Melanin
Melanin - pigment which colors the hair and skin
Down Hair ...
Melanin: Dark pigment produced by the body which give color to the skin, hair and eyes.
Metabolism: Physical and chemical processes that take place in a living being.
Mitted: White feet.
Eumelanin - Is a from of melanin that produces the brown shades in cats. (Black, Chocolate, Cinnamon and there dilute forms) as defined by the genes present.
Euthanasia - Humanely ending a life, ie: putting your cat to sleep.
Phaenomelanin - Orange pigment.
Phenotype - A term relating to the appearance of an animal as opposed to its genetic makeup.
Pinch - A break in the straight lines of the muzzle.
Melanin is a chemical in animals (including humans) and determines human skin color for example.The stripes that are on the kitten's coat are lost as she becomes an adult except for the legs, face and end of tail.
PHAEOMELANIN - The red - yellow based colors. Sex linked. (XR/XR) or ( O/O)
PHENOTYPE - The outward appearance of an individual cat which is dependent upon its genetic make-up.
This gene has the effect of reducing the melanin in the hair shaft particularly close to the skin, thus the colour is not sound to the roots and the coat will be paler than the full expression colour which is not effected by the gene.
The pointed pattern is a form of partial albinism, resulting from a mutation in tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin production.
Pigment: A substance, such as chlorophyll or melanin, that produces a characteristic color in plant or animal tissue.
Melanocytic tumors, which are the third most common oral tumors in cats, arise from a local invasion by neoplastic menlanocytic cells (melanin-producing cells) to the gingival surface.
Cats who are non-agouti will not generally display the tabby pattern, except in red areas. The non-agouti gene does not affect phaeomelanin, the red pigment, so red cats always show their tabby pattern.
 See also: Pigment, Genes, Agouti, Tortie, Cat Fancy
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