Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I recently had a litter of 3 kittens born, I was expecting just solid seal or blue point kittens, however instead 2 of the kittens developed into a very surprising marbled pattern on their bodies, I've been trying to research however have found very little info, the closest I can find are the snow bengals and the australian mist cats. but there are still some differences, such as my kittens have solid points still (instead of lynx point which the bengals and mist cats have).
I was wondering if anyone might be able to give any input on this? I would very much like to learn more about this.

Thank you,

Courtney Lynn
Blue Rose Kittens

Hi! You may want to go to the Breed section and post on the Siamese board -- you may find others more familiar with this there...
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Hi,

I think these kittens are just displaying a classic tabby pattern---not unusual at all.

I know you want to start something new.........but you are just allowing more mixed breed kittens to be born. I'm sorry, but I don't see the point. The kittens are beautiful, but so are many mixes.

Regards,
PHKitkat

I don't know anything about breeds, but the pattern looks similar to one of Gracie's brothers, shown here on the right. I don't think it is a particularly unusual pattern, although it is not what I normally think of as tabby. Gracie and her brothers were rescued from feral life, so they are very mixed. Your kittens are very handsome! But I agree with PHKitKat, I don't think they are unique in pattern.

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ellen
gracie, voodoo, Puss 'n Boots.... & Willow!

I agree that the pattern in itself is not rare or unique. But, what is unique and what I am trying to find out more about is...are there any cats out there who have tabby patterns AND solid points? these kittens show NO striping on their extremities (including tail), only at the places where their solid points stop do they have tabby markings. Also, as far as I know and have been able to glean from genetic information resources. a tabby kitten can ONLY been born if one of it's parents is tabby also. Tabby kittens are NOT born to solid colored parents because tabby (agouti) is dominate over solid patterns.
So tell me, why did my recessive solid point cats whose parents are all solids as well produce 2 supposedly dominate tabby patterned kittens?
I have been trying to research as extensively as I can in a short period of time other cats whom have similar siamese/snow cloud type colors on tabby patterns. The only places I have found similar is on some bengal cats and australian mist cats, have been entirely unable to locate this same color/pattern combination in any other breed or cross-breed. however, all of the bengal and australian mist cats that have this color/pattern are all lynx points, not solid points. My kittens are definately not lynx points. Neither do my kittens have any australian mist cat or bengal cat heritage.

If someone knows the contact info for a geneticist that is familiar with cat genetics please let me know as I am sending the info on these kitten's background and pictures to geneticists as well for answers.

Thank you, Courtney Lynn
blue rose kittens

Tabby kittens are NOT born to solid colored parents because tabby (agouti) is dominate over solid patterns.
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A cat can appear to be solid, but still carry the tabby gene. It not uncommon for black cats to appear solid, but display a very slight tabby (or tiger) patttern in clear morning sunlight. Or for a white kitten to display a pattern in grey which disappers by adulthood.

Having always heard two blue eyed people can only produce blue eyed children, I was surprised last year to learn that blue eyes can be the result of a blue-blue-green or blue-green-brown gene combo. So if my husband and I were both of the latter type, we could of had a green or brown eyed child. To add to the confusion, there is a number of grey eyed people in my family - a total wildcard because they have never discovered the location of the gene for this eye color, how it interacts with other gene combos or how it is carried down the generations. The point being, your looking for clear rules for a large number of gene combos here and clear rules may not exist.

Maybe you could find a textbook online for college level genetics for an animal science class? Breeding is still an art based on chances and percentages. While it might not help you unravel this mystery, the stronger background might help you evaluate future matings to avoid unwanted "surprises"

Purrs,
Elizabeth

Many snow bengal babies look just like your kittens. In fact the "snow" variety of the bengal arose from breeding bengals (or earlier generation hybrids) with siamese cats. The pattern you are describing is called 'marbled/classic tabby' by the way, and it is not rare.
A friend of mine has some cats, whose mom is a traditional siamese, with this same pattern, namely, the tabby AND defined points. One of the boys also happens to weigh in at 20+ pounds (not fat, just a very big cat), which make the 6 pounder mom look like a kitten.
I actually have seen calico cats that happen to have points (so one of the parents was a siamese/siamese point carrying). They look really funny with all the colors mixed in both solid and tabby patterns throughout the fur.

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Bob Daisy Emily