Color Genes...or why is Miew Orange/Buff?

Right. I think this is the place to ask! Miew is an orange tabby. The coloration of the "lighter" parts (where there are no orangey stripes) is a buff
siamese color to a light sand color. The pale part shimmers - and I believe is ticked or "banded" - going from a white to light buff color in each hair.

The stripes are a rust brown to very
light orangish color but I can't determine if the coloration on the darker parts is solid, or if that area is also "banded", but with darker shades than the buff parts.

So, my question...

What would this pattern indicate about the parents?

Would it mean only the Mom was orange (since sex linked on the X)? And where does the "tabby" part come in? Is that both parents, or again, only Mom that would pass the pattern on?

Lastly, what would make most of her orange parts as light as they are?
(Sort of a very light peach orange almost golden, except on the head, face, paws, stripe down the back and tail rings where it gets a rusty brown/red shade on a slivery buff background.) I have always seen very "orange" stripes in tabbies, with backgrounds that are fairly dark and definitely "orangey".

I've never seen one of this type - with a much lighter background coloration througout the body where the striping is heavy (and where the stripes show up almost in a chocolate red - the areas in question being on the paws, tail and head.)

Is there a gene that controls how dark the orange color will be? I'm just
wondering about her parentage and what the parents may have looked like.

And is short fur lenght a recessive or dominant gene? (Since the shortness of her coat approaches the shortness of the pure breed Siamese cats I've known in my life. That is to say, the fur on her is shorter than short and seems to be of one layer only - no longer guard style hairs like my other DSH
cats!)

I've been reading up on it, and it is pretty complicated. I figured breeders would understand the whole coat and pattern thingy, and be able to explain it better.

Any clarification would be great. Since I've also got a new litter of blue tabby and possibly torbie kittens, if I understand the principles on tabby coats and colors I might be able to work out WHO the Daddy cat was. (Since I know what Mommy looks like...)

In any color you will have shade variations from light to dark. In pedigrees the darker the better. If you have a female red (orange) tabby that means that the father is a red tabby and the mother is either a tortie/calico or a red tabby too.

Since color is on the X chromosone, then you have to have both parents carrying that color.

As far as shading, usually the color of the parents will be pretty much the shade of the offspring. That's why in pedgrees you would want to breed the darker shades together to increase the chances of a better color.

In blues, its the paler blue color that is wanted over the darker shade.

I've had in one litter 3 red tabbies - light, medium and rich dark classic.

Thank you Golden Kitty! I used to think orange tabbies only *came*
in male! Now I know why. I bet Miew had a mother that was tortie,
and a father that carried the Orange gene somewhere.

Whatever her parentage.. she is georgeous coloring. I wouldn't
mind breeding her (but don't worry, she's fixed!) Now, if I could be
sure I'd get more like her, LOL! Same for my beautiful, beautiful
ole Diablo,

He arrived at the pet store in a litter of otherwise Himalyan looking
seal point kittens. He was the only black one... the runt. And
he grew into a cat that was so beautiful that I was always asked
what breed he was, and when was I going to breed him, LOL!

(Probably some Siamese/Burmese or Himmie in him along with
a dose of DSH) He truely is a great cat.

But who knows what genes he's carrying? That's why breeding
cats must be so tricky - you aren't ALWAYS certain what you
are going to get, LOL!

I did breed one of the most stricking red classic tabby rexes I've seen. Even the judges were very impressed with his color - it was deep red and pattern was clear (hard to get that with the waves of a rex )

The only other stricking red classic was a HHP that I almost got to adopt - he also had white feet and chest. He'd have won top awards if I had him