Ok guys, wanted to clear this up:
If you have two cats that both HIDE some special fur, but SNOW something else, and you mate them together - and alas, the kitten shows the parents' SHOWN fur instead of their HIDDEN. -Then that kitten is what we usually refer to as a "dud". -It was meant to be something special - but it is not.
What's worse - some of these kittens are advertised as something they are not. "I am hiding Balinese Seal Lynx!" -just to take a popular example.
So, let's make an example:
A is the SHOWN fur - the DOMINANT fur
b is the HIDDEN fur - the RECESSIVE fur
You take two cats with the genes
Ab + Ab, and you mate them. What do you get?
There are 4 possibilities:
AA, Ab, bA, bb.
ONLY the
bb will SHOW the recessive fur. The rest will not. That makes the chance of getting that recessive fur 25%.
-But, and here comes the POINT of this post: Once you mates
Ab + Ab, and you are left with a kitten that SHOWS fur A, what do you have??
You have
AA, bA or Ab. (NOT bb - obviously.)
So, 3 options left, and only TWO of these carry the gene for that recessive fur.
CONCLUSION: Since you're left with 3 options where only 2 carry the gene, the chance for the kitten to hide what you're after is 2/3 - around 66%.
DO NOT ADVERTISE THIS KITTEN AS HIDING THAT RECESSIVE FUR!
If you do, You WILL be known for trying to cheat your costumers. You WILL be annoying people. There ARE enough people out there who can see through this, and your reputation WILL be tainted.
-A few courageous people will have the guts to tell you this to your face - but most will just whisper it in the corners, leaving you in ignorant bliss. Don't do this to yourself - believe me, it is not worth it.
You need to advertise this kitten as having a CHANCE of that special fur - and heck, the chance is good! 2 out of 3 - 66%. Doesn't exactly make your kitten worthless.
Ok there - now it's said. More blunt than I normally would, but someone needed to say this out loud... VERY loud. I hope this was loud enough ;-)
Saga
P.S. Ok, maybe a disclaimer is needed: This calculation with percentages is based on the ASSUMPTION that KittyCatS are scripted to work with normal, standard genetics. -Which I believe that we have proven again and again that they do, but it's is not "officially confirmed".
This, however, does not mean that my post may be entirely wrong, it just means that the percentages may be slightly off, but ONLY if KittyCatS are actually scripted to have a higher or lower chance of throwing hidden or shown fur than they "normally" would. -I firmly believe this is not the case, but it is one of those things I'd actually love to have confirmed - not so much for my own sake (Since I am pretty damn sure as it is), but for the sake of those who seem to believe that random is not actually random... ;-)
P.P.S. In the above example I talk about furs - but this obviously also goes for any other traits and eyes. -In case anyone was in doubt
A + A = YAY? -When is a cat hiding that special fur...
