# Genetics Question... Just for Fun!



## Onyx1250 (May 25, 2015)

My friend's cat has begun having her kittens. Leaving behind all the disapproval at the situation, I have a question based on purest curiosity. The kittens' parents are a male black and grey tabby and a female cream colored cat with medium-brown points. The first two kittens were born jet black. One has a little white tip on its tail, but no stripes, no points, none of that. The kittens look NOTHING like mommy or daddy.

My questions are these...
When it comes to cat genetics, what is dominant and what is recessive? Are solids dominant over patterns? Are any colors dominant over others? I know a fair amount about horse genetics (long story), so I am fairly familiar with genetic basics, but I would assume cats are very different than horses. Anyone have any insight?


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

I've always liked the CFA's genetics page for colors and patterns, especially because it was written in relatively easy-to-understand language.

Basic Feline Genetics


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## Onyx1250 (May 25, 2015)

Thank you!! I looked at that one and it gave me a good basic idea, but didn't tell me which colors were really dominant or which patterns are dominant. Unless I misunderstood!


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## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

The colourpoint gene is definitely recessive, so both parents are carrying that. From the page listed by NebraskaCat, it seems that black is dominant. I've always assumed that tabby was sort of dominant, if only because it's the default coat pattern for cats and everything originated from that.
Keep in mind, too, that kittens in the same litter can have different fathers if the queen encountered more than one tom when she was in heat.


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## Onyx1250 (May 25, 2015)

She only encountered the one tom (her brother), so the kittens definitely both have the same genetics. I've been calling them the twins ^_^


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## SilverSageClev (Sep 21, 2016)

It's always fascinating to me to seek out this kind of thing. My knowledge of cat genetics is basically zero, but I breed parrots and I am constantly delving into the genetics of the different parrot species. I am interested to learn more on the cat side of things.


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

What about a cat that's striped on the back and white underneath? In Robin's case even the consistency of the fur is different. The striped fur is coarser than his soft, pettable white fur! He started with a striped saddle, now his back is a dark striped color.


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## SilverSageClev (Sep 21, 2016)

I have zero idea lol but it sounds very cool!


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## Onyx1250 (May 25, 2015)

I've heard of something called a "chimera gene" in cats, where they can have completely different patterns, fur textures, etc from unique genes from each parent. Usually you see this is patterns, but it can apply to texture too, I'm sure. For example...










https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)


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## SilverSageClev (Sep 21, 2016)

This happens in parrots too; in some cases (I know someone who had one) even with male pattern on one side and female on the other.


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

OO! That cat looks like Lokai.

Isn't it true that, if more than one male mates with a female, all of them can pass their genes to the offspring?


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## Sundown (Aug 11, 2014)

Can a calico give birth to a tortie? I have no clue what the father looked liked. (Someone else's cats, not mine.)


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