Genetics – Page 3 – Michael Broad

Tortie Tomcats

December 15, 2013 by Michael Broad

By Sarah Hartwell (of Messybeast.com) Estimates of the frequency of tortoiseshell and calico tomcats range from 1-in-1000 to 1-in-many-thousands though many are misidentified classic tabby-and-white cats. Contrary to myth, tortoiseshell/calico tomcats are not valuable in financial terms (from here on, I’ll use to term tortie to include tortoiseshell, calico and torbie cats). Though many …

GENETIC CONDITIONS IN PEDIGREE CATS

April 3, 2023November 30, 2013 by Michael Broad

The Siamese cat has the most genetically inherited illnesses

By Sarah Hartwell When cats are bred for appearance, disease-causing genes risk being overlooked until the gene becomes sufficiently widespread that numerous cases of the genetic ailment appear in that breed. There are a number of factors involved: THE FOUNDER EFFECT: if one or more of the foundation cats has a genetic problem, this …

Snow Leopard Genetic Mutation

September 26, 2013September 25, 2013 by Michael Broad

Snow leopards carry a genetic mutation of genes: EGLN1 and EPAS1 that help the cat live at high altitude¹.

[Note: this is a test page to check page load speeds – although it does have real and new information.]

Kathrin Stucki on hybrid cat DNA and cat species evolution

December 19, 2018August 28, 2013 by Michael Broad

Introduction This is a little news story about hybrid cat DNA and cat species evolution. You won’t read it anywhere else. The story comes from Kathrin Stucki, who is a well know figure in the world of cats partly because, with her husband, Martin, she owns and manages A1 Savannahs in Oklahoma. A1 Savannahs …

Audio: Listen to me explain the medical reasons for Grumpy Cat’s face

May 17, 2019August 19, 2013 by Michael Broad

Please click on the audio player immediately below (click the little triangle at the left of the bar below these words) and listen to my explanation for why Grumpy Cat – aka Tardar Sauce – has the facial expression that she has. This is an alternative file type if the player fails: If the …

How do Manx breeders create healthy cats?

July 5, 2013July 5, 2013 by Michael Broad

Managing Manx cat health — Photo by liberalmind1012. I am sure the Manx in this picture is not a pedigree cat.

I am interested in how breeders of the Manx cat are able to create healthy cats. We know that the gene that causes taillessness in the Manx is a nasty gene, which potentially causes severe health problems in living Manx cats and which causes the death of embryos before birth.

Kittens die before birth when they are homozygous for the Manx gene. “Homozygous” means possessing a pair of identical alleles at a place (locus) on the chromosome. The Manx gene is symbolised by the capital letter “M” because It is dominant. The CFA say it is “incomplete dominant”.

At one time breeders were not aware that kittens were dying in the womb. I presume there was no evidence of their existence except that there was a decrease in the average number of young per litter when Manx mated Manx cat, which is when the offspring will be homozygous to the M gene.

Cats With White Moustaches

June 16, 2013June 16, 2013 by Michael Broad

Cats with white moustaches (“mustaches” in American English) are not that rare. These cats do stand out. They have white fur along their whisker pads and then up and around like a fancy, old-fashioned moustache. The white fur is caused by the [weaver_popup_link href=’http://pictures-of-catsorgblog.pictures-of-cats.org/2007/11/piebald-gene-what-does-it-mean.html’ h=’600′ w=’800′]Piebald gene[/weaver_popup_link], also known as the white spotting gene. …

All Cat Breeds Are One Species

May 8, 2013May 8, 2013 by Michael Broad

Although I have said it before a few times, in the light of the recent discussion on the cat breed mashup, I think it is useful to remind ourselves that there are 36 wild cat species¹. Amongst these species, within a group of small cats, is the domestic cat with the scientific name of …

Note: Some older videos on this page were hosted on Vimeo. That account has now been retired, so a few video blocks may appear blank. Thanks for understanding — there’s still plenty of cat content to enjoy!

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