Dilution
Ok keep in mind, the basic colors are still black and red.
Dilution is a trait that "bleaches" the color so that black turns blue and red becomes cream (just for fun we might call it the chlorine-gene because it is easier to think about bleaching in conjunction with chlorine right).
In order for a cat to be diluted, dilution must be inherited from both sides, the cat must, therefore, have a double set of the dilution gene for it to be visible dilution.
Dilution is recessive and can be carried for many, many generations without appearing. For simplicity, we use the genetic designation diluted instead of using the names for the colors ie. blue and cream.
Normal color, not carrier of dilution = DD
Normal color and carrier of dilution = Dd
Diluted = dd
|
D/D |
The cat is not diluted nor carries the dilution trait, no offspring after this cat will be diluted but they will become carriers if the other party is diluted or might be if the other part is a carrier of dilution. |
|
D/d |
The cat is not diluted but carries the trait and can give diluted offspring with a diluted cat or another carrier. |
|
d/d |
The cat is diluted and, together with another diluted cat, will not give anything but diluted offsprings, although if the other cat is not a carrier, all offspring will become carriers, no offsprings will be diluted themselves. With a normal colored carrier, the offsprings can be diluted or normal color. |
When trying to find out whether a cat is red or cream, you can not look at how bright the cat is, especially if it's silver involved. The difference between a red and cream is not the brightness but the shade. A red cat goes against orange, a warm color, while a cream goes against the blue side and has a dirty tone, like beige (sand). Most often, it is easier to see when the cat is newborn before, for example, silver began to break up properly.
|
Below is a litter with three red and a cream, you clearly see the cold sandy color in the fur, while the red ones have a more orange warm color. |
|
|
Below is the difference between a Cream tabby and a Red Tabby. Here you can also see how incredibly difficult it can be to really see if a Red / Cream is patterned or not.
Maya (the cream-colored one) Looks non-agouti if you look at the edges of the ears, around the mouth and eyes., But she did get agouti-kittens mated with a non-agouti male. So we do know she is in fact agouti. Photos can also fool the eye a whole lot so trying to determine on color on photos can really be a challenge. Krafla to the right has very clear white agouti markings, but due to the light on this photo, they do not look very clear at all! She just looks vividly lighter around her eyes, in the ears, and around her mouth.
|
|
|
|
Gimlets Himalaya - Cream classic tabby |
Mittklättens Krafla - Red classic tabby |
|
|
|
|
Dagdrivarn Kelmaa - Blacktortie classic tabby |
Dagdrivarn Trance Gemini - Bluetortie classic tabby |
Some examples of the inheritance of dilution:
Below are examples of two diluted parents, so both mom and dad are blue or cream.
As we see from the table, all offspring will be diluted as both mother and father have a double set of the dilution trait, anything else is not possible.
|
Father |
Father |
|
|
Mother |
dd |
dd |
|
Mother |
dd |
dd |
Hereinafter we have instead of the example where mom is not diluted (black/red) nor carrier of dilution, while daddy is diluted himself, ie blue or cream.
Here we can see that all kittens will be carriers of dilution but no one will actually be diluted itself, so if you have a male or female who is not a carrier, you can mate with blue or cream in infinity, but you will never get any offspring who is blue or cream.
|
Father |
Father |
|
|
Mother |
Dd |
Dd |
|
Mother |
Dd |
Dd |
We take one last example, both parents are full color (red/black) but carries dilution (blue/cream)
|
Father |
Father |
|
|
Mother |
DD |
Dd |
|
Mother |
Dd |
dd |
In the example above, we see that 25% of the kittens will be full-color and will not be dilute carriers (DD). We can see that 50% of the kittens will be full-color but will be carriers of dilution (Dd) and 25% of the kittens will be diluted themselves (dd).
Today we can get a DNA test to see if the cat is a carrier of dilution or not, we can also do a DNA test to learn if the cat is agouti or not, something that can be valuable especially on red and cream. In other cases, we may want to know if the cat is a carrier of non-agouti (solid).
By: Malin Sundqvist
Dagdrivarn (www.dagdrivarn.se)
