Introduction

The modern-day domestic cat displays a wide variety of coat colors and patterns. Classification of these can be confusing sometimes because different registries or associations may name the same phenotype differently. Most of the coat color and pattern variation in domestic cats can be explained by the actions of the nine major genes listed below.

Test Results

Allow 5-10 business days for results.

 

Detailed Cat Coat Color Information

GeneName	Symbols	Function	Wild type
Agouti	A, a	Non-agouti, aa, cats are solid (self) in color.  Tabby patterns are difficult to identify.	A
Brown	B > b > bl	Brown variants have reduced eumelanin and appear brownish in color. b/b and b/bl are chocolate, bl/bl are cinnamon (red).	B
Colorpoint Restriction	C > cb = cs> c	Color controls production of melanin.  Temperature sensitive alleles create points and sepia.  Complete albinos have been identified.	C
Dilution	D, d	Dilution causes uneven distribution of the pigment in the fur shaft, dilution of all colors.	D
Inhibitor	I	Controls production of pheomelanin (yellow) pigment.	i
Orange	O, o	Sex-linked coloration that expresses as a tortoiseshell in females when both variants are present.	o
Spotting	S, s	Controls melanocyte production and migration.  Co-dominant expression as the S/S cats have the "van" pattern with color only on the top of the head and tail. S/s cats are bicolor.	S
Tabby	Ta, Tm, tb	Tabby markings on the body.  The tabby phenotype is under debate at to whether more than one gene controls expression.  Ta has generally implied a ticked tabby, Tm as mackerel tabby, and tb/tb as a blotched (classic) tabby.	?
White	W, w	Reduces melanocyte production.  Dominant white cats are all white, may have blue eyes or be odd-eyed and may be deaf.	w

For additional information on the genetics of coat color/patterns in cats, please consult the references given below and visit Dr. Leslie Lyon’s web page The Lyons' Den

1. Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians. 1999. Fourth eddition. Eds. Vells, C.M., Shelton, L.M., McGonagle, J.J. and Stanglein, T.W. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
2. Lyons, L.A., Imes, D.L., Rah, H.C. and Grahn, R.A. 2005. Tyrosinase mutations associated with Siamese and Burmese patterns in the domestic cat (Felis catus). Animal Genetics, 36:119-126. See additional references cited in this paper.
3. Lyons, L.A., Foe I.T., Rah H.C. and Grahn R.A. 2005. Chocolate coated cats: TYRP1 mutations from brown color in domestic cats. Mammalian Genome 16:356-366

The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory offers tests for the Agouti, Brown and Color genes. These tests assist owners/breeders with identification of coat color and provide information about the genetic make-up of their cats for these two genes. Results from these tests can be used to make informed breeding decisions to produce or avoid production of particular colors.

Agouti

The Agouti (agouti signaling protein, ASIP) gene produces a protein that regulates the distribution of black pigment (eumelanin) within the hair shaft. The wild type allele A is dominant and produces hair shafts with alternating bands of yellow and black color, ending with black tips (similar to the coat of a wild mouse or rabbit). The recessive allele a produces a cat that is self-colored (solid) when 2 copies of a are present. Another system of pigmentation in cats produces the tabby patterns of dark stripes interspersed with the lighter agouti tipped hairs. Hairs in the darker stripes do not have the shift between black and yellow pigment production and remain uniformly dark. The effect of the agouti protein on orange pigment is limited, thus tabby striping may still be seen on cats that are a/a for agouti.

Agouti results are reported as:

A/A:  Homozygous for agouti. All offspring will have agouti banded hair.

A/a: Heterozygous for agouti. Offspring can be agouti or non-agouti depending on the genetics of the mating.

a/a: Homozygous for non-agouti (solid colored). If bred to a non-agouti, only non-agouti offspring will be produced.

Brown (chocolate and cinnamon)

The Brown (tyrosinase-related protein-1, TYRP1) gene affects the amount of black (eumelanin) pigment produced. Mutations responsible for brown and cinnamon colors in the cat have been identified in this gene. The wild-type B allele produces normal, black coloration. The b allele produces the brown (chocolate) phenotype and the b^l allele produces a light brown or cinnamon phenotype. These form an "allelic series" with B dominant to b, and b dominant to b^l.

Brown results are reported as:

B/B: Full color, cat does not carry brown or cinnamon

B/b: Full color, carrier of brown

B/b^l: Full color, carrier of cinnamon

b/b: Brown

b/b^l: Brown, carrier of cinnamon

b^l/b^l: Cinnamon

Colorpoint Restriction (Color)

The Tyrosinase (TYR) gene, also known as the Color gene, produces an enzyme that is required for melanin production. Mutations in TYR have been associated with temperature-sensitive pigment production that results in colors known as Burmese and Siamese. The wild type phenotype is full color. The Burmese phenotype results from reduced pigment production changing black pigment to sepia and orange to yellow. The Burmese points are darker than the body and the eyes are yellow-gray or yellow-green. The Siamese phenotype reduces pigment production to the points and the eyes are blue. The wild type (C) allele is dominant to Burmese (cb). Burmese is incompletely dominant to Siamese (c^s); Burmese and Siamese heterozygotes (c^b/c^s) are intermediate in color (mink).These tests identify carriers of Burmese (also called sepia) and Siamese pointed coloration.

A very rare allele of TYR produces an albino phenotype with white coat and blue eyes. The current tests do not detect this rare form.

Colorpoint Restriction results are reported as:

C/C: Full color, cat does not carry Burmese (sepia) or Siamese alleles

C/cb: Carrier of Burmese (sepia) color

C/c^s: Carrier of Siamese colorpoint restriction

c^b/c^b: Burmese (sepia)

c^s/c^s: Siamese

c^b/c^s: Mink, intermediate color between Burmese (sepia) color and Siamese pointed phenotypes

NOTE: Colorpoint Restriction Test for Bengal Cats
A Colorpoint Restriction Gene test specific for Bengal Cats has been developed by VGL. Bengal Cats were developed by crossing Asian Leopard Cats with domestic cats. Certain Asian Leopard Cat DNA sequences can interfere with our standard Colorpoint Restriction Gene test for domestic cats. Please allow 10-15 working days for results of Colorpoint testing in Bengal Cats. There is no additional cost for this test.

Dilute

The dilute gene (Melanophilin or MLPH) causes clumping and uneven distribution of pigment granules in the hair shaft, producing dilution of all coat colors. Dilute is an autosomal recessive trait which means that two copies of the dilute allele are needed to produce the phenotype. Black pigment is diluted to gray (blue is the term used by cat breeders), and red is diluted to cream. The wild type allele is non-dilute. Some cat breeds are fixed for the wild type, such as Egyptian Mau and Singapura, while others are fixed for dilute such as Chartreux, Korat and Russian Blue. Most other breeds have both wild type and dilute alleles.

VGL offers a test for the dilute gene. This test is useful to identify carriers of dilute and to determine the genetic type for young animals that may have yet to develop their adult coloration.

Dilute results are reported as:

d/d	Two copies of dilute allele. Coat color is diluted.
D/d	One copy of dilute allele. Cat is a carrier of dilute.
D/D	Full color. Cat does not have the dilute allele.

Sections reprinted with permission of: Leslie A. Lyons Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis.