Good morning. Today, we were all talking about this and I said I didnt understand why we have different color fur and if that made a difference in our lives? Gabby, then gathered us around and started to explain about something called genetics. It seems that 7 genes control our colors and patterns. B. The Black gene. Black vs. Non-Black The B gene controls the production of , the pigment that makes a cat’s fur black. It comes in three alleles or types. The B allele which produces black fur, is dominant, meaning a cat only needs to get a B allele from one parent in order to be black. That explains why there are so many black cats (like Fancy). Two other recessive alleles of the B gene, b and b’, produce chocolate and cinnamon coat colors. A: Agouti vs. non-agouti This gene controls the coat’s “ticking,” or banding of colors on a cat’s fur. The dominant allele, A, produces banded furs which help to create the tabby pattern. The recessive allele, a, makes the cat’s fur a solid color from tip to root. T: Tabby vs. non-tabby If a cat inherited the A allele, the T gene determines what kind of tabby pattern will be produced. The dominant allele, T, produces the mackerel or striped tabby coat; the Ta allele produces an all-agouti tabby like the Abyssinian; and the recessive tb allele produces the classic, or blotched, tabby. D: Dense vs. dilute color The dominant D, or full-pigmented, allele produces cats that are black, brown, or orange. The recessive d allele produces paler colors like gray (known as blue to breeders), tan, or cream. O: Orange vs. non-orange This gene actually can mask other coat colors, including black. Although the o, or non-orange, allele is much more common, if a cat gets the dominant O allele, any other colors will be covered up and the cat will be orange. S: Spots vs. no spots The dominant S allele produces white spotting that masks the cat’s true color in the areas where the spots occur. This produces tuxedo cats, “cow kitties,” and cats with white “lockets” or white boots and mittens. It even produces cats that are entirely white because their fur is just one giant white spot. The recessive s allele is actually the normal expression of this gene; it produces no white fur at all. W: White vs. non-white The W gene is known as a masking gene. That means if the dominant W allele is present, the cat will be white, no matter what the other coat color and pattern alleles say. The recessive w allele produces full expression of any of the other color traits. But how can you tell a white cat with the dominant W allele from a white cat with an S allele that created a giant white spot? A white cat with the W allele has pale blue or orange eyes, whereas a white cat that is white because of the S allele will have green or yellow eyes. Okay, if anyone but Gabby understood this, it might be interesting, but we really wanted to know if all this gobblygook had anything to do with humans liking and adopting us. A study done at the University of California in Berkeley discovered that just like humans, domestic cats are often judged by their color. The study was interested in the link between how cat color influences adoption rates. They surveyed 189 people with experience of cats as pets and found that they were more likely to assign positive personality traits to orange cats and less favorable ones to white and tortoiseshell ones. Orange cats were largely regarded as friendly, white cats as aloof and tortoiseshell cats as intolerant. While most people surveyed said personality informs their decision about which cat to adopt, the characteristics they ascribed to cats based on their coat color indicated that color consciously or unconsciously played a key role in their final choice of which kitty to take home. Overall, orange cats and bi-colored cats were characterized as friendly, while black cats, white cats and tri-colored cats were regarded as more antisocial. White cats were considered to be more shy, lazy and calm, while tortoiseshell cats were more likely to be depicted as both more intolerant and more trainable. Black cats were typified as having less extreme character traits, which might contribute to their mysterious reputation. It seems there is no one answer but, when people are faced with a lack of accurate behavioral information about a specific cat, they will revert to making decisions based on their personal perceptions about cats, including the idea that color coat is an indicator of personality. Also, if shelters know that people think white cats are shy and aloof and torties and calicos are unfriendly, they can try to counteract these perceptions by featuring these cats in advertisements and fliers that emphasize their positive personality traits. We were shocked and dismayed. Fancy, has the best sense of humor and gets along with everyone and Cali (who had bleach thrown on her) just loves cats and people and none of us are lazy! To us, this makes no sense, it is like judging a human based on their height, weight, skin and hair color! We know better than that and know that you do too. Fancy, to remind us that the important thing is to laugh, sleep and play has some Thanksgiving jokes for us. Although here are some pictures of very worried cats, so lets make them smile! Why did the farmer run a steamroller over his potato field on Thanksgiving Day? He wanted to raise mashed potatoes. Which November holiday is Dracula’s favorite? Fangs-giving! Fancy, he just cracks me up!
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 13:40:51 +0000
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