Читать книгу The Cat Handbook - Karen Leigh Davis - Страница 17

The world has more shorthaired cats than longhairs for a sound, scientific reason. In the absence of purposeful or isolated breeding, natural selection in most regions seems to have tipped the odds in favor of the shorthaired cat over the longhaired variety. This is because the gene that produces a short coat is dominant, while the gene for a long coat is always recessive. Dominant genes are so named because they tend to suppress or mask the qualities of any recessive genes that may be present.

A kitten inherits one gene for coat length from each parent. This means that, to be born with short hair, a kitten has to inherit a dominant gene for this trait from at least one parent. To be born with long hair, a kitten must inherit two recessive genes for this trait—one from each parent. These basic genetic principles apply to any breed.

The kitten that inherits a short-haired gene from one parent and a longhaired gene from the other will be a shorthaired cat, even though he carries a hidden or unexpressed longhair gene. Due to the dominance of the shorthaired gene, the gene for long hair is not expressed. However, a shorthaired cat that carries both types of genes is capable of producing either short- or longhaired offspring when paired with a mate carrying like genes. Cats that carry genes for both long and short hair are genetically heterozygous.

Cat Breeds
Abyssinian	A slender, shorthaired breed famous for its "ticked" or agouti coat
American Curl	Shorthaired and longhaired varieties that sport ears that curl backward
American Bobtail	A naturally occurring short-tailed cat that comes in all colors
American Shorthair	Formerly the Domestic Shorthair, with plush, short fur and a rounded face
American Wirehair	Similar to the American Shorthair, except for its coarse, crimped, springy, wiry coat
Balinese	The longhaired version of the Siamese cat
Bengal	A spotted, man-made hybrid resulting from an Asian leopard cat-domestic cat cross
Birman	Called the Sacred Cat of Burma, a longhaired, pointed breed that has four white paws
Bombay	A jet black, shorthaired breed with gold or coppercolored eyes
British Shorthair	Great Britain’s native shorthaired cat that comes in many colors, most commonly blue
Burmese	"Copper Cat" from Burma that is noted for its glossy, rich, dark brown, short coat
California Spangled	A shorthaired spotted cat that resembles a miniature leopard
Chartreux	A blue-gray-colored, short-coated cat known as the "smiling cat of France"
Chausie	A large, long-bodied, cat resembling its wild ancestor, the Jungle cat of Thailand
Chantilly/Tfiffany	A longhaired cat that comes in chocolate brown and several other colors
Colorpoint Shorthair	Like the Siamese in most aspects, a cat that comes in more colors
Cornish Rex	A breed that has short, soft, wavy hair as its distinguishing feature
Cymric	The longhaired version of the Manx cat
Devon Rex	Discovered in Devon, England, a cat that has a thin, wavy coat and curly whiskers
Donskoy	A Russian hairless breed that is often born coated but generally loses its hair within the first year
Egyptian Mau	A spotted tabby (the word mau means “cat” in ancient Egyptian)
European Burmes	Similar to the American Burmese, but available in more colors
Exotic Shorthair	A shorthaired version of the Persian cat, recognized as a separate breed
Havana Brown	Shorthaired cats from Siam with rich, burnished brown coats and green eyes
Himalayan	A Persian cat with Siamese-type colorpoint markings
Japanese Bobtail	Short- and longhaired varieties noted for their bunnylike bobbed tails
Javanese	Another Siamese-type cat that is the longhaired version of the Colorpoint Shorthair
Kurilian Bobtail	A natural short-tailed breed, occurring in short- and longhaired varieties, that Is native to the Sakhalin and Kuril Islands of Russia
Korat	A silvery-blue short-coated cat originating in Thailand
La Perm	A curly-coated American breed with short or long hair that falls in loose ringlets
Maine Coon	An American breed prized for its heavy, shaggy coat and large size
Manxa	A shorthaired, tailless cat that originated on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea
Minskin	A short-legged, sparsely haired breed with fur “points” on the face, ears, nose, legs, and tail
Munchkin	A short-legged cat whose long body and low-slung posture resembles that of a ferret
Nebelung	A blue cat with a silky, medium-long coat and silvertipped guard hairs
Norwegian Forest Cat	A longhaired cat from Norway that is among the largest of domestic breeds
Ocicat	An American breed of shorthaired cat with leopardlike spots and an agouti coat
Ojos Azules	“Blue eyes” in Spanish, this cat’s most notable physical feature
Oriental	Built like the Siamese, a breed that comes in more colors and in both coat lengths
Persian	A longhaired cat with rounded head and eyes and fiat face and nose
Pixie-Bob	A new domestic short-tailed cat that is visually similar to the bobcat
Ragdoll	A longhaired cat typically marked with dark points and white mittens and blaze
RagaMuffin	A cat that shares the Ragdoll's background but is recognized and shown in many more colors
Russian Blue	A blue cat with green eyes and plush, double-coated short fur
Savannah	A spotted cat that resulted from a cross between the wild African Serval and a domestic shorthair
Scottish Fold	A breed with shorthaired and longhaired varieties that sport forward-folded ears
Selkirk Rex	A curly-coated cat that comes in both long- and short-haired varieties
Serengeti	A wild-looking, usually spotted cat developed by crossing the Bengal with Oriental shorthairs
Siamese	A colorpoint shorthaired breed from Siam (Thailand), with a long, slender body
Siberian	A large, longhaired cat from northern Russia similar to the Norwegian Forest Cat
Singapura	The smallest of domestic breeds, an agouti-patterned cat from Singapore
Snowshoe	An American shorthaired breed with colorpoint markings and white feet
Sokoke	A shorthaired cat sporting a distinctive, ticked tabby coat, native to Kenya, Africa
Somali	The longhaired version of the ticked-coated or agouti-patterned Abyssinian cat
Sphynx	A slender, big-eared, hairless breed produced by a spontaneous genetic mutation
Thai	Also referred to as the “old-style Siamese,” this breed is dedicated to preserving the natural pointed cat that Is native to Thailand today.
Tonkinese	Once called the Golden Siamese, a shorthaired cat that Is a Siamese/Burmese cross
Toyger	The result of a Bengal and domestic shorthair cross, this cat with bold, randomly placed vertical stripes truly resembles a miniature or “toy” tiger.
Turkish Angora	Although most commonly white, longhaired cats that come in many other colors
Turkish Van	Longhaired white cats with color occurring in the Van pattern on the head and tail
York Chocolate	A chocolate-colored cat with a medium-long coat

Cats that have only longhair genes or only shorthair genes are said to be homozygous for that trait. The beautiful longhaired Persian cats, for example, are homozygous because they must possess two longhair genes before the recessive longhair trait can express itself. Consequently, Persians, when bred to other longhairs, always produce longhaired offspring.