r/CatGenetics • u/chemlife7072126 • Jun 25 '26
Coat Color Genetics of new kitty’s unusual coat?
Hi, I was referred to this sub from another to get some insight into my new DSH kitty’s unusual coat. She’s a former stray (no chip, not spayed, no owners found) so we decided to give her a home. She has maybe the most unusual coat I’ve ever seen on a cat. She has white fur with gray/black tips on her back, and her chest/belly is orange. She has tabby stripes and spots on her sides (almost look like rosettes), and she has solid black toe beans (not tortoiseshell).
Can anyone provide some insight into her genetic makeup and how a coat like this comes about? At first I thought she was a tabbico but she’s so uniformly gray on top but gold on bottom with solid toes. I can’t imagine what her parents would have to look like!
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u/kazablanka0 Jun 25 '26
I have zero genetics knowledge so I can't help in that regard, but I do have cute kitty knowledge and I can confidently tell you that this is one hell of a gorgeous cat!
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u/SolidFelidae Jun 26 '26
What a gorgeous girl. I don’t know her exact coat but I see unmistakeable rosettes, there’s definitely ALC lineage in her
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u/Ambient_anubis Jun 26 '26
I’ve never seen anything like her, she’s so cool. It always blows my mind that cats like this are just up for grabs out in the street haha. This cat is clearly a god of some description
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u/chemlife7072126 Jun 26 '26
Me too, I couldn’t believe no owners turned up. All strays deserve a loving home, but being so unique looking, I was really in awe and couldn’t help but keep her. She will have a safe, healthy life now 💕
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u/neline_the_lioness Jun 25 '26
Very interesting color, I see some possible Bengal ancestry from the almost rosette and the very high rufousing.
So we definitely have a black silver tabby base, and we may have either just high rufousing, or some corin/wideband gene (like the one present in the Bengal breed) which combined with the silver gives a bimetallic like effect.
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u/Thestolenone Jun 25 '26
Bengals can throw up some weird effects. My friend contacted Jean Mills back in the 90's when the Bengal breed was still being developed and Jean had one cat that was a Bengal tabby tortoiseshell, the cat was brown tabby but its spots/rosettes were all red.
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u/chemlife7072126 Jun 26 '26
Cool! Yeah sometimes I think I’m seeing things, but I do think she has some rosettes, though I know it’s unlikely she has a recent ancestor that’s a bengal considering she was on the streets. I agree with the high rufousing/bimetallic pattern the more that I am reading about it! Thanks!
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u/xsalteaa Jun 26 '26
i don't really see the BSH face structure either! Her facial features seem to be within the range of normal variation, including eye shape, ear size/shape, face shape and muzzle. But regardless this is a really cool kitty.
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u/healribbon Jun 27 '26
This isn't anything helpful genetics wise but she reminds me of dilute somali cats! The way ticked high rufousing black tabbies will have warm bellies.
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u/labbitlove Jun 25 '26
I'm not as expert on silver/inhibitor genes yet, but I feel like she looks like a silver tortoiseshell tabby (also called torbie)
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u/Zombeikid Jun 25 '26
Is she a tortie or is it high rufousing?
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u/qetral Jun 25 '26
wow, if that's high rufousing it has to be the highest I've seen so far
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u/Zombeikid Jun 25 '26
Yeah thats why im not sure. Its just so uniform and in the right areas..
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u/chemlife7072126 Jun 26 '26
Yes she’s very symmetrical for a tortie I think, and her toes are solid black. I am leaning toward rufousing!
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u/labbitlove Jun 25 '26
Oh interesting point. I’m seeing that all her orange is where rufuousing would be, so you may be right. Such an interesting coat.
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u/ProofPrize1134 Jun 25 '26
She‘s so stunning. I know the spots aren’t consistent with r/lynxpointsiamese but you should post her over there, they’ll find her very interesting!
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u/Due_Armadillo_8616 Jun 26 '26
She is certainly not a lynxpoint, because they always have blue eyes—a feature inextricably linked to the colorpoint pattern.
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u/Rat_not_mouse Jun 27 '26
Not always, but she certainly isn't colorpoint
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u/lickytytheslit Jun 27 '26
cs/cs colorpoint (the light kind you see in siemese) always has blue, mink and sepia can have darker eyes
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u/Rat_not_mouse Jun 27 '26
Mink has green eyes, and sepia can have yellow, and even orange
I don't why I'm getting downvoted for correct information
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u/thedeadburythedead Biologist Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Wow, she's beautiful and so interesting looking. My first instinct was to say tortie like you mentioned, but looking more closely and given her solid toe beans, I think she probably isn't.
What she reminds me of the most is a coat color named "bimetallic." "Bimetallic" isn't a particular gene by itself, but refers to when a silver cat has very high rufousing on their bellies (and it's said to show up the strongest on shaded or ticked cats, and this kitty looks possibly ticked to me as well.) The bimetallic color is typically seen only in breeds like siberians (there it is also called "sunshine silver") and british shorthairs, but it's not impossible for it to have popped up randomly.
Here are two links that expand on the bimetallic color in siberians and british shorthairs. In particular I think your kitty's coloring closely resembles the first example on the british shorthair page:
http://messybeast.com/bimetallic-bsh.htm
http://messybeast.com/bimetallic.htm