# Albinism and blue eyes?



## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

Tucker is 8 weeks, and a lynx seal point or something similar. Now I thought all cats with albinism, even partial albinism, had blue eyes. Tucker's appear to be turning golden almost. And now I am very confused.


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Do you have a picture of Tucker? Maybe he isn't point colored at all?


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## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

Metoo is the inspiration for this post. Lol he looks very similar to her only with stripes in his points. His white bits are more like a light grey. I don't know how to get pictures off my new phone so unfortunately I do not have recent pics, though mink/Burmese colored cats have blue eyes too, as it is another form of albinism, or so i thought... 0.o


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## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

And btw I am a huge metoo and meatball fan. Your kitties are stunning.


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for the compliments Pixall! My cats are very happy to hear that 

From your description Tucker could be a blue lynx point. But color point cats must have blue eyes. I don't think there are exceptions. Could it be that he is actually a blue (or maybe sliver) shaded tabby? If the stripes on the points are very faint, then it could be less and less visiable when he grows up, then he will be a blue cat. Or maybe when he ages, the strip on his body will start showing.

Anyway, a picture will be great. But Tucker is still too young to tell the true color. For some kittens the baby fur is quite different than the real one. So you should be able to tell his true color around 5-6 month old


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## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

I'll see what I can do about getting a pic up later tonight. I'm on my phone ATM so forgive the short reply


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## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

As far as I know, the only albino coloring is white with red nose/eyes/skin.
If animals are all white, BUT have dark features like a black nose and blue eyes, it's technically leucism. White tigers are a good example.

Wikipedia short/basic description

Google search - leucism


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## spotty cats (Sep 23, 2011)

Definitely need a photo, pointed cats are usually blue eyed.


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

It's possible he isn't colorpoint but mink. I'm ruling sepia out since sepia shouldn't even resemble colorpoint. The "perfect" mink has aqua eyes, but few ones are perfect and they can have golden eyes! We have an example here in Sweden. A lynx mink (by DNA-test) Devon Rex with golden eyes.


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## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

Taken on black friday(?) So decently recent. He was exploring my mom's car. :3 He is a great little traveler.


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

It's a bit hard to tell the eye color due to the reflections in the eyes, but he may very well be a natural mink and then he might develop at least almost golden eyes.


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

I have a particular fondness for cats of Tucker's coloration  4 YO Franklin, on the left in my avatar, is a seal lynx point Balinese. His eyes are blue. SO are Franny's who is a 5 1/2 YO seal point Balinese.


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## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

OMG, kwarendorf, I LOVE your siggy. :3

So the verdict is still out on what color he is/his eyes will be?


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## kwarendorf (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm still unmarried, but at 52 they've given up poking 

As to Tucker's eyes, unless you know his blood lines I think all bets are off.


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## swimkris (Jul 17, 2010)

This might help; I tried to underline the more pertinent parts? (Can't post the link because it looks like it is a forum):

*Color Point and Albino*

Color Point dilutions and Albino are the result of mutations at the "C" locus that codes for the enzyme Tyrosinase. There are currently four known alleles of the C locus in cats *C*, *cs*, *cb*, and *c*, with *c* being the most recessive and *C* being dominant. If the dominant allele *C* is present no dilution will express. The color point mutations are *cs* and *cb*. These two mutations restrict the expression of the tyrosinase enzyme (and therefore color) to the points where body temperature is lower ie the outer extremities. They will provide some level of dilution with *cs**cs* being the most diluted and *cb**cb* being the least. The *cs**cs* cat is called Siamese, with the name being taken from the breed that first made the coloration popular. A cat that is *cb**cb* is called Burmese or Sepia and will have much darker coloration. If both dilution alleles are present (*cs**cb*), the resultant color is between the two dilutions. These in-between cats are called Mink. Kittens with a color point dilutions are born a uniform color (because of the uniform temperature of the womb) with the points darkening as the kitten ages. The points will be the color or nearly the color the cat would have been without the color point dilution and can be of any color that otherwise occurs in cats. This can include, but is not limited to black, blue, chocolate, and Orange. Cats that are *cs**cs* will generally have blue eyes while cats that are *cs**cb* will generally have aqua eyes. Cats that are *cb**cb* will generally have eyes that are golden or green. Albino is caused by the most recessive *"C" allele*. Cats that are *cc* will be albino while cats that are *csc* or *cbc* will express the respective color point mutation. Since true albino is the most recessive of the four alleles, it will only express when the cat or kitten is homozygous for the *c allele*.  The *cc* cat is a true albino in that it lacks pigment or melanin. The lack of pigment results in an animal that is pure white with pink skin and very pale blue eyes that often have a pinkish hue.

Like the others mentioned, it is still probably too early to know his final color. Most likely he will darken though.


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## swimkris (Jul 17, 2010)

this was the mink example:









'Sepia' examples:


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## Pixall (Oct 18, 2011)

Yeah, he definitely looks more Mink than Sepia. /shrug. No matter what color his eyes turn out, he is still going to be on handsome kitty, so I am happy. (Oh, and there is also the small matter of love, LOL)


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