#Red tabby cat manual#
#Red tabby cat plus#

A bi-color must have a bi-color parent (see #21).

A shaded parent can produce a smoke offspring, but a non-shaded (smoke) parent cannot produce a shaded offspring unless bred to a shaded (see #21).

A shaded cat must have at least one parent that is a shaded (see #21).

A cat with a white undercoat (smoke or shaded) must have a parent that has a white undercoat (see #21).

A red tabby that is not a true tabby cannot produce a tabby offspring of any other color without being bred to a true tabby or a shaded. Whether or not a red can produce as a tabby will depend on whether it is a true tabby with a tabby or shaded parent or whether it is a red with ghost tabby markings and neither a tabby nor a shaded parent.

All red cats will have some tabby markings.

A silver tabby must have at least one silver tabby, shaded or smoke parent (see #13).

A (non-silver) tabby must have at least one parent that is either a shaded or a tabby.

The mating of a colorpointed cat and a cat with no colorpointed background will produce NO colorpointed offspring.

To get a colorpointed kitten, both parents must be carrying the colorpointed gene (even if they do not appear colorpointed themselves).

Two colorpointed parents cannot produce a non-colorpointed offspring.

Two recessive color parents (cream, blue, etc.) cannot produce an offspring of a dominant color (black, red, etc.).

A cat displaying a dominant color (black, red, tortie, etc.) must have a parent which displays a dominant color (see #21).

The characteristic cannot be transmitted from one generation to the next without showing that characteristic in each generation.

A dominant characteristic (all dominant colors and patterns such as shaded, smoke, white, tabby, bi-color, etc.) cannot skip generations.

A kitten’s pattern can be inherited from either parent.

One notable exception is the colorpoint gene, which can carry through a number of generations (see #21 & #24). The color/patterns found in the pedigree of a kitten will NOT always directly affect the color/pattern of the kitten.

Only the immediate parents determine the color/pattern of a kitten.

#Red tabby cat plus#

To obtain any of the red or cream color/patterns in female kittens, the sire must be one of the red or cream color/patterns PLUS the dam must in some form demonstrate red or cream (see #21).

The color of the female kittens in a litter will always be either a combination of the sire’s and dam’s colors, or the dilute form of those colors (see #21 & #24).

Female kittens take one color gene from each parent.

See the statement on dilutes for more information (see #21 & #24). The male offspring in a litter will always be either the color of the dam (or one of the colors in the case of parti-colors) or the dilute form of the dam’s color.

Male kittens always obtain both color genes from the dam.

When both are affected, the statement will contain the term COLOR/PATTERN. When PATTERN is used, it refers to pattern only (tabby, shaded, smoke, etc.).

When the term COLOR is used, it refers to color only (blue, cream, black, red, etc.). For more information, please refer to books on the subject.

#Red tabby cat manual#

This information is not meant to be a complete manual on cat genetics. The following statements are generally true – but there are exceptions. Sign up for Newsletter or CFA Announcements.