Basic Genetics: Breeding techniques     

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There are existing several breeding techniques which are combined with each other. Remember these are examples to be used by experienced breeders only! Random matings (matings with unrelated lines) to start with is always the most save thing to avoid disappointments!

Line breeding You cross cats whose pedigrees include related lines (=catteries). The advantage is that You keep the traits which are already existing in these lines, and You cross lines which do already harmonize with each other.

Example 1:
Let's show this on a concrete pedigree.

When you look on this pedigree, you have various choices which lines you can use for breeding.
In order to produce good qualty of kittens you should know these lines and which offsprings they produce. The study of the show results and their score board index can be of good help for You. If these lines included in the pedigree of your cat are often scoring in the charts you can assume that these lines might produce good kittens before you should use these lines for breeding.

You may choose the female out of the following lines:
Line of Pendlemist
This well known line worked out well with the line of Siau Tsj'oe
Line of Aspiro-Haruan
This line is not often in a pedigree but accoording to healht and beauty quiet satisfactory. This line seems to harmonize quite well with the line of Siau Tsj'oe.

Line of Siau Tsj'oe
This line off the father's side. It would be very interesting to have a daughter of Siau Tsj'oe Anouschka.

Line of DK Player's-Blue Felicity
This line is used only the mother's side. Therefore it would be interesting to use a female out of this line to mate with child of Crusader and Pepper.

You cross cats which are related to each other, f.e. father with daughter, mother with son, half siblings, cousins, uncle with niece, aunt with nephew, grandparent with grandchild.
When crossing relatives with each other already existing traits are fixed and intensified. But note, that also the faults already inherent are also intensified.
One word to the argument that inbreeding is unhealthy.
This argument is simply not true. For inbreeding of course the best cats have to be used, "best" means the most vigorous and most healthy cats - besides the most beautiful cats. The kittens born out of such an inbreeding program are more healthy than their parents because with inbreeding already existing traits - concerning the healthiness - are intensified and fixed.
It is in the responsibility of a serious breeder to select the cats which fit best for inbreeding. But You can't generalize and say inbreeding is unhealthy.


Example 2:

When You look to the pedigree of this cat You see immediately which cats have been used for inbreeding.
Inbreeding is the quickest way to fix some traits.

Siau Tsj'oe Red Crusader
This cat you can find at the father's side as well as at the mother's side. This cat is the father of the male as well the femal.
A lot of kittens will have a similar look like Crusader.
Pendelmist the Shogun
This cat is behind Crusader as well as Dazzling Jazz wich is on mother's side. She is the grandmother of the female on the top of the pedigree. Sure she would have a lot of traits coming from Shogun as well. Shogun is queit successful and unique modern Siamese, otherwise we would not used as often as we did.

Note there is also a brother-sister realtion namely Jumping jack Flash and Dazzling Jazz.

The same cat is used for mating in different generations.

Example 3:
On the pedigree above You can see the common ancestors which had been used in several generations. Especially the queen Siau Tsj'oe Romy is used several times as common ancestor.
Did you not sometimes think by yourself astonished: "Oh, look these cats are also in the pedigree of my cat. Hm, it seems that many cats are related to each other."
In fact that is the result of the breeding technique of the common ancestor. Some stud males or queens had been producing extraordinary kittens and therefore had been used in various generations. Your goal as breeder must be to breed such a common ancestor, to breed a queen or a stud male which produces very good kittens and therefore can be used in several generations.

You cross cats with each other which come from completely different lines.
This technique has to come into effect when line breeding or inbreeding does not improve anything more, that means when Your breeding program has come to a certain stagnancy.

You cross cats of different breeds.

Example:
An example is how You might breed cinnamon silver spotted cats, f.e. in the Ocicats or the Oriental Shorthairs, to improve the spots. Here You use so called cinnamon carriers, best is to use black silver spotted cats which carry cinnamon because of the better contrast.

Thanks to Mrs. Eveline Preis who benefit this lecture look here for more info