Chocolate Lilac Cat Genetics

Hi Karen, what color do you think this kitten is? 1st Photo: she is four months old here. 2nd Photo: She is 6 months here. No chocolate in the background. The Father is a red classic tabby and white, mother dominant calico and both carry dilute genes. I don't do chocolates, but had this funky color kitten appear in my last breeding with the said pair.

 



The kitten at 4 months certainly appears from the photo to have chocolate coloring. She has very strong tabby markings. Without the tabby markings, she might be considered a chocolate calico. With the strong classic tabby pattern throughout her coat, I think that would fall into a color like chocolate patched tabby and white or chocolate torbie. The second photo at six months seems to have faded in the chocolate coloring and if this is true, you may just be looking at changes in her kitten coat. The chocolate color can pass many generations on both sides without being a visual. If this was the case, you may not see the chocolate in their pedigrees. There may have also been an ooops breeding that was not noticed by the breeder. A copy of the parents pedigree would be helpful in any case. The best way to be sure if there is chocolate in that kitty. Breed her to a solid chocolate. If she is a true chocolate, your kittens will be chocolate, chocolate calico, chocolate tortie, chocolate bicolor and maybe some dilutes. You will also have about 50% in the red patterns out of the boys, because of the mom's one x chromosome red gene.


Is it possible to get a chocolate and white female kitten from a red and white (carrying choc) male X choc and white female? Please help, I have the said kitten, but I am unsure now as to her pedigree.

No. When you breed your chocolate and white female to your red and white male, all female kittens will be calico, either regular calico or chocolate calico. On the other hand, your males will either be black and white bicolor, chocolate and white bicolor or a combination of both. You didn't mention if your red and white male was from two chocolate parents. If so, you would have chocolate calico girls and chocolate and white boys. If there is dilute (lilac or blue), you may also see lilac and white or lilac calicos.


How do you achieve this color genetically?

The color chocolate (dilute lilac) must be in the genetic makeup of the cat in order for the color to be expressed. Since the color is recessive to black (dilute blue), the chocolate gene must be present on both the dam's and sire's pedigree. Carriers for chocolate are achieved by breeding a non chocolate to a visual chocolate, chocolate point, chocolate bicolor or other chocolate variety. The resulting offspring will carry one gene for the chocolate color and one gene for the normal color (black, seal, etc.) The cat will be a visual black, seal, black & white bicolor and so forth. When any of these offspring is breed to another carrier or chocolate, the following generation will have approximately 25% chocolate kittens from a carrier breeding or 50% chocolate kittens from a chocolate to carrier breeding. If the chocolate gene is not present in the genetic makeup of the parents, the color must be introduced to achieve a chocolate/lilac in future generations.


Are solid chocolate Persians rare? I've been told so by several people at various pet stores. I have a 6 month old female kitten and I want to learn more about them. How can I tell that mine is a solid chocolate? She is chocolate all over except by her neck where it's lighter colored.

The first chocolate Persians appeared in Europe. So are chocolate Persians rare? Not really. They are not as available as the typical black or blue Persian and a person looking to purchase a show quality chocolate should expect to pay twice the cost for the same quality as the basic black. A chocolate cat, just as a black cat, may have a lighter ruff than the basic body color. If your cat is a chocolate, your cat's registration blue slip should list your cat as a chocolate. This registration paper should have been given to you when you purchased your kitten. You may also send for your cat's pedigree through the registry of your kitten's papers. You should also see chocolates on both sides of the parents.


I have a chocolate Persian. What's a Chocolate Point?

Although, chocolate cats have been in existence for some time in many breeds such as the Siamese, the chocolate color was introduced into the Persian breed with the creation of Himalayan Persians. Siamese were bred to Persians to incorporate the points (color on ears, tail, face, and legs with white to off white body) into the genetic makeup. Along with the point gene, the chocolate gene was also passed when a chocolate point Siamese was the parent. The newly created Himalayan breed later became a division of the Persian breed.