Finnish salmiak cat coat colouration

Salmiak cat coat from Finland

The salmiak cat coat is a variation on the tuxedo cat which is essentially a black-and-white (bicolor) cat but predominantly black with white on the chest area. In the salmiak version the black hairs are white at the tip which gives an interesting graded appearance to what would have been black fur – described …

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Sighting of very rare golden tiger in Indian reserve signals inbreeding and poor conservation

Rare mutant golden tiger in the wild in a tiger reserve in Assam, India which signals inbreeding and poor conservation to the point where the species is jeopardised in the wild.

The golden tiger is described as a “mutant” by Sarah Hartwell. They are the result of the “expression of recessive (hidden) genes [which] show up when there is too much inbreeding”. It takes inbreeding for the golden tiger to be created and this individual was spotted in the Assam Kaziranga National Park and Tiger …

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Inbreeding depression cause and effect

Inbreeding depression

“Inbreeding depression” is a euphemism for a general lack of health in an individual purebred cat which has been selectively bred (using artificial selection) for appearance, which automatically incorporates inbreeding. Cat breeders often have to inbreed their purebred cats in order to fix their appearance. This is because the appearance is held on a …

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Domestic cat with no reproductive organs (a world first?)

Hope a rescue cat with no reproductive organs

A domestic cat with no reproductive organs (a world first?) has popped up. This charming cat who looks female has been described as ‘gender neutral’ but reproductive organs are not the sole measure of gender. True or false? The Telegraph have a headline about a “gender-neutral” cat born with “no sexual organs”. I don’t …

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Genuine jet-black panther in a video in a tiger reserve

People are fascinated with the black panther so when you have the opportunity to see a genuine jet-black panther crossing a dusty road in the Pench Tiger Reserve in India it’s worth looking at. This is a melanistic leopard which shares territory with the Bengal tiger in this reserve. Although the leopard will avoid …

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Are brown cats rare?

Chocolate coloured cat

To answer the question, I believe that it is sensible to divide the domestic cat world into two categories: purebred and non-purebred cats (moggies). That’s because there is a distinct difference when answering the question between these two categories. Purebred cats Thanks to selective breeding i.e. artificial selection within the cat fancy, the normally …

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Sri Lankan leopard with unique mutated coat squares up to a sloth bear

Leopard with mutated coat squares up to sloth bear

The very unusual coat of this leopard has not been mentioned in the caption to the video in which it squares up to a sloth bear in a tense confrontation. The footage was captured in Kumana National Park on Sri Lanka’s east coast. Below I present a standard Sri Lankan female leopard and below …

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