Expert: Norman Auspitz - 7/17/2010

Question
QUESTION: hi, our black and white bicolor female cat had 4 kittens about 3 weeks ago. there was 2 bicolor kittens liker herself, a pure black one, and a seal point cat which i think it is a mix siamese kitten. im curious what color is the mix siamese going to turn? is it a blue point or lilac? and what kind of mix breed is the black one??

-lavie

ANSWER: Lavie,

I am afraid I will have to get into some feline coat color genetics here.  First of all, both the sire and the dam have to carry the Siamese pointed pattern for the kittens to have points.  Furthermore, they both have to carry the d (or density gene) to produce blue and/or cream and/or blue cream.

Given that the dam is a black and white, to be a blue/cream point, the sire also has to be a red or cream colored cat and the kitten MUST be a female kitten. If the kitten's paw pads are solid slate blue or mauve, the kitten is a blue point.  If at least one paw pad is mottled with slate blue or mauve and pink, the kitten could be a blue cream.  If the kitten is male, no matter what the paw pad color, the odds are astronomical against it being a blue cream point.

These are all domestic shorthair kittens.  The pointed pattern has been in the domestic feral population for over 100 years. The black is a black domestic shorthair, and its being all black is not a surprise out of a black and white bi-color.


Best regards... Norm.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: the kitten is a female. i think her paw pad is more like a dark red. i dont see any slate blue. i attached another picture of her and you can prolly see her paw pad color. would she be a blue cream then?

Answer
Lavie,

The picture is too blurry to see anything.  However, dark red for paw pad color sounds very strange.  Are you sure it is not mauve (a reddish purple color)? If she were a blue-cream, usually at least one pawpad would have some patches of mauve or slate grey and some patches of pink.

In any event, she looks to be quite pretty no matter what her point color turns out to be.

Best regards... Norm.