Dilute coat color
The dilute gene is responsible for the intensity of the coat color by affecting the amount of pigments in the hair shaft. The pigment granules are clumped and distributed unevenly along the hair shaft, resulting in a clear color.
The "dilute" phenotype in domestic cats affects both eumelanin and phaeomelanin pathway. The dilution of black results in a gray ("blue") phenotype, while dilute combined with orange appears as a cream color, chocolate results in lilac and orange in creme.
Requirements
The tests are performed out of EDTA whole blood (0.5 ml) or cotton swabs. These cotton swabs are available upon request. Testing is performed a few times per week at Laboklin. The results are due about one week after arrival of the sample in our laboratory.
