Feline Genetics

I see that the last time anyone posted to the Feline Genetics subforum was in 2003.

I am well versed in feline color and health genetics and, if anyone has questions, I will attempt to answer them if possible.

Understanding genetics is an important part of breeding, but it also explains times when the uninformed believe that there may be two or more sires to a feral litter.

Barb Amalfi

Thanks Barb! You know this brings up an interesting question ... CAN a feral litter have more than one sire? How exactly does that work?

~gf~

Everything that I've heard indicates that it is very possible for a feral litter to have more than one sire because cats are induced ovulators. I've also seen multiple tomcats swarming around a female in heat so it definitely stands to reason that more than one could mate her and more than one tom's sperm could produce a kitten.

If I were independently wealthy, I'd love to do genetic tests on a few feral born litters and see what showed up.

Originally Posted by semiferal

If I were independently wealthy, I'd love to do genetic tests on a few feral born litters and see what showed up.

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If I win the lottery, I'll fund your study. *grin* But first I would keep enough back to fund a study on the health anomolies in Siamese cats to identify whether or not there are any bloodlines left on the planet without certain traits. *sigh*

~gf~

Originally Posted by gayef

If I win the lottery, I'll fund your study. *grin* But first I would keep enough back to fund a study on the health anomolies in Siamese cats to identify whether or not there are any bloodlines left on the planet without certain traits. *sigh*

~gf~

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Point taken. I can think of more than a few better things to do with a million bucks as well.

I have a question about the genetic testing. I've seen offers pop up often for it lately (I know UC Davis has a reasonably priced program) but from what I can tell, the test results will not conclusively establish breeds (e.g. my grandma is Scottish, my grandpa is English, etc.)

The real answer may be more genetic knowledge than I can intelligently swallow, but I guess my total question is, if you did blind genetic testing on a cat (whether or not you know its origin/pedigree) will the genetic results actually spell out a breed? Or are the genetics more itemized (such as, most cats from breed x have the y trait, or z coloring...)?

Both my cats are rescued so I have no family tree info, so I was just wondering how conclusive a genetic test would really be. Thanks!

The cat tests seem to show a region the cat was possibly from, going by the email the lab sent breeders a few months ago
Doesn't pin point an actual breed, there are dog tests that name a breed but it's largely unreliable I know a lot of breeders who sent samples in and got results completely different to their pedigree dogs

Majority of cats have no pedigree background anyway