BECCA'S CATS series #14 Mystery Cache

Mrs. Becca is our local cat expert. The Becca cat’s series was placed in honor of her. She has a unique way of loving your friends and family that be those with two legs or four. Please enjoy this series as it will grow into a geo art when it is done.

Let’s start with the basics, and make it all as comprehensible as possible. Albinism is a genetic condition in which there is a complete lack of color or pigmentation. For a kitten to be born a true albino cat, both the mother and father must carry the genetic marker for albinism. Where a white cat has a white coat, the cat is generally, in most other respects, a perfectly normal cat. An albino cat’s coat may appear to be white, but closer inspection, particularly of the eyes and skin, reveals a series of differences.

The first, easiest, and most important distinction between a white cat and an albino cat can be found in the eyes. White cats tend to have a range of eye colors, including the always-intriguing heterochromia, or “odd-eye,” in which the two eyes are different colors. On the other hand, albino cats’ eyes have a very limited spectrum due to the complete lack of pigmentation. The eyes of a true albino cat are limited to a very pale blue, or may appear pinkish or pinkish-blue.

Here, pink is not itself a color, but an excess of light reflecting back blood vessels within the eye. The same can be said of the skin of the albino cat. Looking even closer, an albino cat’s skin also lacks any pigmentation. The skin, most visibly the nose and inner ears, may appear to be anywhere from pink to pale pink. Again, this is not a color inherent to the skin, but a trick of light reflecting blood flow.