A cat of a different color? They’re all the rage
By Kim Campbell Thornton
Andrews McMeel Syndication
When domestic cats first evolved some 10,000 years ago, they came in a brown mackerel tabby wrapper. Still seen today, the pattern of narrow vertical stripes, resembling the bones of a fish -- hence the “mackerel” moniker -- lines their bodies from spine to belly, with horizontal stripes circling the legs. It’s called “wild type” because of the resemblance to the coat of Felis sylvestris lybica, the wild ancestor of today’s housecats.
Nowadays, cats come in an array of colors and patterns -- approximately 3,000 permutations so far. First were ancient mutations, the classic tabby with a bullseye pattern, and pointed cats like Siamese. The classic tabby mutation occurred in a limited number of cats in the United Kingdom, and all cats with points can be traced genetically to a single mutation event in Asia, says cat judge Lorraine Shelton, whose feline genetics hobby has led her to become a genetics instructor for the International Cat Association’s genetics committee. White and white-spotting mutations are thought to have occurred in the Mediterranean.
“Another one that we know has a long history is the mutation from black to blue,” she says. “Traditionally, we called those Russian blue cats, or archipelago cats, which seems to suggest a European mutation.”
Cats began to be developed into specific breeds in the late 19th century. Those early breeds include longhairs such as Persians and Angoras; British shorthairs; and Manx, Siamese and Abyssinians. In the mid-20th century through the 1980s, there was an explosion of new breeds in the United States based on unusual coat mutations. They included the American wirehair, LaPerm and Selkirk rex.
“Now, what we’re seeing in the 21st century is another explosion of new mutations, particularly related to color, that are coming out of Asia and Russia,” Shelton says. One of the newest, called bimetallic, is seen in Siberians. The silver tabby cats have golden accents on the legs and belly.
Greater knowledge of the genetics underlying fur color and pattern has contributed to the new cat color palettes. Before the cat genome was first mapped -- at a cost of more than $1 million -- breeders had to rely on observational, or population, genetics.
“We’d breed one cat to another and see what the babies turned out to be and were able to conclude whether (the color) was a dominant or recessive mutation,” Shelton says. “But we didn’t know what was happening on a genetic and biochemical level.” Today, inexpensive genome sequencing has made investigating and developing new colors much easier.
The bimetallic Siberian cats were a mystery because silver is a dominant mutation and the presence of both silver and gold on a cat shouldn’t have been possible. A French researcher, Marie Abitbol, DVM, Ph.D., using DNA samples from the cats, found that two different mutations in a gene called CORIN were causing the different color effects.
CORIN variants are widespread. Bengal cats have 19 variants of the gene. Twelve of those variants seem to influence color. That’s why, if you’re at a cat show and look at a judging ring of Bengal cats, you’ll see a huge variety of color expression, Shelton says.
Other genes also have multiple mutations. The tyrosinase, or albinism, gene has a Siamese variant, a Burmese variant and a new one from Thailand called the mocha variant. With the latter, people were sending in DNA samples from their cats and being told that they had a black cat. “The people that had these cats went, ‘Look at my cat. Here is a picture. It is definitely not a black cat.’ And sure enough, it was found to be another variant on the tyrosinase gene.”
What’s important to remember, Shelton says, is that these genes can affect more than color. The CORIN gene, for instance, is involved in cardiovascular function and fertility, so breeders, cat clubs and veterinarians must always be aware of potential effects beyond a beautiful coat.
Q&A
Dog wants
to talk, too
Q: My dog barks whenever I’m talking to someone else, whether in person or on the phone. How can I get her to stop?
A: You have a smart dog who has trained you well. If she barks when you’re talking to someone else, you tell her to be quiet. That attention is a reward; even if she’s being scolded, to her it’s better than being ignored.
The best way to change her behavior is to ignore it instead of rewarding it. Every conversation can be a training session. Here’s how to start.
Any time you’re speaking to someone, look away from your dog, but stand in such a way that you can still see her. That allows you to quickly reward behavior you want, like sitting quietly while you talk.
If your dog barks, don’t respond. When you first start doing this, expect the barking to get worse at first. Your dog is going to bark louder and longer in an attempt to get your attention. It will take a little time for her to learn that her trick doesn’t work anymore.
At the same time, watch for behavior you can reward. For instance, when the conversation starts, reward if she is near you but not barking. As it continues, reward quietly sitting, lying down or standing, mouth closed. Toss a treat on the floor for this type of calm behavior. You can also encourage silence by looking at her or giving pets or praise.
If you and everyone else in the family are consistent, your dog will learn that barking isn’t rewarded, but settling down and relaxing is. Gradually phase out treats and reward calm, quiet behavior with praise or petting. Positive attention is what your dog really wants. You just need to show her how to get it. -- Mikkel Becker
Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.
THE BUZZ
Keep busy with
pets this month
-- The holiday season doesn’t end on New Year’s Day. Pet celebrations for January include Walk Your Pet Month, National Train Your Dog Month, National Bird Day on Jan. 5 and Change a Pet’s Life Day on Jan. 24. Take your dog for a walk somewhere new every week; sign up for a fun class such as trick training, nose work or a manners refresher; spend some one-on-one time with your bird or buy them a new toy to destroy; or change a life by fostering or adopting.
-- With a combined 20 thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, cats have more bones in a key part of their spine than humans, who have only 17. The additional bones account in part for the feline ability to accelerate rapidly and leap tall bookcases in a single bound. The small stalk-and-pounce predators can attain speeds of more than 30 miles per hour over short distances and jump several times their height. Another skeletal oddity is a free-floating collarbone, enabling them to squeeze through openings the width of their whisker span -- as long as they’re not overweight!
-- The average dog lifespan is 10 to 13 years, but some small- and medium-size breeds have a reputation for longevity, often living into their mid to late teens -- or even longer. If you want a best friend who falls into that category, consider one of the following: Australian cattle dog, beagle, Chihuahua, cardigan or Pembroke Welsh corgi, dachshund, Chinese crested, Jack Russell terrier, papillon, Pomeranian, toy poodle, Shih Tzu or silken windhound. The dog who currently holds the record for longest life was Bobi, a Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo, who lived to be more than 31 years old. The second-oldest was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, who lived to be more than 29 years old. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker
ABOUT PET CONNECTION
Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts. Veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker is founder of the Fear Free organization, co-founder of VetScoop.com and author of many best-selling pet care books. Kim Campbell Thornton is an award-winning journalist and author who has been writing about animals since 1985. Mikkel Becker is a behavior consultant and lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/Kim.CampbellThornton and on Bluesky at kimthornton.bsky.social. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.