I wanted to also call this one “Simplified and Streamlined” but I’m not simplifying anything. In fact I am making a mess. My biggest hope is that it helps explain why things happen.
I do have another guide dedicated to just explaining Genetics so I will not be repeating too much of what was said over there. This guide assumes you understand the basics of not-cat genetics. This guide also uses some of the terminology for gene sets established in the Genetics guide.

This guide is dedicated to RainyRuse, who cannot comprehend any of it.

As usual, if you have any questions, anything you want added or cleared up or explained more, flick me a message either here or via the unofficial PCE discord.

Please do not post, I may need the room as we get more species

Contents
F.A.Q.
Changelog
The Maths Rambles
Dark Rambles

Let’s get into it.

Not-Cat Breeding

The Basics
To even consider breeding two not-cats together they first need to be partners. This can be achieved through scenarios, or with the use of a Love Letter collection [item]. Your cats then need to make the beans through another scenario, or Catmint Tea [item]. (Items are used through the “Use Specialty Item” button on your not-cat’s page).

Litters can have 1-4 beans! As stated in the Life Stages tutorial:
5% chance of one bean
60% chance of two beans
34% chance of three beans
1% chance of four beans.

Once bred, not-cats can only breed again when their current children reach adolescence (91 days total. 7 for gestation, 28 x 3 for the three previous growth stages).
Now that that’s out of the way, time for the science.

The Science
Beans get their paired allele genes (in contrast to numbered genes) from their parents through Mendelian Inheritance. If you want a whole lot of biology thrown at you I recommend looking this up. At its core it’s a relatively simple theory. Each gene set has a pair of alleles, each parent has one pair for each gene. The bean will get one random allele from each parent. Generally these come together in four different combinations (some of them repeats or inverse) which can best be displayed using punnet squares.

Speaking of Punnet squares, I forgot to make any before starting this, so I will be back soon [23:10]. I am back, at [00:40].

This is a punnet square:

It’s what I would call one of the more classic arrangements in a punnet square. In this, both parents are Tradewinds, so both have NS. You can see here that any potential beans can be Double North, Trade, or Double South. You can also tell the percentage chance of potential beans. There is a 1/4 chance of North, 1/4 chance of South, and 2/4 (1/2) chance of Trade.

Paired genes also have a North allele (the first one) and a South allele (the second one). Their position in the parents is only really important in the Main Colour Gene (explained later). In the punnet squares; on the left edge the North is at the top and the South is at the bottom; on the top edge the North is at the left and the South is at the right.

However, beans are also affected by magnetism (wind), so the order the alleles are given to the bean is determined by the parents’ winds. The North parent will give either of their alleles to the North position, the South parent will give either to the South position. Trades will behave as either North or South depending on the wind of the other parent; or if you have two Trades one will behave as North and the other South throughout the entire string. [added on day 2, 23:34, condensed May 22, 22:45]

For numbered genes, the bean will get any number including and between both of the parents numbers. So if you have a 1 parent and a 4 parent, your beans will have the chance of being a 1, 2, 3, or 4. If both parents are the same number, the beans will only get that same number, etc.

Now that we know about the science, let’s dive into the Genetic break down of Breeding.


Species
At this time we only have one species, not-cats. When we get more I’ll add them to this guide.


Wind
There are three different wind alleles [N, S, O] that can create six different Wind genotypes [NN, NS, NO, SS, SO, OO]. Null not-cats [OO] cannot breed, but the rest can come together in nine different combinations. I have made Two giant boards of punnet squares to display this information. On the left is for pairs with a North at the top, on the right is for pairs with a South at the top.

Now as allele order doesn’t matter for realisation in wind, both boards have all of the same possible Wind results. However for genetic accuracy I have included both so people can predict more accurate genetic strings for their beans.
As you can see there is only one combination that can create a null cat, as null is recessive and needs both alleles to realise. Of course all the combinations have the ability to create Tradewinds, as each combo has at least one N and one S.

I need to make the rest of my punnet squares, I will be back again [01:02]

Fur
There are two different Fur alleles [S, L] that can create three different Fur genotypes. [SS, SL, LL]. These can come together in six different combinations.

Again, the order doesn’t matter for the realisation of the Fur gene. Due to Longhair being recessive, meaning it requires two L’s to realise, both parents need an L allele to have a chance at a Longhair bean. Obviously when you breed two Longhair parents you only get Longhair beans.


Colour
Colour has three gene sets, Main Colour, Colour Strength, and Colour Density.

Main colour has two alleles [B, O]. The order of the alleles matters, meaning that they can create four different Main Colour genotypes [BB, BO, OB, OO]. These can come together in ten different combinations. The order is important because it decides the colour that shows on a cat. The first allele is the North allele, and will be the colour for North not-cats. The second allele is the South allele, and will be the colour for South not-cats. In Trade not-cats, the North allele decides the colour, the South allele (whether it matches the North or not) decides the colour quality. I will explain this more later.
Here is the giant punnet board of possible Main Colour combinations.


Did you think the complications were done? I did, and then I cried because I forgot about Wind affecting the beans and their colours once they’re actually beans.

So, the actual colour of your beans also depends on what Wind they turn out to be. It’s actually quite simple, if split into North/South vs Trades
North/South
- If your bean is BB it will be black/grey range regardless of wind
- If your bean is OO it will be orange/cream range regardless of wind.
- If your bean is BO, then it will be black/grey range if it is also a North bean, or orange/cream range if it is also a South bean.
- If your bean is OB, then it will be orange/cream range if it is also a North bean, or black/grey range if it is also a South bean.
Tradewinds
- If your bean is BB it will be black/grey range watercolour
- If your bean is OO it will be orange/cream range watercolour
- If your bean is BO it will be black/grey range tortoiseshell
- If your bean is OB it will be orange/cream range tortoiseshell.

That should be the most complicated part of all this over. [day 3 04:21]

Colour Strength has two alleles [F, D], that can create three different Colour Strength genotypes [FF, FD, DD]. These can come together in six different combinations.

Here, again, allele order doesn’t matter for realised Colour Strength.
Due to Dilute being recessive, meaning it requires two D’s to realise, both parents need a D allele to have a chance at a Dilute bean. Remember that Dilute is grey range or cream range, depending on which Main Colour gene a bean gets. For example if a North bean gets OB and DD from the parents, it will be cream range. What colour from the cream range depends on the Colour Density, or Colour Number.

Colour Density has four alleles [1, 2, 3, 4, in order of least to most dense], however these do not combine in a bean. These behave on a scale. Beans will inherit a random number between and including the numbers from the parents. So if one parent has 1 and the other 4, then the beans can have any number. But if the parents have 3 and 4 then the beans can only have 3 or 4.

Now, the three Colour genes combine to give your beans their resulting colour. So if we take the North bean from above, with OB and DD, and it also inherits the number 3, then your bean is Cream coloured.
Check out my genetics guide to see more on how colours realise from genes. [day 3 20:40]


Pattern
Pattern has two gene sets, Initial Pattern, and Main Pattern.

Initial Pattern has two alleles [Y, N], that can create three different Initial Pattern genotypes [YY, YN, NN]. These can come together in six different combinations.

Allele order doesn’t matter.
Due to Solid [no pattern] being recessive, meaning it requires two N’s to realise, both parents need an N allele to have a chance at a solid bean. Obviously when you breed two Solid parents you only get Solids beans.

Main Pattern has four alleles [T, M, S, P], that can create ten different Main Pattern genotypes [TT, TM, TS, TP, MM, MS, MP, SS, SP, PP]. These can come together in Fifty-Five different combinations.
I am committed to creating a mega rectangle of punnet squares to display them all, but that will take some time. [day 3 21:00]
I have made a mega rectangle of punnet squares [day 3 [22:51]

Again, allele order doesn't matter for realisation. As you can see there are a lot of combinations and resulting patterns.

Below are a few as examples, that I will explain in more detail

Here is an array of examples that should cover most of what can happen in the punnet squares. In the first, both parents are TT, meaning all beans will be TT. In a TT TM pair, you’d have 50/50 of beans getting one of the parents patterns. In a TT MM pair all beans become TM. In a TT MS pair you get 50/50 TM and TS. In a TM TS pair beans have a 1/4 chance for any of TT, TM, TS or MS. And finally in a TS MP pair beans have a 1/4 chance of TM, TP, MS, or SP.
As you can see, the more different alleles you add, the more varying results you will get.

As a refresher, here are the Pattern genes and how they relate to realised pattern
TT = Mackerel Pattern, TM = Classic Pattern, TS = Broken Pattern, TP = Lynxpoint Pattern
MM = Clouded Pattern, MS = Rosette Pattern, MP = Cloudpoint Pattern
SS = Spotted Pattern, SP = Mink Pattern
PP = Colorpoint Pattern


White Marks
White Marks has three gene sets; Initial White, White Number, and White Type.

Initial White is the same as Initial pattern, only it affects whether your cat shows their white number or not. It has two alleles [Y, N], that can create three different Initial White genotypes [YY, YN, NN]. These can come together in six different combinations.

Allele order doesn’t matter.
Due to No White being recessive, meaning it requires two N’s to realise, both parents need an N allele to have a chance at a No White bean. Obviously when you breed two No White parents you only get No White beans.

White Number is the same as Colour Number, only it affects how much white your bean has, and has 11 alleles [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. These do not combine in a bean. These behave on a scale. Beans will inherit a random number between and including the numbers from the parents. So if one parent has 0 and the other 10, then the beans can have any number. But if the parents have 5 and 6 then the beans can only have 5 or 6. If they have 3 and 7, the beans can be a number from 3 to 7.

White Type has five alleles [C, P, L, R, I] which give Classic, Piebald, Left, Right, and Inverse white types respectively in not-cats. These are single alleles genes which (assumedly) are inherited on a 50/50 basis from the parents. If one parent has C and the other has P then the beans have a 50/50 chance of being C or P.

The three White Marks genes combine to give your beans their resulting White Marks. For example, a YN bean with number 5 and type C will be a Classic Bicolour bean.
Check out my genetics guide to see more on how colours realise from genes. [day 3 21:22]

Growth
Growth is hidden gene, in that it has no visuals on not-cats, but affects the growth pattern of a not-cat’s stats and size. For more information see my genetics guide. It has three alleles, and the order matters, meaning they can create nine different genotypes. These can come together in forty-five different combinations.

These are the genotypes, the colours I’ve assigned them, and the growth speed they correspond to.
AA = Bold Red = Very Early
AB = Light Red = Early
AC = Pale Red = Decreasing

BA = Bold Blue = Arch
BB = Light Blue = Steady
BC = Pale Blue = Dip

CA = Bold Yellow = Very Late
CB = Light Yellow = Late
CC = Pale Yellow = Increasing
Yes, the C set appears to be backwards but this was done deliberately by Squid. It is explained more in my genetics guide.


Gene Pushing
To make things somewhat interesting, there is very rare mutation that exists, currently nicknamed the “Pushy North Gene”, but I will call “Gene Pushing” due to rumoured updates.
At the moment, Gene pushing is the very rare chance that a North/South pairing can produce beans with genes that are a duplicate replica of the North parent. This is due to magnetism, and once we unlock locations in the South, beans born in the South will have the rare chance of Gene Pushing from the South parent [rumour].
For now we just have North Gene Pushing.
Examples:
NN with SS could produce NN
NO with SS could produce OO. This one is rarely seen in the sandbox, so I recommend rolling again if one null comes up to make sure it wasn’t a Gene Push.
This is theoretically true for all the other gene pairs, and can be tested in sandbox if you know what you’re looking for.
So if you know, or think you know, the genetic sequence of the parents, and they produce a bean which is a genetic impossibility, well it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. [day 4 [00:40]

Reserved

F.A.Q

Got a question? Pm or post and I’ll answer as best I can

Q: Can two coloured not-cats create an albino?
A: Yes. If one of your cats is a White Marks NN10 then they are a hidden albino, meaning they are a full colour not-cat with the ability to produce albino beans. All you would need is partner who has a Y allele in their Initial White gene and you have a chance for albino beans.

Q: Does it matter what way the numbers are in numbered genes? Can a pair with 9 and 2 go 9-1-2?
A: It doesn’t matter which parent has which number, they will always go in ascending numerical order (0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10).

Q: I have a White Gene NN and a White Gene YY, which should only make YN, but some of their beans still show with no white. How is this happening?
A: If your NN not-cat has a white number of 0 it can still give that number to the beans and make them YN0, which shows no white.

Q: I have two orange range not-cats but they can make black/brown/grey beans, how?
A: In North and South not-cats, only one of their main colour alleles affect their fur colour, the other allele is hidden. For example, a North OB orange not-cat carries the black allele, and can donate it to any beans.

Q: My two not-cats aren’t albino but they still make full white not-cats, what’s going on?
A: North and South wind not-cats are able to carry the Null allele. If both parents have it, they are able to produce Null wind not-cats, which have snow coloured fur.

Q: How can my North and South null carriers still make Trade winds. Shouldn’t they just make North, South, and Null?
A: Because the parents still carry a North allele and a South allele respectively, both of those can be donated to a bean to create a Trade wind, which is NS / SN

Changelog

- May 15, 2022 0:50:24: Added F.A.Q.
- May 20, 2022 23:31:25: Added To do list to Guide post
- May 22, 2022, 17:02:36: Added section on wind dependent inheritance to The Science
- May 22, 2022 23:02: Removed section explaining Main Colour Complexities and Updated it with new info.
- May 22, 2022 23:10: Replaced all Punnet boards with updated versions showing North vs South inheritance.
- May 22, 2022 23:13: Removed Mega punnet post as it now fits within the guide in its new format
- May 23, 2022 3:22: Added Growth gene to guide
- Jul 7, 2022 23:28: Removed miscommunication of “North only South only”
- Jul 11, 2022 21:16: Added new F.A.Qs
- Dec 20, 2022 3:3: Fixed my “Maths Time” ramble as I’d forgotten to add Fur Length to the appearance calculation. Credit to gamingcookie, without whom I’d never have noticed.
- Jan 15, 2023 16:45: Added new white types to guide.
- Feb 19, 2023 5:58: Added new white types to rambles math (phenotypes and genotypes)
- Feb 19, 2023 14:28: Separated Maths rambles from other rambles and calculated the true number of genetic variations
- Apr 30, 2023 22:40: Adjusted genetics formatting by removing | from text (cannot remove from images without lots of work so they will be left)
- Jan 12, 2024 23:18: Fixed mathing error in Maths Ramble, where I forgot that albino needs to be added separately to the visual count, being that it covers everything in albino. Credit to Prinxe for keying me in

The Maths Rambles

Maniacal laughter
Maths time [May 2022]
I like numbers, gotta have numbers
Purely based on visuals
There are 16 colours x 3 Colourways x 11 patterns x 11 white marks x 2 Fur Lengths PLUS null x 11 x 11 x 2

16 x 3 = 30 + 18 = 48
48 x 11 = 480 + 48 = 500 + 28 = 528
528 x 11 = 5280 + 528 = 5700 +108 = 5808
5808 x 2 = 10000 + 1600 + 16 = 11616
+
11 x 11 = 121
121 x 2 = 242
= 11616 +242 = 11858

Pre-update, based on visuals alone there were 11858 unique ways a not-cat could appear.

Feb 2023
Squid recently added more White types, and so there are more options, so I get to do more math.
There are now 11 white marks x 5 white types, which has to be 9 white marks x 5 white types, because no-white expresses the same for all of the patterns, and albino overwrites everything. Which also means that no-white has to be added separately along with null, and albino added behind all that.
So there are 16 colours x 3 Colourways x 11 patterns x 9 white marks x 5 white types x 2 fur Lengths PLUS no-white x 16 x 3 x 11 x 2 PLUS null x 11 x 10 x 5 x 2 PLUS no-white-null x 11 x 2 PLUS albino x 5 white types x 2 fur lengths
16 x 3 = 30 + 18 = 48
48 x 11 = 480 + 48 = 500 + 28 = 528
528 x 9 = 5280 - 528 = 5272 - 520 = 5252 - 500 = 5052 - 300 = 4752
4752 x 5 = 20000 + 3500 + 250 + 10 = 23760
23760 x 2 = 40000 + 6000 + 1400 + 120 = 47520
+
16 x 3 = 30 + 18 = 48
48 x 11 = 480 + 48 = 500 + 28 = 528
528 x 2 = 1040 + 16 = 1056
+
11 x 10 = 110
110 x 5 = 550
550 x 2 = 1100
+
11 x 2 = 22
+
10 x 2 = 20
= 47520 + 1056 + 1100 + 22 + 20 = 47520 + 2156 + 42 = 47520 + 2198 = 49620 + 98 = 49718

Just based on visuals alone there are 49718 unique ways a not-cat can appear.

However, a lot of the genome string is or can be invisible
Which makes the number of possible genome strings, well, bigger

1 Species, 6 Wind, 3 Fur, 4 main colour, 3 colour strength, 4 colour density, 3 initial pattern, 10 main pattern, 3 initial white, 11 white number, 1 white type. This also means we need to get into a little bit of size genetics, of which there are 9 unique genotypes. I will eventually make an addition to my guides to explain growth, but atm I don’t 100% understand it and you can only know it with a genetic reveal “potion” or a lot of patience and a lot of beans. Been made.

1 x 6 x 3 x 4 x 3 x 4 x 3 x 10 x 3 x 11 x 1 x 9
Removing the x 1’s because they mean functionally nothing
6 x 3 = 18
18 x 4 = 40 + 32 = 72
72 x 3 = 210 + 6 = 216
216 x 4 = 800 + 40 + 24 = 864
864 x 3 = 2400 + 180 + 12 = 2592
2592 x 10 = 25920
25920 x 3 = 60000 + 15000 + 2700 + 60 = 77760
77760 x 11 = 770000 + 77000 +7700 + 660 = 855360
855360 x 9 = 7200000 + 450000 + 45000 + 2700 + 540 = 7698240

That is over seven and a half million genetic possibilities!

Could I have used a calculator? Yes. Did I? No. And the only place I had trouble was 77760x11 because there were too many sevens and my brain would not focus so I had to grab out pen and paper and do an addition stack.

Feb 2023
There were also a set of 4 mystery alleles added recently, so those are considered in the genomes as well.
1 Species, 6 Wind, 3 Fur, 4 main colour, 3 colour strength, 4 colour density, 3 initial pattern, 10 main pattern, 3 initial white, 11 white number, 5 white type, 9 growth, 10 mystery gene

6 x 3 x 4 x 3 x 4 x 3 x 10 x 3 x 11 x 5 x 9 x 10
6 x 3 = 18
18 x 4 = 40 + 32 = 72
72 x 3 = 210 + 6 = 216
216 x 4 = 800 + 40 + 24 = 864
864 x 3 = 2400 + 180 + 12 = 2592
2592 x 10 = 25920
25920 x 3 = 60000 + 15000 + 2700 + 60 = 77760
77760 x 11 = 770000 + 77000 +7700 + 660 = 855360
855360 x 5 = 4000000 + 250000 + 25000 + 1500 + 300 = 4276800
4276800 x 9 = 36000000 + 1800000 + 630000 + 54000 + 7200 = 37800000 + 684200 + 7000 = 37800000 + 691200 = 38491200
38491200 x 10 = 384912000

With the new white spotting our genetic variations leap to almost 400 million. That’s intense!

However, while doing the math for genetic variations last night [19/5/23] I realised that I had in fact made a mistake. I had forgotten that some heterozygous genes can be flipped. So my six winds [NN NO SS SO NS OO] had become 9 [NN NO ON SS SO OS NS SN OO] and so on and so forth.
Which means I would have to recalculate everything.
To make it nice and visual I thought I’d include all the gene variations.

1 Species [C]
9 Wind [NN NO ON SS SO OS NS SN OO]
4 Fur [SS SL LS LL]
4 main colour [OO OB BO BB]
4 colour strength [FF FD DF DD]
4 colour density [1-4]
4 initial pattern [YY YN NY NN]
16 main pattern [TT TM TS TP MT MM MS MP ST SM SS SP PT PM PS PP]
4 initial white [YY YN NY NN]
11 white number [0-10]
5 white type [C P L R I]
9 growth [AA AB AC BA BB BC CC CB CA]
16 mystery gene [BB BL BR BY LB LL LR LY RB RL RR RY YB YL YR YY]

This time I chose to use a calculator

9 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 16 x 4 x 11 x 5 x 9 x 16
= 9 x 16 x 16 x 16 x 16 x 55 x 9 x 16
9 x 16 = 144
144 x 16 = 2304
2304 x 16 = 36864
36864 x 16 = 589824
589824 x 55 = 32440320
32440320 x 9 = 291962880
291962880 x 16 = 4671406080
4,671,406,080

More than 4 and a half billion genetic variations.

Dark Rambles

Arbitrary allele order in the Main Colour punnet squares. [May 2022]
When you have opposing colours in the North space, or opposing colours in the south space, that space in the punnet square is further complicated by having a 50/50 chance of either O|B or B|O. In my main guide I’ve arbitrarily shown one in order to accurately display all the possibilities.

For example, the easiest of the arbitrary combos was B|B O|O, because they have opposing alleles in both the North space and the South space. This means that it’s a guaranteed 50/50 chance of resulting beans, and I can ignore the complications.

Next was the B|O O|B. It has a 1/4 chance of each Main Colour realisation [B|B, O|O, B|O, O|B]. Again, both North and South have opposing colours so I can ignore the complications

Then there are the mathematical exceptions, in which one of the results isn’t actually a 1/4.
First, O|O O|B, B|B B|O. In the bottom right, where South B meets South O, that square itself has a 50/50 chance of being O|B or B|O. This makes O|B in the B|B B|O, and B|O in the O|O O|B pairs only a 1/8 chance of appearing. B|O and O|B respectively get upped to 3/8 chance. B|B O|B and O|O B|O are the inverse, with North B and North O meeting and fighting each other in a 50/50, etc.

Of course I had to test the accuracy of this.
Actually testing allele order
Firstly I wanted to see if a watercolour and a tort could create a flipped tort. I grabbed a pair of trade winds, one orange tort and one orange watercolour. My goal was to get a black tort.
If the B could only stay in the South position then we’d never see a black tort. I did in fact get a black tort from the pair, so I concluded that the alleles are randomly arranged as well as being randomly given.


Then, I was clued into the fact that my testing was flawed, because In Main Colour, Norths will only donate their allele to the North position and Souths will only donate their allele to the South position. Of course I then had to test this out. I needed to see if a North South pairing of O|O O|B or vice versa could create both torts (black range, orange range). I grabbed a B|B B|O pair. Would I see an orange tort and debunk the theory? Nope I just confirmed it.
I then assumed that Trades would only donate to the allele that was required, the South allele with a North parent, or the North allele with a South parent. I promptly scolded myself for assuming anything and went back to the sandbox. So, if I had a North B|B with a Trade O|B (or vice versa), the North will donate B, but will the trade parent only donate a South B, or could they donate a North O in the South position. Basically I was looking for a tort. And I found a tort.

This meant that Trade parents will randomly donate either of their two alleles, it will be Just be placed in the leftover position.



Theory of Wind determining Allele position outside of Colour [May 2022]
There was a theory that (outside of colour) no matter which allele a North parents donates, that allele will go into the North position (and vice versa).
This is true.
Struck through below is an example of a bean born before Squid made a genetics fix. They have now confirmed that North parents will place their allele in the North position, and South parents will place their allele in the South position. It does indeed have ramifications on my punnet squares, in that I will now have to go and make copies of each of them for when you have a North parent along the top row Vs when you have a South parent along the top row. This affects all beans born after Winter Year 5. Those born before may show genetic impossibilities according to current genetic inheritance.
Of course, if this were true it would have major ramifications on all of my punnet squares, so I had to test it.
First I thought “I’ll just grab any T|S|M|P pairing in any order, and I’ll be able to see from the sandbox...” and then I remembered that order doesnt matter, so we’d never be able to see if the North parent put their allele in the North space.
My next call was for a bean with revealed genetics, and any pairing with three or more unique alleles.
User Zav came to the rescue with their born bean, Yuan 951. Their genetic string read S|T. Note the order.
Their parents were a North Classic T|M (unknown order) 488, and a Trade Broken T|S (unknown order) 501.
Now, that’s a lot of data, but the simple fact is the Yuan has S in the North position, an S that could only have come from the Trade parent, meaning that the North parent’s allele went to the South position.
This debunked that rumour, thereby saving my punnet squares.

For further testing, we’d need to reveal the North Parent’s string, and see in which place his S allele was originally.

I now have a Thread expressly for seeking out revealed beans and their parents and testing allele placement and inheritance, etc. No Longer Relevant

Future-proofing because I realise more cats and species will involve more punnets and explanations, sorry for the bumps

Reserve

Reserve

Reserve