Ragdoll Cat Forums

Question for the Raggie experts: It seems Sassy's face changes daily! In some lights I can really see the darkening of the "mask" area that would be seal/black colored on traditional sealpoints. However, as her colors are starting to come in I've noticed what seem like stripes on her forehead, and a little on her cheek(s)....even though her other tortie colors are marbled or cookie-crumb patterned on her nose, ears & feet (except for one hind foot which is white/flame marbled while the others are seal/flame/white

Is that little bit of striping normal for Torties or does that mean she's a Torbie? I guess it's like my breeder said when I got her, "Torties are all mixed up"....maybe that's why she fits in so well with us. LOL!

I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run, since I'm obviously not breeding her, but I can't help wondering what she might end up looking like in a few years.

Her are some photos that "hopefully" show what I'm talking about. It's hard to get pictures that capture coloring correctly. (And ignore the crazy blankets, my daughter had just made a "bed" for Sassy.)



Here are pictures of the marbling on her ears, she was playful so it's the best I could do.



Yes.....my husband is watching football so I have way too much time on my hands.

Her nose isnt the right color for her to be a torbie
What's showing up are called "Ghost Bands"
They arent real stripes, but are random bands of color that all cats have.

(09-03-2011 08:10 PM)BlueSkyRagdolls Wrote: [ -> ]Her nose isnt the right color for her to be a torbie
What's showing up are called "Ghost Bands"
They arent real stripes, but are random bands of color that all cats have.

Thank you, I knew someone here would know the answer! Her nose is definitely marbled black/pink (so are some of her paw pads) and not like the photos of torbies that I've seen.

It's so funny how she looks a little different every day. Of course, I feel that way about my own face these days....but that's another story, LOL!

Pointed cats are tabby "underneath." Although it is a fault, those tabby stripes sometimes show a bit, called ghost banding. A lynx (torbie) must have a lynx parent. Lynx/tabby cats have at least one copy of the gene that clearly shows the tabby stripes and the white around eyes and on the edges of ears, etc.

The red in torties usually comes in more slowly than the seal/blue/chocolate/lilac and that does change their look as it happens.

Thank you, Jan for that explanation! That makes perfect sense, the faint stripes just had me wondering. Her colors do seem to change a bit every day, it's fun to see!

JanH,

Does the ghost banding go away as they get older and the colors come in more?

Sue

Ok, somehow I messed up the first two photos last night and they're not showing up any more, will try to fix that.

(09-04-2011 08:31 AM)Ragsmomma Wrote: [ -> ]JanH,

Does the ghost banding go away as they get older and the colors come in more?

Sue

It can seem to do that as the basic color becomes darker. However, it can also first appear in some cats as they get older. The darker the point color, the less ghost banding is likely to be clear - and point color tends to get darker with age.

Also, red/buff cats (flame/cream in pointed cats) will always have ghost banding to some extent, as will the red/buff/flame/cream patches in torties. This is because of some properties of the type of melanin present in the red coloring, which is different than that which is present in the other colors, or because the red gene silences the expression of the the tabby/solid gene, or something like that. I forget the exact details.

There, I think I fixed the photos!

That makes sense about the flame colors & banding. I googled lots of photos of torties and the ones with more flame on their face do tend to have more of that banding. Sassy obviously has a lot of the flame mixed with the seal points and I'm seeing the apricot/flame colors coming out more every day, maybe that's why I'm noticing the ghost banding more. Today she was laying on a pile of white towels and even her body color looked like it had some creamy/pale apricot tones to it, but that was just up next to the pure white, normally she looks creamy white...but she's definitely darkening up somewhat.

You ladies are so smart, all of the genetic stuff is so interesting to me!