Welcome to the fascinating world of feline genetics

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This guide is here to help you decipher the cat's appearance, this marvel of feline genetics.

 

You will discover :

🎨 coat colours and how they are expressed (or diluted)
🐾 patterns, also known as patterns (tabby, point, two-tone, etc. )
🐱 the texture of the coat, from the silkiest to the frizziest
👁️ the eye colours, sometimes linked to the coat, sometimes not
🐱 the ears, pricked, rounded or lynxed, depending on the individual
🐈 the tail, long, short or plume-like, a feline signature in its own right

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Behind each feline coat lies a complex set of genetic interactions. From simple variations in solid colour to the most elaborate tabby patterns, every aspect of the cat's appearance is encoded by specific genes, often modified by alleles, modifiers or epistatic genes.

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This guide provides a structured reading of these characteristics :

• A clear, illustrated presentation of the main recognised colours,

• A reminder of the fundamental hereditary mechanisms: dominance, codominance, mutation, epistasis,

• Genetic focus for further information: locus A (agouti), B (base colour), D (dilution), S (white), etc.

 

It is aimed as much at breeders wanting to guide their matings as at students, vets, cat judges and demanding enthusiasts.

 

At the crossroads of biology, aesthetics and hereditary transmission, this guide invites you to explore the natural laws that shape each cat's unique beauty.

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📚 To find out more:

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Sparrow's Garden

He discusses the genetics of cats in terms of variations in coat, eyes and breeding. He also illustrates the different colours very well using a calculator that he has created.

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MessyBeast

You'll find lots of high-quality illustrations of cats' coats, colours and coat variations.