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mom2Isis

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Hi everyone! I am new to the world of Sphynx cats. I adopted my 3 year old female red Sphynx about 6 weeks ago and am in love. Her name is Isis. I have 2 kids and 2 dogs as well, so we are busy! Looking forward to learning more about this breed and seeing all the cool Sphynx kitties out there.
 

Gizzymom

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Welcome, mom!!

Was Isis a rescue? I remember seeing a rescue on Petfinder a while back with the same name... just curious.

She is gorgeous!!! I have a thing for reds too!!:ThumbsUp:
 

marlene

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Welcome to the lair mom2Isis. I was going to ask about your kitty but I see Gizzymom already asked. She's a beautiful girl, looking forward to seeing more of her.
 

admin

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Hello mom2Isis and welcome to Sphynxlair! Congrats on adding a new sphynx member to your family! Pleas enjoy the site! :ThumbsUp:
 
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Nofuratu

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Welcome and congrats on your new kitty. She is lovely! Red is my favorite.
But now I am totally stumped and maybe the breeders on here can help!
Is the red colour different than orange?
Because I thought the orange colour in felines was attatched to the male chromosone making 99% of orange cats male.
confused.
 

gizmo6370

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Welcome and congrats on your new kitty. She is lovely! Red is my favorite.
But now I am totally stumped and maybe the breeders on here can help!
Is the red colour different than orange?
Because I thought the orange colour in felines was attatched to the male chromosone making 99% of orange cats male.
confused.

Red in cats is a sex-linked color, carried on the X gene. Therefore, a male cat whose X carries red will be a red tabby. A female cat who carries one red and one non-red X will be a patched tabby, a tortoiseshell, or a calico (if she also has the dominant gene for white markings). A female cat who is homozygous for red (has it on both X genes) will be a red tabby. This is why you see more male red tabbies than females. :Smile:
 

marlene

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Nofur, if you see a red female cat you know 2 things for sure: her father was red and her mother has red ( is all red or a tortie, torbie, or calico).

Another interesting fact is that a red female will have only red male offspring. That's because males inherit their predominant color from their dams. And all female offspring of this dam will be all red or a red combination color (torbie, tortie, calico).

I haven't even touched on modifying genes such as dilute, because that makes it even more confusing.

In the show world, "red" is the proper term for what non-catfancy people call orange. In show cats with good color it isn't a bright orange like you see on the neighborhood moggy, it's a deep rich mahogany shade. At least that's what the breeders try to get. And cream kitties are genetically red - what makes them cream is that they inherited the dilute gene (it's recessive) from each parent and that modified the red, making it appear much lighter or paler. But cream kitties are genetically red and that's what they can contribute to their babies.

Now I need someone to explain to me how the pointed pattern works!
 

gizmo6370

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Now I need someone to explain to me how the pointed pattern works!

I will try :Wink:

Siamese, Tonkinese, Burmese.
These are often called colours but are in fact patterns, and are the result of a series of alleles that determine albinism with lesser or stronger effects. Siamese are coloured almost white, except for the “points†or extremities: nose, ears, tail and paws. Tonkinese cats are a bit darker, and Burmese are the darkest of the three. All three have darker points than the rest of their bodies. Temperatures have a big influence on these cats, though: Siamese allowed to go outside, will have a much darker body than that of Siamese who stay indoors. That is why Siamese kittens are always born white: in the womb the extremities are as warm as the rest of the body, whereas in the outside air, after birth, the extremities grow a bit colder than the rump, which houses the vital organs that are kept warmer by blood circulation.
A Siamese cat is also called Colour Point (or simply Point).
A Tonkinese cat also has a different name: Mink.
And a Burmese cat ca also be called Sepia.
All these forms can affect all colours. E.g., a Red Point is a red cat with Siamese properties. A Chocolate Mink is a brown cat with Tonkinese properties. A Blue Sepia is a grey cat with Burmese properties .
How can you see whether a kitten is Siamese, Tonkinese or Burmese?
Siamese kittens are born milky white and get their colours later. In dominant colours it is more obvious than in diluted colours. Minks and Sepia's are born with colour, and those colours will get darker later, as well.
A second give-away is the eye-colour. All kittens are born with blue eyes, just like human babies. A cat's eye colour starts changing around the age of 10 weeks.
Siamese cats have blue eyes. Tonkinese cats have blue-green eyes, also called aqua. Burmese cats have yellow eyes. The problem is that often the difference between blue and aqua only gets clear after several months. Before then pedigrees are made, so breeders have to know for sure.
Here, too, some genetics and the parents' pedigrees can be of help:
A Siamese cat needs two genes for Siamese. So does a Burmese cat. When a Siamese cat is mated to a Burmese, the result is a Tonkinese.
Two parents who are Siamese can only have Siamese kittens. Same with Burmese. The kittens of two Tonkinese, however, can be either Siamese, Burmese, or Tonkinese, depending on the genes that are passed on and combined. A cat cannot be “carrier†of the Tonkinese gene, because you need the combination of both Siamese and Burmese. A kitten from a Tonkinese parent can carry the gene for either Siamese or Burmese.

A cat carrying no single pointed gene at all, can never produce a pointed kitten or a Mink kitten. In combination with the right partner, it can produce kittens that carry either the Siamese or the Sepia gene. A kitten carrying only one of either genes (Siamese or Sepia) will not show this on the outside (fenotype) It could, in combination with the right partner and depending on which gene it carries, produce Siamese, Mink or Sepia kittens.
So it is important to look at the pedigree at former generations. Sometimes you can find out by studying the pedigree which genes can or cannot be passed on.
It becomes more difficult when a cat is Siamese or Burmese carrier, but isn't Siamese or Burmese itself, especially if this trait had been passed on for a few generations without surfacing. Two non-pointed parents can get pointed kittens, if they both carry and pass on the gene. It is, therefore, a recessive gene.
As kittens grow older, often the colour of their nose leather and paw pads can tell you what colour their coat or skin is.

Colour Pattern Prediction for Pointed cats:

Colourpoint x colourpoint: all kittens are colourpoints. They are all born white and their eyes remain blue.
Colourpoint x mink: 50% colourpoint and 50% mink kittens. Mink kittens are born with colour, which darkens more with time. Their eyes turn aqua.
mink x mink: 25% sepia kittens, 50% mink kittens and 25% colourpoint kittens. Sepia kittens are born with colour, their eyes turn yellow(-greenish).
mink x sepia: 50% mink and 50% sepia kittens.
sepia x colourpoint: all kittens are mink. :Smile:
 
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Gullivers Keeper

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I don't think I've ever seen a solid red cat, just tabby... well except for Sphynx's... are there a lot of solid red furry cats?
 

IsisDot

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Hey there! My girl's name is Isis too! Did you give her that name or is that what her previous parents named her?
 

mom2Isis

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Thanks everyone! Well, she was kinda a rescue. We renamed her Isis - a name my son picked out. I got her from a local "breeder". She was downsizing on her females and never could get Isis (she called her Luci - AKA Lucille Bald) to go into heat, so she was selling her for a very, very low price. She came with allergy issues (tons of coughing and sneezing). I am so happy I found her, though. She is just the best cat ever. I have never been able to have a cat due to my allergies and I have had no allergic reaction or asthma attacks with Isis. I cannot even get near a cat with fur without immediately feeling terrible. Isis has been sucha blessing to us! Luckily I have her allergy stuff under control with new food, but now we are going through some GI problems, so we are just hoping and praying we can figure out how to help her. She is such a happy, loving addition to our family. I am definitely hooked on Sphynx cats now!
 

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