Persians, Himalayans, and Siamese--Cats with cool markings

You know how cats like Cocoa Puff have really cool markings?  Just their ears and faces and paws and tails have dark coloring and the rest of their fur is light colored.  Cocoa Puff is called a "Seal Point" Persian.  His markings are very dark brown, almost black.

As handsome as Cocoa Puff is, I particularly like the "Flame Point" with reddish markings like Tuffy, who looks very comfortable sleeping in the bookcase.





Well I don't want to burst any bubbles here, but these pointed cats would have a hard time making it in the wild.  They don't camouflage well at all unless it is in a boutique somewhere--which is exactly where they would like to be.  Their eyes lack the ability to magnify low light the way nocturnal-hunting cats should.


That "hunting" thing is just gross.  Tiki is demonstrating the proper environment for a Persian (notice he is black and white--see yesterday's post).

Now for the reason that the pointed cats have such cool markings.  It is because they are marked in places that are cool--no, literally, cooler than other places on their bodies.


These guys (and girls) have a form of albinism.  The gene that is supposed to tell their bodies to develop color can't spell correctly.  It is supposed to tell the skin cells to produce the enzyme tyrosinase which produces melanin--pigment.  Instead it misspells the name of the enzyme, the enzyme is "weak" and is easily destroyed by the slightest amount of heat--even the body heat from the cat itself is enough to stop its action.

What happens, then, is that on parts of the body that are cooler--ears, paws, tail, and face (because of the sinuses), the enzyme works to produce color and where it is warmer, they are somewhat less colored.

So, because of our preference for these beautiful animals, we have sentenced them to lives of pampered luxury.  Oh well, a price I suppose that is worth it.

(All photos by Sally Cowan at http://www.felinefoto.com/ )

~klock