Welcome To The Instructional Breeding Project II

[Charles Courtois]

I was originally planning to write about breeding techniques this week, but since we just had a new starter release, I figure it would be best if I revisited the topic of what to do with these starters in the first few weeks.

First of all, my normal advice regarding breeding starters together is that it is generally not a good idea, because (1) it tends to result in low-traited offspring, (2) because both parents are 50% likely to pass Genesis traits, it is hard to tell whether the offspring’s hidden trait is genesis or not, which could be vital information to have if one the starters happens to hide some highly desirable trait, and (3) even if both starts pass non-Genesis hiddens, it would be impossible to tell which starter passed which trait without breeding them separately. However, since there are special kittens that can be produced by breeding Scarecrows together or Monster Mashes together, it’s a good idea to get the special kittens from them at some point during their breeding periods. However, only put them together for the one breeding to get the special ; the rest of the time, put them with highly traited cats, ideally with fairly recessive (and preferably retired) traits, at least until you discover what the starter’s hiddens are.

It is also a good idea to pay attention to the forums and Saga’s charts over the next few weeks, as new traits emerge, to get an idea of what traits are emerging and how recessive they are. Also, if you do get any information on the relative dominance of a new trait, please send your information to SagaKitty, Wendi or myself, so we can keep the charts up-to-date (which will probably be quite the challenge in the weeks ahead).

Finally, when picking partners for your starters, you may want to pay a bit of extra attention to eye colour and whiskers, since there are definitely new eye and whisker traits in this release. It is also always a good idea to be careful about choosing the furs you use carefully, as new furs and eye colours (especially furs) tend to be the traits that garner the most attention in the marketplace.

Now, let’s move on to taking a look at the kitten we got from the most recent breeding of Sydney and Arti. Here’s the pedigree:



Week 2 Kitten (which is still in the box for now, is a male showing 2 traits (whisker colour and whisker shape), neither of which were showing in Week 1 Kitten, and, since dad Sydney is a 9-traiter, is hiding all 9 traits (Sydney can only pass non-Genesis traits). Let’s examine implications of this result.

First of all, Week 2 Kitten is a boy. This is important to note, since it does open up the possibility of breeding this back to mother Arti in an attempt to discover any of Arti’s mystery hidden traits that Week 2 Kitten happens to be carrying. Technically speaking, it is also possible to sibling breed this cat to Week 1 Kitten. However, it would not really accomplish anything to do so.

Exercise: Look at Week 1 Kitten (which showed 18-carat Gold eyes, Curious Tail, Rounded Ears, and Genesis traits everywhere else. Imagine that you bred this cat with Week 2 Kitten, and assume that the breeding went amazingly well, and that you got a 9-traited cat from the breeding! This would be remotely possible, since both hide all 9 traits (since their dad shows all 9 traits). What would be the range of results (which would be the best-case scenario) in terms of shown traits that you would get in the offspring? Assume that their dad Sydney may hide Siamese Flame and Glitter shade, but has pure (i.e. hidden is the same as shown) traits everywhere else.

Now, let’s take a look at Week 2 Kitten’s shown traits and see what we can learn.

Whisker Colour: Week 2 Kitten is showing 2-Tone Black and White whiskers. Dad Sydney shows Black whiskers, and mom Arti (who is a starter) shows Silver whiskers (as all starters do, at least under any costumes they happen to be wearing). According to Saga’s charts, Week 2 Kitten’s 2-Tone Black and White whiskers are dominant to dad Sydney’s shown Black whiskers. Therefore, the 2-Tone Black and White trait did not come to Week 2 Kitten from dad Sydney (since the more dominant 2-Tone Black and White cannot hide under Sydney’s shown Black whiskers (a hidden trait will always be at least as recessive as the shown trait, except in very specific situations which KittyCatS! always informs us about beforehand (e.g. Lucky Irish Clover and Royal Sapphire eyes)); the shown 2-Tone Black and White must have come from mom Arti, and thus must be Arti’s hidden whisker trait (hiding under her more dominant Silver whiskers).

Whisker Shape: Week 2 Kitten shows Curious whiskers. Dad Sydney is known to have pure Curious whiskers, whereas starter mom Arti is showing Guitar whiskers (as all non-costumed starters do). Since Sydney has pure Curious whiskers, he can have passed only the Curious whisker shape to Week 2 Kitten. But Week 2 Kitten’s shown whisker shape is Curious. Therefore, Week 2 Kitten got his shown whisker shape from dad Sydney, and thus got his hidden whisker shape from mom Arti, and Week 2 Kitten’s hidden whisker shape is at least Curious. Since Arti’s shown Guitar whiskers are dominant to Curious, Week 2 Kitten is hiding Arti’s hidden whisker shape, which is Curious or more recessive.

So now we have another mystery to solve…what is Arti’s hidden whisker shape? Unlike Week 1 Kitten, Week 2 Kitten is a male, and thus could be bred back to Arti try and discover Arti’s hidden whisker shape. However, it isn’t the best course of action at this point in my opinion. So far, we have 3 hidden traits of Arti’s that are the same as, or recessive to, Sydney’s traits (tail, ears and whisker shape); using Week 2 Kitten to backbreed to Arti would, at best, help us determine only one of those (whisker shape). Secondly, Arti could potentially be hiding Curious whiskers, and backbreeding wouldn’t reveal this. Finally, Arti has yet to pass her hidden non-Genesis fur (all starters hide a non-Genesis fur), and I would like to have an idea of the fur Arti hides before switching breeding partners around. In a normal breeding situation, I would definitely give serious consideration to switching Arti’s breeding partner to a cat with a more recessive tail, eye and whisker shape. However, for the sake of the project, I would rather avoid using a cat that might be too expensive for many people to acquire, and instead focus on illustrating breeding techniques once I breed out the kittens I need to do so. For now, I will keep Week 2 Kitten in the box; if I happen to get a female kitten in a subsequent breeding that is carrying Arti’s hidden whisker shape, I may consider using him for a sibling breed at that point.

To summarize what we have learned about Arti’s hidden traits in the first 2 breedings…Arti is hiding:
18-carat Gold eye colour,
Curious tail or more recessive,
Rounded ears or more recessive,
2-Tone Black and White whisker colour, and
Curious whisker shape or more recessive.
Since Arti is a starter, she will also be hiding some non- Genesis fur (which Arti didn’t pass in the first 2 breedings).

As always, feel free to reply to this thread with questions or comments, and good luck with your new starters!

Exercise Answer: We know that both Week 1 and Week 2 are hiding a fur trait from Sydney (either Aby Fawn or Siamese Flame), a shade (either Flair or Glitter), Mysterious eye shape, and Small pupils. Week 1 shows 18-carat Gold eyes, and both Week 1 and Week 2 are hiding Sydney’s Mercury eye colour, so if we bred them together and got a non-Genesis eye back, it would have to be either 18-carat Gold or Mercury. Similarly, Week 2 shows 2-Tone Black and White whiskers, and both Week 1 and Week 2 are hiding Sydney’s Black whiskers, so if we bred them together and got a non-Silver whisker colour back, it would have to be either 2-Tone Black and White or Black.

Week 1 shows Curious tail and is hiding Arti’s hidden tail trait, and Week 2 is hiding Sydney’s Curious tail under his shown Genesis tail. For Week 1 and Week 2 to produce a non-Genesis tail, Week 2 will have to pass his hidden Curious tail to the offspring; Week 1 will pass either Curious tail or Arti’s hidden tail. Since Arti’s hidden tail trait is Curious or more recessive, it will hide under the Curious that Week 2 will pass if he doesn’t pass Genesis. So, any offspring of Week 1 or Week 2 that isn’t showing a Genesis tail will have to show a Curious tail.

Similarly, Week 1 shows Rounded ears and is hiding Arti’s hidden ear trait, and Week 2 is hiding Sydney’s Rounded ears under his shown Genesis ears. For Week 1 and Week 2 to produce a non-Genesis ears, Week 2 will have to pass his hidden Rounded ears to the offspring; Week 1 will pass either Rounded ears or Arti’s hidden ear trait. Since Arti’s hidden ear trait is Rounded or more recessive, it will hide under the Rounded that Week 2 will pass if he doesn’t pass Genesis. So, any offspring of Week 1 or Week 2 that isn’t showing Genesis ears will have to show Rounded ears.

Finally, Week 2 shows Curious whiskers and is hiding Arti’s hidden whisker shape, and Week 1 is hiding Sydney’s Curious whiskers under her shown Guitar whiskers. For Week 1 and Week 2 to produce non-Guitar whiskers, Week 1 will have to pass her hidden Curious whiskers to the offspring; Week 2 will pass either Curious whiskers or Arti’s hidden whisker shape. Since Arti’s hidden whisker shape is Curious or more recessive, it will hide under the Curious that Week 1 will pass if she doesn’t pass Guitar. So, any offspring of Week 1 or Week 2 that isn’t showing Genesis tail will have to show a Curious whiskers.

To sum up, a 9-traiter produced by breeding Week 1 Kitten and Week 2 Kitten will be showing the following traits:
Aby Fawn or Siamese Flame fur,
18-carat Gold or Mercury eyes,
Mysterious eye shape,
Small pupils,
Flair or Glitter shade,
Curious tail,
Rounded ears,
And either 2-Tone Black and White or Black Curious whiskers.

(Note that this cat would tell us absolutely nothing about the hidden traits of her grandmother Arti that we haven’t already learned, which is why this sibling breeding would be pointless for learning about Arti’s hiddens).