(05-15-2013 08:28 AM)Liriel Garnet Wrote: One thing I found out when I buy a very recessive trait on a low-trait kitten .. i don't sibling breed. I take the cat with the trait i bought and mate it with a 9t partner with the rest of the traits i want and a very dominant trait in the slot i'm trying to work in.
That's kind of what I did. I took the bellini cat and bred with a nice 9T with blueberry. Then I did try sibling breeding also smooshing with other 8 to 9 traiters, it still took at least 4 generations of opening gen tail boxes to get a cat with the eye and a tail showing. I know trait throwing is supposed to be a 50/50 proposition but it *seems* to me that if you have a cat that has been bred gen on gen for a long time it gets very 'sticky'. May be just my perception but I try to avoid it myself and am very leery of buying cats with all gen in a certain trait slot in pedi. Now I've had a few great surprises from cats like that too, but I kinda groan still when I see it because I know how much work it will be to get the trait combo I'm after.
But I know it happens at times. I have a couple cats now that I bred for the organica eyes that have all gen tails. I'm now working to get tails back in that line, but to begin with, I was just excited about the eyes and wanted THEM to show so... there ya go lol.
I learned a lot trying to breed out those eyes, and am a lot more willing to let a trait be hidden now.
Now with the curious/big eyes..I seem to have better luck. I seem to get at least one box here and there with perfect out of the blue or at least myst or small. I open that one when I can and try to put with perfect eyes or at least the missing trait for perfect.
The conclusion I've some to though after two years of breeding is this; Cats are just stubborn little buggers *nods*.
