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Tonkinese Tabby-Patterns Part 2 - Breeding Tabbies

© Linda Vousden

I recommend that you read Part 1 (the previous page) before reading this page.

Instead of calling them tabbies here, I am going to refer to them by their genetic name - agouti.

Where a cat inherits the same allele (version of a gene) from both parents it is homozygous for that particular gene.

Where a cat inherits a different allele of the same gene from each parent it is heterozygous for that particular gene.

A non-agouti cat has inherited

1. a recessive non-agouti allele (a) of the agouti gene from each parent - it is homozygous for non-agouti.

An agouti cat has inherited either -

2. a dominant agouti allele (A) from each parent - it is homozygous for agouti

 or

3. a recessive non-agouti allele (a) from one parent and a dominant agouti allele (A) from the other parent (it doesn't matter which parent) - it is heterozygous for agouti.

When a cat inherits the agouti allele from only one parent it will still be an agouti cat because the agouti allele is dominant over the non-agouti allele.

1. Non-Agouti (aa)      2. Agouti (AA)           3. Agouti (Aa) 

Homozygous              Homozygous             Heterozygous    

The following illustrations indicate the likely result of mating non-agouti and agouti cats (homo- or heterozygous).