Cat Coats Tortie Torbie and White

Brown mackerel torbie with white - photograph copyright Helmi Flick


Brown classic torbie and white on an Exotic Shorthair cat photograph copyright Helmi Flick.

Cat coats tortie torbie and white is one of a series of posts on the cat coat colors. You can see them all if you click on this link.

The term "torbie" refers to a coat that is a mixture of tabby and tortoiseshell. There are posts on the tortie (tortoiseshell - this is about the black tortoiseshell) coats and the torbie (tabby and tortoiseshell mixed). You can read those first if you wish.

I have also discussed the action of the Piebald gene or White Spotting gene to produce white when I posted an article on the Tuxedo Cat, so this post is a simple extension or representation of those earlier postings.

Obviously in the case of cat coats that are tortie or torbie and white the areas where there is color is either the tabby pattern or the torbie pattern. The extent of this pattern is dictated by the white spotting gene during the growth of the embryo. For tortoiseshell cats without white there is a mosaic of orange (signified by the letter O) and black colored hairs (o). The presence of white fur causes the orange and black to make up patches.

An added area of potential confusion or complication, is to "overlay" (my term, not a technical term) a tortie and white coat with a dilute effect and I have discussed dilution in another article. This effect is seen in the Exotic Shorthair cat below.

It may help if I look at an example:


Black tortie and white. Photograph copyright Helmi Flick. You can see how the black tortoiseshell coat has been restricted in its spread over the body by the white spotting gene. The areas farthest from spine are affected, the paws, the chest and belly.


Blue tortie and white. In this picture of an Exotic Shorthair cat, you have multiple genetic actions and effects on the coat. The coat would have been a tortoiseshell but for the actions of the white spotting gene causing the white areas (no color pigment areas) and also the actions of the modifier genes which dilute the color.


Blue tortie with white. Photograph copyright Helmi Flick. Blue is dilute black.


Brown spotted torbie with white. The tabby pattern is the form of spots hence the term "spotted" and the tabby pattern is mixed with tortoiseshell and white. Photograph copyright Helmi Flick.


Silver Classic torbie and white. Photograph copyright Helmi Flick. The term "classic" refers to the classic tabby pattern, which is the pattern that is blotched and not spotted.


Silver classic torbie and white. Photograph copyright Helmi Flick.


Thanks to Beth Hicks - the cat coat descriptions are hers. And to Helmi once again for her fine photographs. These photographs are protected by copyright.

From Cat Coats Tortie Torbie and White to Cat Facts

Ashera GD

Ashera GD copyright LifeStyle Pets Inc. reproduced here with their express permission.

The Ashera GD is a scam so say Savannah Cat breeders. This is what they say is happening:-

LifeStyle Pets Inc who sell the Ashera GD and the Allerca and Chakan are presenting themselves as individuals who want to buy a Savannah Cat from a Savannah Cat breeder.

Of course the breeder is pleased to sell. The "buyer" (presumably a LifeStyle Pets employee) then rebrands the the cat an Ashera or an Ashera GD (this cat can be bought as hypoallergenic or not - the GD is the hypoallergenic cat) and sells the cat at a price far higher than the price paid as a Savannah Cat. Savannah cats can sell for about $3,000 while the Ashera sells for over $20,000.

I don't know if this is true. It should be provable through DNA testing and this is apparently happening with the Ashera/Savannah cat held at Schipol airport. Read about that here.

However, Life Style Pets do provide the following with their cats, neutering/spaying, vaccinations, microchip and DNA fingerprint and certificate. They don't though say what the breeding programme is.

From Ashera GD to Ashera GD

Killing Cats

Killing cats (the cat opposite is not dead just under anesthetic) (and dogs) goes on all the time, unnoticed by the vast majority of the population. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are hostile towards cat and dog breeders. Cat and Dog breeders are, in response, hostile towards PETA.

I'll refer to cat breeders for the rest of this as this is a cat website. Cat breeders' hostility is due to the fact that PETA blames cat breeders for increasing the cat population when there are already too many domestic cats. They have produced some startling videos in which they say that if a person buys a cat one is killed (they actually refer to dogs but I guess the same rule applies), meaning that the cat in the rescue center should have been adopted and if not she will be killed.

They also suggest that the breeding of purebred animals is akin to being part of the Klu Klux Klan in that the intention is to make a superior race of animals (purebred cats or dogs).

It is impossible to ignore these arguments if you are a decent sort of individual with the welfare of cats in mind as opposed to simply pandering to the preferences and likings of mankind.

I am forced to think about this topic. I think the idea that cat breeders are trying to breed a master race of pets is manifestly incorrect. 99% of cat breeders in the USA (my guesstimate) are in the business of breeding as an expression of their love for cats and to make some money (not necessarily a livable income) on the side. They genuinely have the welfare of cats in mind.

I don't think that it is fair to place a responsibility on cat breeders (who all breed purebred cats) for the general problem of the uncontrolled breeding of feral mixed breed cats (other than the same responsibility we all have for that problem). However, I don't though think that cat breeders do enough to deal with the problem of abandoned purebred cats.

There are, it seems, many purebred cats that are abandoned. This seems peculiar as someone, I must presume, bought the cat. I myself don't like the idea of buying and owning cats - we don't own them. Perhaps it is better to say that when a person buys a pet he or she actually compensates the breeder for the care of the cat and the mother and father cats until handed over to the new keeper. The abandonment of a cat that was bought indicates that the buyer thinks of cats and animals as a "product" like a washing machine. They are not fit to care for a cat. How do we spot them and refuse them a cat?

I think then that cat breeders should do more to ensure that "buyers" are absolutely under an obligation to neuter (if not already done by the breeder) and care for the cat throughout her life. This may be difficult to enforce but I would have thought it was not impossible. I know some (perhaps many) breeders who do take action along these lines.

What I am saying is that it is better to work with breeders and make the breeding process more accountable rather than stop it all together because cat breeding is the kind of thing that humans like to do. It is difficult and probably foolhardy to try and stop humans doing what comes naturally to them even if sometimes it seems morally wrong. It is better (and more successful) to work with it and modify the behavior and achieve gradual change that way.

In order to be fair, PETA should also look at the other end of the process, the buyers. They are the ones who are abandoning cats. It is they who make the market that allows the cat breeders to produce more cats. If they was no market there would be no breeders.

Also, it seems that by far the biggest reason for the overpopulation of cats and subsequent horrific euthanizing process is the feral cat population that is out of control. There are some brave and honourable people who do something about it (trap, neuter, return) but generally it seems this problem drifts on. PETA don't seem to do much with regard to that problem.

Lets see PETA tackle the bigger problem first and then lets refine the breeding program. Finally I do not think that cat breeders even think about breeding a master race of cats. They just like the look of fine and attractive animals, a natural human instinct, which admittedly needs regulation and control in the interests of the welfare of our much loved cats.

Source: Me

Photos:
top of feral cat copyright Feral Indeed!
bottom copyright mac_vegetarian

From Killing Cats to Home Page

Cat Coats Tabby and White

Blue Mackerel Tabby and White (top) and Brown Classic tabby and White (bottom) - photographs copyright Helmi Flick

Where the cat coat is tabby and white there is an interplay between the Primary Tabby gene (Mc/mc) and the White Spotting gene or Piebald gene (S/s) taking place.

The Piebald gene produces some well known patterns including the bicolor and van patterns. Classic cats having these patterns are the Japanese Bobtail (bicolor) and the Turkish Van.

The Tabby gene dictates the distribution of hairs with solid (non-banded) color. The White Spotting gene dictates the spread of the color granules in the hair follicles during the time the embryo is developing. These genes having varying degrees of effect resulting in more or less and smaller and larger areas of black hair mixed with the banded hair (in the tabby areas of the coat) and more or less white hair over the entire coat.

If you can find the time I discuss the other coats types and the effect of these genes on other postings. Click here to all the postings on coat colors on this site.

Here are some more examples of this interplay resulting in cat coats that are tabby and white:


Brown Mackerel Tabby and White photograph copyright Helmi Flick


Van Pattern photograph copyright Helmi Flick


Red Ticked Tabby and White photograph copyright Helmi Flick


Red Classic Tabby and White photograph copyright Helmi Flick

Source:

• Beth Hicks
• Me

From Cat Coats Tabby and White to Cat Facts

Animal Cruelty-Cats

Photo - Adam, burned cat copyright wndrngwlf - Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County.

Only humans can be cruel. Animal cruelty to cats is not uncommon. Although there are many gazillions of fine people who are tender towards cats and love them and animals generally. Sadly, some people and it seems an every increasing number of young people, have never been taught how to behave towards our fellow creatures (nor for that matter towards each other).

There is a lovely but tragic and heart-rending story on Flickr about a burned cat called Adam. He is a young cat. This happened mid July 2007. I'm posting it here as I hope it will get read more here and to remind us how cruel and idiotic this world can be. Most of the world's problems come down to plain ignorance and education (or lack of it). Some children in the UK are feral.

Adam was an 8 week old feral cat and in a cage when two fifteen year old girls apparently poured flammable liquid on him and set him alight. He lost his tail and ear tips and large areas of skin from his back and a lot more - his injuries were horrific in fact. The picture tells the story.

I don't know if he survived; he fought for his life with the help of a kind vet, Dr. Katheryn Hinkle, who worked free of charge. He had several operations. Adam, in fact, was one of several cats trapped and caged ready for neutering when this happened. He was left outside in the cage overnight (I am not sure about the morality of that either).

The vet said the children who did it needed more help than little Adam. In a testament to the beauty and forgiveness inherent in cats, Adam liked to play with people at the surgery despite his injuries. I love Adam and all vulnerable feral cats. Please don't harm them. We put them there.