Kelly McGowan
CAT COAT GENETICS
CAT COAT GENES

Color
 Red
 Black

Pattern

tabby/spotted

Color Density

full color/faded color

Color blocks (white patches)
COAT COLOR

Pigment genes- red dominant, x linked
Dense
Black Based
(eumelanin)
Red Based
(phaeomelanin)
Black
BBrown
Bb
Lt. brown
blbl
O-
Dilute
Black
Blue
Chocolate
Lilac
Cinnamon
Fawn
Red
Cream
COAT COLOR EXAMPLES
B-dd
B-D-
russianblue.info
strangehistory.net
bbdd
bbDpictures-of-cats.org
mysticat.ru
CAT COLOR EXAMPLES
bibiD-
bibidd
animal-photography.com
fotothing.com
O-dd
O-Dk.mcgowan
thehorizonclan.webs.com
COAT PATTERN

Tabbyswirled pattern on cat
seregiontica.org
Mackerelnormal striped tabby pattern

seregiontica.org
Tickedstripes on legs and tail

seregiontica.org

Spotted-
stripes on legs and tail
with “leopard spots” on body
seregiontica.org
COAT COLOR PATTERNING- WHITE SPOTS
Gene for absence of color- spotting factor S
SS- more white
Ss- ventral white
ss- no white4

plasticbubbleworld.blogspot.com
thefullwiki.org
GENE CODES
O-/B-/bb/bibi :
color- red>black>brown>cinnamon
D-/dd:

color: dense>dilute
 SS/Ss/ss:

white coat color- mostly white> ventral white> no white

A-/aa: Agouti


Tabby pattern>no tabby pattern (solid)
Ta-/Tm-/tt
Tabby: ticked>mackerel>classic
OTHER GENES
 There
are also other genes that account for
points, like a Siamese cat- head, feet and tails
darker color
 Mutations that cause long hair
 Some suggest that many of the white genes
are additive
 There are many different names for all of the
cat genes, and some are just suspected
genes…
PEDIGREES
BB/?/ss/Aa/Tm-
?
OB/D-/ss?/Aa/Tm-
B-/D-/ss/aa/-B-/D-/ss/A-/TmOB/D-/ss/A-/Tm-
B-/D-/ss/A-/Tm-
O-/D-/ss/A-/Tm-
PEDIGREES
Black striped tabby
BB/D-/ss/A-/Tmt
?
?/??
Grey tabby with white
BB/D-/SS/A-/Tmt
B-/D-/Ss/A-/Tm-
BB/D-/Ss/A-/tt
BB/D-/ss/A-/Tm-
PEDIGREES
B-/(D-)dd/Ss(ss)/aa/--
?
B-/dd/SS/aa/--
B-/dd/SS/aa/--
B-/dd/Ss/aa/--
B-/dd/SS/aa/--
PEDIGREES
B-/dd/ss/Aa/Tm-
??
Black /tabby and white
B-/D-d/SS*/A-/--
B-/dd/SS/aa/--
B-/D-/Ss/A-/Tm-
Bb/dd/ss/aa/--
B-/dd/SS/aa/--
This does not make any sense in normal
mendelian genetics, becaseu tomcat would
not be possible. I think the mother must be
hetero for S, and be mosltly white because of
other gene affects.
??
B-/D-/SS/aa/--
B-/D-/ss/aa/--
B-/D-/Ss/aa/--
B-/D-/Ss/aa/--
ERRORS
Some sources think the white genes may be
additive, so there may not be a clear cut between
ventral white, <50% and white with spots, >50%
as thought.
 The queens at the main feral colony are all relatedeither sisters or mother/daughter. There are 1-2
white queens with black spots, 1-2 white queens
with grey spots, without knowing that I should have
been looking at striping patterns too, some may be
black tabby…. Which may look grey from afar.

WORKS UNCITED
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Cooper M., Fretwell N., Bailey S., Lyons L. (2005) White spotting in the domestic cat (Felis catus) maps
near KIT on feline chromosome B1, Animal Genetics (37) 163-165.
Grahn R., Lemesch B., Millon L., Matise T., Rogers Q., Morris J., Fretwell N., Bailey S., Batt R., Lyons L.,
(2005) Localizing the X-liked orange color phenotype using feline resource families, Animal Genetics, (36)
67-70.
Kaelin C. Barsh G., (2010) Tabby pattern genetics- a whole new breed of cat, Pigment Cell Melanoma
Res. (23) 514-516.
Ludovic S., Bonhomme F., Desmarais E, Pontier D. (2003) Microspatial Genetic heterogeneity and gene
flow in stray cats (Felis catus L. ): a comparison of coat colour and microsatellite loci, Molecular
Ecology (2003) (12) 1669-1674.
Lyons L., Bailey S., Baysac K., Byrns G., Erdman C., Fretwell N., Froenicke L., Gazlay K., Geary L., Grahn J.,
Grahn R., Karere G., Lipinski M., Rah H., Tuhe M., Bach L. (2006) The Tabby Cat Locus Maps to
Feline9
Chromosome B1, Animal Genetics (37) 383-3986.
Thomas D., Starbuck O., Cat color FAQs: cat color genetics [Internet]. 1994-2004
http://www.fanciers.com/other-faqs/color-genetics.html#intro (uploaded 1 November 2012)
Feline Coat color tests [Internet]. Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, The Regents of the University of
California, 2012.
http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolorcat.php (uploaded 1 November
2012)