As Wendi's previous post indicated, I donated a very nice 9-traiter to put with Week2Kitten that we named Bailey. As it happens, Bailey, a 9T Cream Lynx with other very nice traits (including Light Wash eyes & Porcelain shade) is the descendant of a cat named Tilly that I bought from Wendi at auction. Through careful breeding I managed to get a pair of grandkitties showing the same traits as she does, and Bailey is the OS of those grandkitties hehe.
The nice thing about Bailey being a 9T with such a recessive fur available is that Balinese Cream Lynx is recessive to Balinese Blue Lynx ( since Bali Blue is dominant to Balinese Flame Lynx & Bali Cream is recessive to it), so breeding Week2Kitten to Bailey will give a Balinese Blue Lynx with at least 6 traits showing as an offspring 50% of the time ( the other 50% will show Russian Black & hide the Bali Cream). This is one of those situations ( a pretty new and still rare fur) where it really important to use one of the best cats available, so that is what we did. Many of you may not have a 9-traiter with such a recessive fur available, so what follows is an explanation of what I would do in that situation.
What we want to do is find a partner for Week2Kitten that will allow us to make offspring that are more nicely traited, on average, than Week2Kitten, but that also allow us to know when Week2Kitten's hidden Balinese Blue fur passes (that is the high-value trait that people will be looking for). Here is a list, in order of importance, of what to look for in a partner for Week2Kitten:
1. A fur recessive to Russian Black (Ocicat Cinnamon Silver or more recessive). This is the most important priority, since the Balinese Blue Lynx fur is what people will likely prize most in the offspring, and any offspring of Week2Kitten that show a fur recessive to Russian Black will carry the Balinese Blue Lynx as the hidden fur (ones showing Russian Black or something more dominant may not).
2. A high number of traits (preferably 9), since we are trying to produce offspring that are an improvement on Week2Kitten, and a higher traited OS will generally be more valuable.
3. If possible (but not necessary), a different hidden fur than what is showing, because it will make it a bit easier to track when the hidden Balinese Blue fur passes if you sibling breed offspring (assuming you do sibling breed the offspring, try and breed ones showing different shown furs together (as long as they are recessive to Russian Black); if you do that, & the more recessive of the 2 furs shows, that one should be carrying the Balinese Blue Lynx. Usually in a situation like this, I would prefer the hidden fur to be closer in dominance to the shown fur (it allows more "breeding room"), but in a situation like this where the fur of interest (Balinese Blue) is a bit of an unknown in terms of dominance, it may be worth it to look for a more recessive hidden fur and hope that the Balinese Blue fur shows over it.
When you put such a partner with Week2Kitten, 50% of the time you will get Russian Blacks (these WILL NOT carry the Balinese Blue Lynx fur), and the other 50% of the time they will show Week2Kitten's partner's fur (which WILL carry the Balinese Blue Lynx). The ones not showing the Russian Black are the ones you either want to sibling breed, backbreed to Week2Kitten, breed to a fur recessive to Bali Blue,or sell as hiding Balinese Blue fur (be sure to provide clear supporting evidence of this claim ( the Bali Blue full sibling of Week2Kitten's pedigree, clearly labelled "Mom's Bali Blue Full Sibling"), and DO NOT TRY TO SELL THE BLACK RUSSIAN OFFSPRING CLAIMING THEY HIDE BALINESE BLUE LYNX! The objective of sibling breeding/backbreeding/ breeding to a more recessive fur is to get a cat showing the Balinese Blue Lynx fur. If you can do that, then, if desired, you can work on getting a second Bali Blue & hope that you can get a breeding pair of Bali Blues.
If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask!
Instructional Breeding Project (Week 7 Info: MEGA!)
