What's Your Opinion On His Coat Color?

[KatsPurrrsians]

I'm curious as to what you all would call his coat color. It's changed a lot since he was little and I'd love to know your thoughts. He was past due for the groomers appointment when I took these (as you can tell) and when he got his lions cut shortly after photos, to my dismay he was solid white underneath (because as a kitten he looked like a silver tabby).

 

[abyeb]

Blue smoke maybe?

 

[mightyboosh]

The official name for that colour is....gorgeous.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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He appears to be a Blue Shaded Persian. posiepurrs ?
.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Thank you for your kind words & input! He's a sweetheart. His tabby lines have all but disappeared. His brother was a van smoke (not sure that's the correct terminology) but he was much lighter in color than his brother and had faded tabby lines as a kitten. I just adore the smokes, shades and shells so I was very happy to see his coat develop into this banded version with the white undercoat.

 

[posiepurrs]

I can't really tell on my phone- have to wait until I get to my computer, but a lot would depend on eye color. Honestly from what I see on my phone he looks like a blue Persian.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Thank you for your reply posiepurrs ! I know what you mean with the phone pics not showing detail. I'll upload some more pics that show his coat more clearly also. I'm looking forward to your response whenever you're near your computer and it's convenient .

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Above is a pic of my blue persian girl ! She's my crazy cat! Lol


I don't know if this shows his coat any better than the others, but he's actually got solid black banding about half way down the hair shaft and his under coat is white. He does look blue in color at times though. He's got copper colored eye, I'm not sure if you can see that in the pics.

 

[posiepurrs]

What color are his parents? To me visually he looks like a silver tabby and white now that I am on my computer BUT he has the incorrect nose leather color for a silver tabby (should be brick red). I see tabby marking on his foreleg and I see white leg and foot. Most of his tabby markings are very indistinct and would be questioned in the show ring, as would the color of the nose. I could be wrong, which is why I asked the color of his parents.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

What color are his parents? To me visually he looks like a silver tabby and white now that I am on my computer BUT he has the incorrect nose leather color for a silver tabby (should be brick red). I see tabby marking on his foreleg and I see white leg and foot. Most of his tabby markings are very indistinct and would be questioned in the show ring, as would the color of the nose. I could be wrong, which is why I asked the color of his parents.

His mom is a seal point Himalayan and dad is a cream & van persian. I thought it was peculiar that his litter mate was a smoke colored since neither of the parents are. I can't see his dads tabby lines at all, but I know all red cats are essentially tabbys so I'm assuming that's where his tabby came in? Would that be a correct assumption? His nose is definitely not full brick red, but as he's gotten older it has a deep red color right in the center. It's virtually impossible to see in those pics though. You might could zoom in and vaguely see it in that last photo. I know my boy isn't show quality , but that's ok, he's my baby and he's very special to me, regardless . I was more or less just curious as to what you pros would call his coloring since it's changed so much from kittenhood. Thank you all for taking the time out to respond ! I know you're a busy woman posiepurrs !


Sorry for all the edits & updates

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

His mom is a seal point Himalayan and dad is a cream & van persian. I thought it was peculiar that his litter mate was a smoke colored since neither of the parents are. I can't see his dads tabby lines at all, but I know all red cats are essentially tabbys so I'm assuming that's where his tabby came in at? Would that be a correct assumption?

Nope; the short answer is that male kittens always obtain both color genes from the queen. The long answer is long, and generally ends in defending a dissertation.
.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Nope; the short answer is that male kittens always obtain both color genes from the queen. The long answer is long, and generally ends in defending a dissertation.
.

Now that you say this, it is coming back to me. This is interesting to me...I could ask questions all day long-- but I won't torture you all with that . So as far as patterns go, only one parent needs to be tabby in order to pass that down?

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

Now that you say this, it is coming back to me. This is interesting to me...I could ask questions all day long-- but I won't torture you all with that . So as far as patterns go, only one parent needs to be tabby in order to pass that down?

"Tabby" must be expressed in at least one Parent for the progeny to be tabbies, yep, and the same holds true for any dominant allele of any gene - if it's not expressed by at least one Parent, it won't be expressed in the next generation. That said, all cats are tabbies, that is, they all carry the gene itself - from solid selfs to Siamese - but unless it's expressed in the F generation, it won't be expressed in the F¹ generation without a catastrophic mutation occurring.
.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

That said, all cats are tabbies, that is, they all carry the gene itself - from solid selfs to Siamese - but unless it's expressed in the F generation, it won't be expressed in the F¹ generation without a catastrophic mutation occurring

I wonder if that's why my boy has such an odd development of his tabby pattern?

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

I wonder if that's why my boy has such an odd development of his tabby pattern?

Begin with the premise. You've stated that Mom is a seal point Himalayan Colourpoint Persian and Dad is a Cream Van Persian. Given that you know that one Parent must express the Tabby pattern for their progeny to express the pattern as well, what's the likelihood that you actually know his Parentage (assuming that the "Van" wasn't a Red Tabby Persian)?
.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

I see 1CatOverTheLine . The white "blanket " van slipped my mind lol. The dad looked almost exactly like this little guy lol!

I love learning from you all everyday!

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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KatsPurrrsians - The conclusion here is that the answer to your boy's coat lies in Incomplete Dominance or Intermediate Inheritance - a state in which an allele for a particular trait is only partially expressed over its paired allele, resulting in a tertiary phenotype in which the expressed physical trait is a combination of the phenotypes which would have been rendered by both alleles.
.

 

[Alejandra Rico]

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KatsPurrrsians - The conclusion here is that the answer to your boy's coat lies in Incomplete Dominance or Intermediate Inheritance - a state in which an allele for a particular trait is only partially expressed over its paired allele, resulting in a tertiary phenotype in which the expressed physical trait is a combination of the phenotypes which would have been rendered by both alleles.
.

Simplifying it even more, it is similar to what you can see happening if you mix red and white Mirabilis jalapa, the marvel of Peru or four o'clock flower. You may remember this study by Carl Correns from your days in Highschool.

 

[KatsPurrrsians]

Love the in depth explanation 1CatOverTheLine , and I can see the image in my mind of the mixing of the two Mirabilis Alejandra Rico ! Thank you both for that excellent explanation

 

[posiepurrs]

While the others explanations are more in depth, here is a site that may be helpful in the basics:
Basic Feline Genetics