the following three types, (a) piebald spotting (b) gloving and (c) brisket spots and lockets. The pure white …
The title sounds unfair and biased but it isn’t as it is based in biological fact. The prevalence of deafness in pure white domestic cats varies depending on whether they have two blue eyes (the highest proportion of deaf cats), odd-eye colour or non-blue eyes (least likely to be deaf in both ears). Where …
You know that in the cat fancy grey cats are called blue cats. The best known is the ‘Blue British Shorthair’. This is a grey-furred cat. Grey fur is caused by the presence of the dilution gene. It causes the melanin pigment clumps in each hair strand to be dispersed with gaps as shown …
For me cat DNA and genetics is all about cat breeding. Do cat breeders, even those registered with cat associations, have a good knowledge of genetics? They should have because artificial selection as opposed to natural selection (think Charles Darwin) is nearly always inbreeding to fix the recessive gene that makes some purebred cats …
As you might well imagine, the reason why tortoiseshell cats are nearly always female is to do with the genetics and how the genes that dictate the coat colour and pattern are linked to the sex of the cat. Female mammals have 2 X chromosomes while males have one X and one Y chromosome. …
We see the word ‘agouti’ used a lot in the world of cats, particularly the world of cat breeders. This is because it is a word that indirectly refers to a very common type of coat; those with the tabby pattern. These are ticked, classic (blotched), striped (mackerel) and spotted. In the cat world …
It’s a point worth making. Domestic cats with 4 ears have 2 functioning ears. The extra pair, which are smaller than the original functioning ears, are, in fact, a pair of ear flaps (pinnae). They are appendages and no more. There are no ear canals that go from them into the skull to the …
