hello!!! i would really appreciate help in trying to decipher my cats so that i have the best chance at getting an albino. i was told this fella is able to have albino kittens, but i'm having a really hard time figuring out why, where or who.
what cat would i need to breed him with to produce them (that isn't an albino)?


i already know he carries solid, no-white, dilute and longhair

@tomo
Bear cannot produce an Albino without an Albino partner.

Albinism is a white marking, symbolized as Y10. There are eleven white markings in total, ranging from 0 (no white) to 10 (fully white, aka albino). White markings in breeding are on a scale, meaning offspring have a chance at having white markings inbetween and including the parents' white markings.

For example: Locket is Y1. Breeding two cats with Locket will only produce kittens with Locket.
Another example: Van is Y9. Breeding a cat with Locket to a cat with Van will produce kittens with Y1-Y9, which is every single white marking except Y0 (no white) and Y10 (albino).

Y0 shouldn't be confused with expressing no white. Y0 means the cat has no white markings in them at all, even hidden. Expressing no white means the cat carries a white marking but doesn't show it. For example, this cat, while no showing white, has hidden white:

(She has hidden Freckled Piebald, which is Y8).

Your best chance at breeding an Albino is to breed two Albinos together or an Albino to a cat with Van. One of the parents needs to be expressing the white markings because not expressing white is a recessive gene.

@nae

i see! thank you so much. this clears a lot of stuff up, because i've been hearing stuff about "hidden albinos" so i thought maybe albinism would also be recessive to a degree.

back to the drawing board

@tomo
Technically albinism isn't recessive, just more rare to come across! I have seen a few NN10 (hidden albinism; carrying Albino as a white marking but not expressing it) cats, so they do exist.

Being Van, Citrus is going to be your best bet at finding a partner. In the bean predictor, if you test Citrus with a cat with no white markings and they produce any cats with a whitemarking other than Van or Albino, then the partner can't make Albinos with her. If they give only Vans, then the partner is carrying hidden Van.

I hope that makes sense! Best of luck on your Albino journey