This is Legend Chocolate Ninja (left) my first Chocolate abyssinian kitten and Legend Crystal Cappuccino (right). Bottom Legend Kerensa the 1st chocolate girl we have bred.
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My special interest is in Chocolate abyssinians (breed no. 23b) which is best described as a rich copper brown ticked with dark chocolate. In its dilute form it is known as Lilac (breed no.23d) which is a warm (pinkish) dove grey ticked with deeper dove grey. Amy is a Lilac abyssinian (see our queens page).
The 3 main full colours for abyssinians are Usual, Chocolate & Sorrel. Their order of dominance is simple to remember as Usual (darkest) is dominant to all. Chocolate (lighter than Usual but darker than Sorrel) is recessive to Usual but dominant to Sorrel (the lightest colour). Sorrel is recessive to both Usual & Chocolate.
To complicate matters further there is also a dilute gene which is recessive to the full colour, if a kitten has 2 dilute genes, (1 from each parent) it would then show as the dilute version of the 3 main colours ie. Blue (dilute Usual), Lilac (dilute Chocolate) or Fawn (dilute Sorrel).
Colour testing is now possible so breeders can determine the colours any potential breeding Aby carries.
Chocolate & lilac abyssinians have been given full championship status from June 2009.. The championship case records only 76 of these abyssinian colours registered in total, 30 Chocolates and 46 Lilacs, some of whom have now sadly died and many were sold as pets. So support for these colours in terms of showing and breeding is still vitally important to ensure they remain in the public eye and do not die out. I personally give show or breeding homes preference for kittens of these colours.
For more detailed information on Chocolate & Lilacs and their genetics please visit Unusualabycats a website devoted to the rarer abyssinian colours.
