Color Genetics - Brown Tortie?

white cat lover

TCS Member
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
This little girl is a brown tortie, for lack of a better way of putting it.

Is it likely she will stay "brown" for life?
How does a "brown tortie" come about?

She's been brown since a kitten, bottle fed by one of our shelter workers.




I know that's not the best pic, as you can't see how "brown" she is....but compare that pic to one of my RB Damita.



We're blaming the brown coloration on her being a naughty/lively little kitten.
 

siggav

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
1,327
Purraise
22
Location
Scotland
I'm not 100% sure on cat colour genetics but isn't she basically a choclate tortie then?

As I understand it anyway, chocolate is a recessive colour that modifies the colours in the cats so that all fur that would normally be black is chocolate instead. It's recessive so both parents need to either carry it or show it.

She's gorgeous, as brown as she is and I doubt you'll have trouble finding someone to adopt a special girl like that


ETA: You can see the chocolate type colour on her nose and paw pads as well. If she's got the recessive chocolate genes like I think she does, she'll stay that colour for life. I think it's a fairly rare mutation in random bred cats so you can really show her off as extra special rare colour!! when she needs to be adopted.
 

epona

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
4,663
Purraise
949
Location
London, England
Chocolate tortie, the brown gene is recessive to the black gene. Chocolate cats are more unusual than black cats because the brown gene is recessive and won't show up unless both parents are either brown or are black but carrying the brown gene. The tortie part works exactly the same as a black tortie, ie. x-inactivation in females (each cell has 2 X chromosomes, one of them in each cell 'dies' and only the genes on the 'live' chromosome work, leaving patches of skin that cannot produce black/brown pigment if the live X chromosome in those particular cells contains the 'red gene') which is random.

The possible variations of tortie include black/red, chocolate/red, cinnamon/red, blue/cream (the dilute of black/red), lilac/cream (the dilute of chocolate/red), and fawn/cream (the dilute of cinnamon/red). The same combinations apply to patched tabbies/torbies. Lilac/cream, cinnamon/red, and fawn/cream tend to only occur in pedigree cats that have been selectively bred for that particular colour, as they involve combinations of recessive genes which means the likelihood of them showing up as a result of a chance mating between moggies is slim.

Radar had a chocolate tortie sister, very pretty colour indeed
 

ferriscat

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
777
Purraise
3
Location
Washington, DC
Wow! What a cool looking cat, I don't think I've ever seen a chocolate tortie in the domestic population.

As I look at her picture, would you mind humoring me and telling me what color her fur is as it gets closer to her skin? It is all solid brown in the chocolate portions? Or does the hair become lighter towards the roots?
 

goldenkitty45

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
19,900
Purraise
44
Location
SW Minnesota
Its possible that its a chocolate tortie (but it would be rare). The pawpads are an off shade of pink. But usually the chocolate color is more milk chocolate color. I'm wondering if its more of a lilac tortie then a chocolate one.

I'm just getting into the Ocicats with their color ranges in chocolate/lilac/fawn colors from the aby/siamese influence. So I'm not too good at determining the rarer colors yet
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

white cat lover

TCS Member
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
I haven't paid much attention to what color her fur is closer to the base of the hair....I *think* it's a darker shade, but don't remember. You try getting a 3 month old kitten to hold still!
 

epona

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
4,663
Purraise
949
Location
London, England
There is no way it is a lilac tortie, far too dark. Lilac is a pale mushroom colour. That is a chocolate tortie.

ETA: Link to photo of a lilac tortie for comparison
 

epona

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
4,663
Purraise
949
Location
London, England
Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Thanks - guess the kitten is a pale chocolate then



But compare to the lavender Ocicat - could it be a shade like that rather then chocolate - the color just is "off" for a chocolate too!

http://catiators.ocicat.com/abtcolors.htm
Hi GK, the thing about lilacs and fawns is that you cannot use a tabby to compare colour to a solid. The combination of different pigments that makes up the solid/banded hair distribution markings of a tabby mean that with the very pale dilutes, the other pigment - even though it is in itself a pale shade - combines with the lilac or fawn to make the darkest parts of the tabby pattern a shade or two darker than a solid would be. This doesn't visibly happen so much with blacks and blues due to the density of the pigment involved. Pale dilute solids are also horribly prone to ghost markings if the base tabby pattern masked by the non-agouti gene is a strong pattern, for the same reason.

I agree the kitten is a pale chocolate - on the show bench and in purebreds we are used to seeing perfect examples of shade for non-black cats as they have been selectively bred for good colour, but every shade in between can and does exist and when a DSH with an unusual colour turns up it would be relatively improbable for it to be the exact shade that would make a judge ooh and ahh - same goes for nose and paw pad colour
 

goldenkitty45

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
19,900
Purraise
44
Location
SW Minnesota
You're probably right. I"m so use to "show" cats and seeing good color that when I see bad - it just looks a little weird to me at times. Glad we can help each other
 

epona

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
4,663
Purraise
949
Location
London, England
Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

You're probably right. I"m so use to "show" cats and seeing good color that when I see bad - it just looks a little weird to me at times. Glad we can help each other
I know what you mean, I have more exposure these days to OSH and photos of OSH than to domestics, and you do get very quickly used to seeing clear colouring and markings. Solid dilutes are still my favourites, but it's a real pig to tell the difference between lilac, fawn, and lilac based caramel unless you see them all sitting together, there isn't honestly a massive difference between the colours, they're all variations on a pale brownish pinkish greyish theme.

As you know I have a bit of a thing about photo comparisons as some colours just do not photograph well - Sonic can come out anything from black to dull muddy brown to pale grey and Jacob can come out pink or beige or silver, depending on the light conditions. Googling images for a good example of a colour is a nightmare!
 
Top