# Kitten's breed?



## PyroQueen (Oct 11, 2009)

I've been wondering about my kitten's breed for a while now. The shelter said DMH, but I believe she looks sort of...different. Haha, or it just may be a owner's view distortion or something. :lol: Here are some pics:


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

The shelter has made a spot on call...DMH aka Cutie Patootie.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Your kitten looks very cute and I bet she has *loads* of purrsonality.
Unfortunately, unless a cat/kitten comes with breeding/registration papers there is NO WAY to be able to claim relationship status with any specific breed, in the absence of obvious characteristics. 

The various genetics in all cat breeds are *out there* in the general cat population. In the early days, "breeds" of cats were often the result of geographical isolation (Persian, Siamese, Russian Blue et cetera) and/or people who traveled and observed these unusual cats and brought them home with them. Carefully selecting cats for breeding, breeding for type, culling and eliminating cats from the breeding gene-pool that did not breed 'true-to-type' ... and in this manner, establishing a recognized breed of cat that consistently reproduced itself.
The flat face of the Persian, the homozygous recessive 'pointed' gene of the Meezer-type cats and the homozygous recessive dense, black base-color and non-agouti of the Blue cats were all genetics that required a limited gene-pool to ensure these characteristics resulted in every litter of kittens.


Your kitten is black-based, and I will guess she is homozygous for Black because if she were heterozygous (_carrying black and red_) she would be a tortoiseshell. She also has homozygous recessive genes for Dense, which means her black base-coat is modified to the paler gray (_blue_) color. All cats are tabby cats, but they require at least one Agouti gene in order for their tabby pattern to be visible in their coat, and because your kitten does not express *obvious* tabby pattern, she is homozygous for non-agouti.


In general, there are Abyssinian, Classic and Mackerel patterns. Mackerel can express in striped, broken striped and spotted forms. 
Abyssinian (ticked) pattern:








Classic (blotched) pattern:















Mackerel (striped) pattern:























Here is an interesting look at tabby patterns:


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## catnip (Aug 19, 2003)

I vote DMH as well. :wink:


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

I actually think she may end up a shorthair. When they're young they have that fluffy coat and often look like they will have a longer coat, but she has no long ear hairs, etc., so I'm voting shorthair. She is GORGEOUS, BTW! Congrats!


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