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Oreo is a Domestic Medium Hair!
The Egg & sperm cells of cats each contain 19 chromosomes. At conception, they team up to create a unique set of 19 pairs. The genes for each characteristic also pair up, side by side. Thus, any mutations or mistakes can create a new trait.
Genetic variations in a characteristic are called dominant if one copy is needed to show an effect and recessive if two copies – one on each chromosome - are needed. Original traits tend to be dominant and new mutations tend to be recessive. As an example, the original trait for hair length was for short coats, so it’s a dominant trait.
The gene for long hair is recessive in cats. This means that there must be one copy passed to the kitten from each parent. The mutation that created long-haired cats occurred centuries ago in Central Asia, probably as a survival mechanism to protect the cats from the cold climate. They were brought to Europe in the 1500's and were initially referred to as "Persians".
The medium coat is caused by the cat having fewer secondary "down" hairs than the long-haired breeds and by the cat having a shorter growth and "shedding" cycle. Simply put, the coat has length without being as thick.
A cat’s hair grows out during a 60 to 90 day cycle, rests during a 40 to 60 day cycle, and then falls out. This is mainly influenced by the length of day. During the longer days of spring, more hair falls out. As the days shorten, less falls out and the coat appears to thicken. Indoor cats are less affected and shed on a year round cycle. The hair of a long-haired cat does not grow faster; the growth stage is just more extended than for the short-haired cats.
The hair of a cat is not like human hair. We have a single hair growing out of each follicle. Cats have up to 6 primary hairs, (each surrounded by secondary down hairs), growing from each follicle. The cat also has arrector muscles, (muscles that lift or erect the hair), surrounding each follicle. They raise their hair in response to anger, fear and cold temperatures.
We are pleased to welcome Oreo to our practice!
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