| KaDoKits Exotics presents... Basic Primer on Whites White cats are gorgeous and white is one of my favorite Exotic colors. That's why I have one....I just had to have one. White cats are a little tricky when using them in a breeding program when white is not your goal. (It's not my goal, I just HAD to have one!) White cats MASK their true color. A white cat is a lot like a person who puts on a long white lab coat that completely covers up their street clothes. Just as you do not know what clothes the person with the lab coat is wearing has on, you don't know what color your white cat is masking. But! There are ways to figure out possibilities. (Anything for certain has to be proven with a DNA test. I do not think there is a color test available yet.) The first clue, is to look at your white cat's pedigree. What are the parent's colors? What color does the white parent(s) mask? The second clue is to see what color of kittens your white cat has. Since color is sex-linked, the father determines the color of the daughters, and the mother determines the color of the sons and the daughters (remember, girls have an X chromosome from EACH parent; boys only have an X chromosome from mom, the Y from dad does not carry a color gene). So... you can take this in reverse, and figure possible color of a white parent based on the color of the boys and girls in the white cat's litter. Not all possibilities will show themselves because you don't know what color the white offspring are masking! Third clue is you can make more guesses based on the color of your white cat's littermates. This gives you clues to the color of the white parents. |
| Let's take a look at my white Exotic's pedigree for clues to her true color... ----------------------------------- GC, Grandaries Tuxedo Sam of Panei 7808-1379719 v0802, May/30/2001 black & white ESH | GC, Panei's Sweet Talking Guy 7702-1424631 v0204, Jun/05/2002, CEW ESH (masking red) | | | Panei's Semi-Sweet, 0103-1404527 v0802 | Apr/05/2001, CEW PER (masking red) | F, CH, Panei's Sweet Marie of KaDoKits, 7705-1554712 Aug/27/2005, OEW ESH | | CH, Panei's Moondrifter, 0102-754295 v0892 | CEW PER (masking red) | | Panei's Ramona, 0105-1324717 v0802, Mar/12/2000 OEW PER (masking tortoiseshell) | CH, Derrboux Natacha of Panei DM 0147-830619 v0894, Nov/01/1992 tortoiseshell PER --------------------------------- Copyright: Pedigrees2020© 1991-2005;//, www.pedigrees2020.com --------------------------------- Since Marie's father is masking RED and her mother is masking TORTOISESHELL, Marie could be masking RED, Cream, TORTOISESHELL, or blue-cream. Since there is a bi-color in her pedigree (her father's father is a black & white), she could also be masking red & white, cream & white, calico, or dilute calico. Only time will tell! |
| One more thing..... White is a dominant gene. This means you only need one white gene to produce a white kitten. Colored kittens from a white parent will never produce white kittens unless bred to a white mate. Also, a cat can be heterozygous for white, meaning it has only one gene for white, or... it can be homozygous for white, meaning it has two genes for white. A heterozygous white (1 white gene, from one parent) can produce white kittens or colored kittens. A homozygous white (2 white genes, one from each parent) will only produce white kittens. Marie may be homozygous for white since both her parents are white. Both of her parents are heterozygous for white since Marie has a tortoiseshell litter sister. =^O.O^= |
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