Viewing post #1617837 by Newyorkrita

Danita said:Cats are diploid organisms that are the result of 1 egg being fertilized by 1 sperm. A litter of kittens may have different fathers, but each individual kitten only has one father. (In theory, I guess a chimera could have two fathers but that would be extraordinarily rare.)

Here is a good explanation of tortoiseshell & calico cat genetics.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/...

Grizabella looks like a dilute calico. (tortoiseshell genes, piebald/white spotting genes, & dilution genes)

Based on that one photo, Button looks like a regular tortoiseshell to me. If she were "dilute" she'd have more of a blue (grey) and cream (pale orange) coloration.

Kinja looks like a colorpoint, either a tortoiseshell point or a lynx point. The photo is blurry so I can't really tell. She displays the temperature-dependent partial albinism that results from the Himalayan gene (C-locus) inherited from Siamese cat ancestors. See links for more info:
https://www.technology.org/201...
https://www.cat-world.com.au/s...
As Siamese & colorpoint cats get older their metabolism and temperature drop a bit and they usually get a little darker.

Now, I'm certainly no cat genetics expert, but I'm positive that all three have inherited the cuteness gene!

Excellent explanations!!

Sure is true about tortie and calico being almost always female. I did know that but I did not know that orange tabbies were mostly always male.