Genetic Counseling Services.

Coat colours in cats

What are 'coat colours'?

DNA tests for coat colours

The extension of eumelanin in the coat is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, the alleles for it are located on the A-locus. The allele for the extension of eumelanin (a) is found in almost all breeds or lines that have a coat colour with a tabby colour pattern (A). A tabby colour pattern is sometimes a preferred or even required characteristic for breeders and animals with the aa-genotype are excluded from the breeding programme; breeding animals should have the AA- or Aa-genotype. For other breeders it is the other way around, a tabby colour pattern is not preferred; all animals will have the aa-genotype.

The A-locus DNA test yields three possible outcomes:

Your cat is AA (it has two alleles for the normal tabby coat). In its coat it will show the tabby pattern and its hair has phaeomelanin at the roots and eumelanin at the top. It will not pass on the allele for 'extension of eumelanin' (a) to the next generation.
Your cat is Aa (it has one allele for the tabby coat and another one for the extension of eumelanin). It will show the tabby pattern in its coat but it will pass on the allele for extension of eumelanin (a) to half of its offspring.
Your cat is aa (it has two alleles for the extension of eumelanin). In its coat it will show no tabby pattern (except maybe for some ghost striping) and it will pass on the allele for extension of eumelanin (a) to all of its offspring in the next generation.

Chocolate and cinnamon colour of eumelanin are both inherited as autosomal recessive traits and both alleles are located on the B-locus. Any animal with a black eumelanin coat colour (B) might be a carrier for chocolate (b) or for cinnamon (b^l). For some breeders black eumelanin is a preferred quality; breeding animals should have a BB-, a Bb- or a Bb^l-genotype. For other breeders it is the other way around, black eumelanin in the coat is less wanted, breeders prefer to produce kittens with a chocolate (bb or bb^l) or with a cinnamon (b^lb^l) phenotype.
Unfortunately the mutations causing chocolate (b) and cinnamon (b^l) occurred in two different areas of the gene coding for black eumelanin. Therefore two different DNA tests are needed to check for the presence of these two alleles.

The chocolate (b) DNA test yields three possible outcomes:

Your cat is NN (it has no alleles for the production of chocolate eumelanin). The colour of its eumelanin can be black (genotypes BB or Bb^l) or cinnamon (genotype b^lb^l) and, for some breeders just as important, it will not pass on the allele for chocolate eumelanin (b) to the next generation.
Your cat is Nb (it has one allele for black or for cinnamon eumelanin and another one for chocolate eumelanin). The colour of its eumelanin can be black (Bb) or chocolate (bb^l) and it will pass on the allele for chocolate eumelanin (b) to half of its offspring.
Your cat is bb (it has two alleles for chocolate eumelanin). The colour of its eumelanin will be chocolate and it will pass on the allele for chocolate eumelanin (b) to all of its offspring in the next generation.

The cinnamon (b^l) DNA test yields three possible outcomes:

Your cat is NN (it has no alleles for the production of cinnamon eumelanin). The colour of its eumelanin can be black (genotypes BB or Bb) or chocolate (genotype bb) and, for some breeders just as important, it will not pass on the allele for cinnamon eumelanin (b^l) to the next generation.
Your cat is Nb^l (it has one allele for black or chocolate eumelanin and another one for cinnamon eumelanin). The colour of its eumelanin can be black (Bb^l) or chocolate (bb^l) and it will pass on the allele for cinnamon eumelanin (b^l) to half of its offspring.
Your cat is b^lb^l (it has two alleles for brown eumelanin). The colour of its eumelanin will be cinnamon and it will pass on the allele for cinnamon eumelanin (b^l) to all of its offspring in the next generation.

Burmese and Siamese melanin restriction are both inherited as autosomal recessive traits and both alleles are located on the C-locus.
In many breeds the alleles for the Burmese melanin restriction (c^b) and/or Siamese melanin restriction (c^s) are found. Of course it all depends on the requirements in the breed standard and on the breeder's preferences whether or not one or both alleles are appreciated in a breed or a line.
Unfortunately the mutations causing Burmese (c^b) and Siamese (c^s) restriction occurred in two different areas of the gene coding for normal distribution of melanin (C, full colour). Therefore two different DNA tests are needed to check for the presence of the two alleles.

The Burmese restriction (c^b) DNA test yields three possible outcomes:

Your cat is NN (it has no alleles for the production of the Burmese restriction). It can be a full colour cat (genotypes CC or Cc^s) or a Siamese coloured cat (genotype c^sc^s); it will not pass on the allele for Burmese restriction (c^b) to the next generation.
Your cat is Nc^b (it has one allele for full colour or for Siamese restriction and another one for Burmese restriction). It can be a full colour cat (genotype Cc^b) or a Tonkinese coloured cat (c^bc^s) and it will pass on the allele for Burmese restriction (c^b) to half of its offspring.
Your cat is c^bc^b (it has two alleles for Burmese restriction). It will be Burmese coloured and it will pass on the allele for Burmese restriction (c^b) to all of its offspring in the next generation.


c^bc^b brown	c^bc^b chocolate	c^bc^b cinnamon	c^bc^b red


c^bc^b blue	c^bc^b lilac	c^bc^b fawn	c^bc^b cream

The Siamese restriction (c^s) DNA test yields three possible outcomes:

Your cat is NN (it has no alleles for the production of the Siamese restriction). It can be a full colour cat (genotypes CC or Cc^b) or a Burmese coloured cat (genotype c^bc^b); it will not pass on the allele for Siamese restriction (c^s) to the next generation.
Your cat is Nc^s (it has one allele for full colour or for Burmese restriction and another one for Siamese restriction). It can be a full colour cat (genotype Cc^s) or a Tonkinese coloured cat (c^bc^s) and it will pass on the allele for Siamese restriction (c^s) to half of its offspring.
Your cat is c^sc^s (it has two alleles for Siamese restriction). It will be Siamese coloured and it will pass on the allele for Siamese restriction (c^s) to all of its offspring in the next generation.


c^sc^s sealpoint	c^sc^s chocolate point	c^sc^s cinnamon point	c^sc^s red point


c^sc^s blue point	c^sc^s lilac point	c^sc^s fawn point	c^sc^s cream poin

The dilution of melanin is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, the alleles for it are located at the D-locus. The allele for the dilution of melanin (d) is found in almost all breeds. In most breeds it depends on the preference of the breeder whether or not he wants to produce kittens with diluted melanin.

The D-locus DNA test yields three possible outcomes:

Your cat is DD (it has two alleles for the normal melanin distribution). In its coat it will show the colour and the colour intensity determined by the other colour genes. It will not pass on the allele for normal melanin distribution (d) to the next generation.
Your cat is Dd (it has one allele for the normal melanin distribution and another one for the dilution of melanin). It will show the normal melanin distribution in its coat but it will pass on the allele for dilution of melanin (d) to half of its offspring.
Your cat is dd (it has two alleles for the dilution of melanin). In its coat it will show the diluted expressions of the colours determined by the other colour genes and it will pass on the allele for dilution of melanin (d) to all of its offspring in the next generation.

Breeds that can be tested

Breeding policy

Testing for coat colours