# Domestic Medium Hair



## Jet Green

I know that Domestic Medium Hair is a descriptive term given to moggies, not a breed. But I'm curious to know if, genetically speaking, there is really such a thing as medium-length hair. 

From what little I know about cat genetics (and it is _very_ little), there is a gene that is either shorthair (dominant) or longhair (recessive), and the cat should be one or the other. So where does medium come in? Are DMHs really just DSHs with slightly longer-than-average hair?

Also, is it possible for a cat to look long-haired as a kitten, but more like a DSH or DMH as they grow older? Thanks for any info.


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## marie73

My twins are supposedly DMH's. Their hair seems super-long to me in some places, not so long in others. Whereas Cleo and Cinderella are definitely DLHs.

ETA: I've been looking back at their pictures, and I think I'd say they *are *long-haired. Their britches are very long and so is their ruff and stomach hair that hangs down.


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## doodlebug

Cat do only have 2 genes for hair length, one for short hair one for long. The short haired gene is dominant. I suspect that the description of medium haired is only used to more accurately describe actual hair length as it's not a genetics term. 

I would also suspect that cats with medium hair have one of each gene, it would technically a short haired cat that has extra length due to the recessive long haired gene. As opposed to genetically long haired cat coming up with shorter length, there would be no reason for it, as the cat doesn't have a short haired gene.


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## my5kitties

doodlebug said:


> Cat do only have 2 genes for hair length, one for short hair one for long. The short haired gene is dominant. I suspect that the description of medium haired is only used to more accurately describe actual hair length as it's not a genetics term.
> 
> I would also suspect that cats with medium hair have one of each gene, it would technically a short haired cat that has extra length due to the recessive long haired gene. As opposed to genetically long haired cat coming up with shorter length, there would be no reason for it, as the cat doesn't have a short haired gene.


That makes sense. My daughter suspects that Star and Lucky's father was a gray and white DLH, who had markings similar to Star. Star is a DSH, where Lucky's fur is longer, but not nearly as long as a DLH.


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## Jet Green

Thanks for the replies! Some people describe our indoor cats as DMHs, but I still think that they are DSHs with slightly longer hair. 

Here is a good example picture of Taro:


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## my5kitties

Jet Green said:


> Here is a good example picture of Taro:


Lucky's fur is longer than Taro's but still shorter than your average DLH.


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## Heidi n Q

I measured the fur on my various cats and found that the DSHs were all right at 1" in length. The DMHs were at 2" and the DLHs were 3", though Shasta had some hair (ruff and behind elbows) that was 5" in length. It also looks like Floof will have similar hair to Shasta's, long at the ruff, tail, elbows/belly and 'pants' (behind the legs).


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## Bethany

This gives me the opportunity to ask a question. Often when I tell people Misty and Stormy are sisters they're surprised because their coats are so different. I usually tell people that Misty and Stormy are definitely littermates, but that they might only be half-sisters.

But my understanding of genetics was always that the difference between Misty and Stormy's coats was really only 2 genes worth: the gene for dilution and the gene for long fur. It seems perfectly possible that they're full sisters to me.

I've been told I'm wrong about this but I'm not sure the person who told me so really knows what they're talking about.

I'm just curious if I'm right.

(I realize it's impossible to know whether Misty and Stormy are full or half sisters, but I find it entertaining to speculate. I rather lean towards "full" myself, since they both weigh almost exactly the same amount -- which is apparently almost twice what their mother weighed.)


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## Heidi n Q

It could be either.

I think, in the past, when there were litters of kittens who didn't resemble each other exactly with their markings and colorings it was believed they had different sires. However, in seeing most cat colonies AND small pockets of ferals, I really feel it is the dominant male cat who usually wins the breeding rights to the available females and it is more probable (IMO) that the litters all have the same sire.

Your two, black short hair and gray long hair most certainly CAN be full sisters and most probably ARE full sisters. All this (_their different color and hair length_) means is their parents were heterozygous for the traits of short/long hair and dilute, and the genes each cat received from their parents dictated how they turned out color and hair length -wise.


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## RachandNito

Ok, so I have been wondering about the same-sire thing for a while now. My friend's cat had kittens a couple years ago and this is what she had:

Eunice: Black short hair mother + the following possible fathers:

Orange tabby dad (long hair)
Color point dad, off-white with darker gray/brown points (medium/short hair)
Black dad (short hair)
Gray and white dad (short hair)

The kittens were:
1 full black kitten, short hair
1 full gray kitten, short hair
1 full gray kitten, long hair
1 light cream kitten with gray points, short hair [almost positive that the color point is this one's dad]

So who is the father? Possibly more than one? Eunice was known to flirt with all of these cats. Fortunately, Eunice, the color point, and the orange were all caught and de-sexed after the incident. The gray male, and the black male were strays who far too skittish to be caught.


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