Cats
description of pink-eyed dilution. What is exciting, is the possibility of a lost phenotype
reappearing in cats. The colour also needs to be bred into furred cats for study. Anna notes
that the chocolate colour (b at the TYRP1 (B) locus) is not accepted in the Donskoy, although
it can be very attractive. For more than seven years, Donskoy Discovery has bred show-
quality cats, including some that resembled chocolate colour. Unlike Chocolate Orientals, the
Donskoys had an unusual eye colour that appeared pink in some lighting conditions. This was
initially attributed to a combination of the chocolate gene with the dominant hairless gene,
but the work of Kathryn Eden and Anna Kholmska and genetic testing has shown that the
chocolate allele is absent. The cats need to be tested to confirm the presence of the dominant
B allele (black). The coat and eye colour could be caused by a novel dilution of black (if B is
annaabi.ee 
