PawPeds. The Ascent of Cat Breeds: Genetic Evaluations of Breeds and Worldwide Random Bred Populations. Feline advisory bureau - the website dedicated to feline wellbeing. Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health. Feline Genetics: The Pigment Parade. By Lorraine Shelton of Featherland Cattery Of all the genetics questions I get asked, no other genetic phenomenon seems to inspire curiosity quite like our cats that have white on them. Some are totally white (epistatic white gene), some have patches of white (the piebald gene), some have cute little white mittens and shoes (gloving),and some have no more than a few little hairs of white on their chests or tummies (lockets). Strangely enough, although all of these cats may be very different genetically, they exhibit the results of the same physiological phenomenon.
To understand this, we have to not only know some basics of genetics, but some concepts of embryology as well. Most of us are familiar with the terms "dominant" and "recessive". The piebald gene, responsible for our bicolors and vans, is dominant. Two white cats can produce a non-white cat. This is NOT the case with the piebald white spotting gene, the one that gives the cat fancy its lovely bicolors and tricolors.