Caramel & Apricot

&

Cinnamon & Fawn Coat Colour

by John S Harrison

CARAMEL & APRICOT

Caramel & Apricot are most certainly not new colours, but have been in existence for many years. Whilst the gene responsible for Caramel colouring may have been present for many years, many breeders refused to accept that it existed, and some became extremely agitated if it was suggested that some of their kittens were Caramel! Once GCCF accepted Caramel as a colour in the Oriental it was amazing how almost overnight breeders, who had previously decried the colour, suddenly were so delighted that the colour gene was in their cat household! Unfortunately many breeders in the past disposed of unacceptable kittens, and kept their secrets hidden. Of course this doesn’t happen today, or does it? But then I suppose I’m a cynic!

There is little doubt that the ‘Dilute Modifier’ responsible for most Caramels in the Oriental and the Asian was inherited from the Chinchilla. This does not explain where the colour came from in the Burmese (whoops, of course there isn’t Caramel in Burmese!) or in the British Shorthair (there I go again imagining that there could be Apricots in British!) And of course the colour certainly didn’t exist in ‘pure’ Siamese, though I certainly know of at least one line which certainly has thrown up more than a few ‘odd coloured’ kittens.

In Oriental Shorthairs the Caramel colour can be traced back to SCINTASILVA SUE who was the result of a chance mating between MARISARNI DANDINO [24b] and MARISARNI RETARA [10]. Scintasilva Sue’s daughter SCINTILLA SERENE SUNSET (26) was by any standards a most beautiful queen who today would have been registered as a Black Tortie Silver Shaded. Miss Patricia Turner famed the world over not only for her SCINTILLA cats but also for her knowledge of genetics quickly realised in 1973 that Serena had the capacity to produce rather ‘odd coloured’ kittens. The Apricot and Caramel had arrived.

Pat mated Serena in 1972 and 1973 to various studs including CH DARLING RED RUFUS, 32a and TAURUS KAY KAVALIER, 24c and produced ‘apricot’ coloured kittens. In 1974 and 1975 Serena was mated to SOUTHVIEW TRAPPIST and NASYLA MINK MOONLIGHT and ‘caramel’ coloured kittens were produced. SCINTILLA DRESDEN ROSA, sired by SOUTHVIEW TRAPPIST, was the first registered Caramel. She was a Siamese with points the colour of ‘caramel toffee’, hence the colour name ‘Caramel’. Trappist was a chocolate coloured longhair (today he would have been called an Angora) bred from Abyssinians, Siamese and an American line of Recessive Whites!

The mating to NASYLA MINK MOONLIGHT, Serena’s half brother, produced SCINTILLA KAFFY OLE who I have always described as ‘a little animal of interesting colour and amusing type’! When I had Kaffy from Pat, no one was quite sure what she actually was, because her colour bore no resemblance to the other Caramels Pat had bred. For some time there was a question whether she was a ‘pink-eyed dilute’, which would have been a totally new colour break in cats. Kaffy had but one litter of kittens and many Caramel Orientals can be traced back to her. It is highly unlikely that there are any present day Caramel & Apricots which are not descended from the line based on Scintasilva Sue.

The colour of Caramel and Apricot is the result of the action of a dominant gene known as the ‘Dilute Modifier’ on Blue, Lilac and Fawn in the case of the Caramel; and Cream (which are also Blue, Lilac or Fawn based) in the Apricot. Current theory is that the presence of the Dilute Modifier gene converts Blue, Lilac and Fawn and the associated Red Series cats into Caramel and Apricot:

GENOTYPE

PHENOTYPE

BB dd Dm_

Caramel – Blue based

bb dd Dm_

Caramel – Lilac based

blbl dd Dm_

Caramel – Fawn Based

BB dd O Dm_

Apricot – Blue based

bb dd O Dm_

Apricot – Lilac based

blbl dd O Dm_

Apricot – Fawn Based

There is a considerable, and noticeable, difference between the three different Caramels especially in the Oriental Self forms, and to a lesser degree in the Tabby forms. In pointed cats the differences are far less distinct due to the action of the ‘siamese’ gene. The Dilute Modifier can be carried by Black, Chocolate, and Red cats but does not affect their colour – such cats will of course produce Caramel and Apricot offspring. One of the characteristics of Caramel Tabbies is metallic, aluminium like sheen, which is particularly visible across the neck and top of head, it is not so apparent in the self forms. Our current understanding of the action of the Dilute Modifier gene may not be complete. What does seem to be clear is that it is a dominant gene, and not incompletely dominant – as such there is no visible difference between the homozygote DmDm and the heterozygote Dmdm.

Where our understanding of the Dilute Modifier gene falls short is that in theory its presence changes Blue, Lilac and Fawn into Caramel, and correspondingly a Blue, Lilac or Fawn cat cannot carry the colour. There are clear examples of supposedly Blue cats bred from a Caramel parent producing Caramel kittens. One clear example was ARRIANRHOD GWYNHYFER, a Blue Classic Tabby female, who when mated to the indisputably Lilac Pointed CH SUNSYLPH ALLEGRO produced ARRIANRHOD FIORDILIGI a most obvious CARAMEL self! I judged Fiordiligi once. She was shown as a Lilac, and I took her home with me! Her breeder, Melanie Spencer, and I both knew she wasn’t Lilac, though GCCF thought they knew better. Eventually I convinced them that a re-registration was required! I judged Gwynhyfer on numerous occasions, and she most certainly wasn’t Caramel, but was a very intense blue; I would suggest ‘Indigo’. If this is true for Blue then it is probably equally true for Lilac and Fawn.

Do we really need to separate out to this degree? I think not, for the ramifications would be ludicrous. We register and judge cats by phenotype and not genotype. Unless there are distinct differences why bother separating them?

CINNAMON & FAWN

In 1969 Mrs Maureen Silson bred a Havana called CH SOUTHIEW UNACASSIOPEIA, who was the dam of CH SOUTHVIEW DUAKYLIN and CH SOUTHVIEW DUAEBONY. Duakylin went on to sire CH SIAVANNA FETICHE, CH SIAVANA FEU FOLLETTE and CH SIAVANA RANI – good Havanas all. Unacassiopeia was sired by KERNOW GERZA bred by Mrs Pam Eveley. Gerza was sired by a Red Abyssinian, TRANBY RED TUTANKHAMEN, and his dam was a Seal Point Siamese. Today, of course, Red Abyssinians are known as Sorrel. The colour of the Sorrel Abyssinan is caused by a recessive of Chocolate, and is known as ‘Light Brown’. Unacassiopeia’s dam was ANARTS MIIKO who was an import from the USA, and registered as 32c, which at that time was ‘Any Other Colour Siamese’ just as 26 was ‘Any Other Variety Shorthair’. Miiko however was not a visually pointed cat but was an ALBINO SIAMESE, which here in the UK was more correctly referred to as ‘recessive white’[c]. The group of alleles responsible being recessive to that for Siamese coloration. Cats with pedigrees containing Anarts Miiko spread quite rapidly and the GCCF introduced a Registration endorsement, so that the recessive was traced.

Albino Allellic Series

Symbol

Effect on Coat Colour

C

Full coat colour

cb

'Burmese' colouring

cs

'Siamese' colouring

c

Albino

Eventually many lines based on these superb Havanas were 'cleared' as being free from the recessive by mating a suspected carrier [Cc] to a Siamese [cscs] and continuing by the line from the coloured offspring. Any self coloured kittens [Ccs] were by definition free from the 'problem'; they had taken a Siamese allele from the one parent and therefore couldn't carry an 'albino' allele. The Siamese offspring could well have been carriers [csc]. In time the recessive white gene was eliminated, and all Cinnamon and Fawn cats can be traced back to this line.

Unacassiopeia inherited the 'Light Brown' gene from her sire and passed it on to many of her offspring who, when mated together, produced the colour we now call Cinnamon. Many Angoras too can be traced back to this origin. [The Oriental also gained the allele for Ticked Tabby Pattern from Tranby Red Tutankhamen, which lead to the creation of the Oriental Ticked Tabby]. Cinnamon and Fawn are the result of the colour gene ‘Light Brown’ symbolised bl, and are dilute versions of the Havana / Chocolate Point and the Oriental Lilac / Lilac Point:

GENOTYPE

PHENOTYPE

bb D_

Havana / Chocolate Point

blbl D_

Cinnamon

bb dd

Oriental Lilac / Lilac Point

blbl dd

Fawn

© John S Harrison
September 1999

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