Interesting/shocking fact: Smokey’s sire is probably an orange tabby!
Yesterday we talked about cat genetics. And I told you I’ve been dabbling in this topic a little for a future Klepto Cat Mystery. Well, during my search, I connected with a cat DNA specialist who’s on staff at a major university and I discovered that Smokey’s (aka Rags’s) sire (a roaming neighborhood cat) was probably a red (orange, ginger, marmalade) cat. Now
that was a surprise.
As some of you may know, Smokey’s mother was a Ragdoll. Some of the kittens looked like Mama, there was a calico and there were a few solid grey kittens and Smokey—dark grey-and-white.
My sister-in-law (who owned the Ragdoll) saw an orange shorthair in the neighborhood at the time of perceived conception, and a black cat. I would have thought what most of you are probably thinking—yeah, Smokey is probably a product of the black cat.
But the scientist ran the numbers—the formula related to cat coloring—and she has determined that Smokey’s father is most likely the orange cat my sister-in-law saw or another orange cat—not the black one. Now I’m trying to figure out how to use that tidbit in Book 41. Oh, do I have fun writing these stories for you.
Our two gingers, Rascal and Gingerbread Man (aka Ginger) are liter mates. One has long hair and one short. Their mom (Little Blue) was gray with some beige markings, but grandma Snickers is gray-striped. Kitty DNA is interesting and kinda weird.
Oh, interesting! Thank you for throwing that out there.