COAT INFORMATION
Each of these photos show a “Black Roan” Lykoi coat in various amounts of white (amelanistic) hair vs black hair.
With their next molt, each cat could have a darker or lighter appearance.
(click to enlarge)
Why Do Some Lykoi Look Darker Than Others?
By Brittney Gobble
The amount of roaning on a black show standard Lykoi can vary between individual cats, as well as each time they molt (lose their hair)! All the photos below are of show standard black Lykoi! The white hairs can comprise 30-70% of the coat.
One fun fact….Lykoi are VERY light and heat sensitive! Within only a few hours of window light they will begin to get pigment spots (kinda like liver spots). Within a few days or weeks, they will completely tan! The Lykoi skin will go pitch black! After being out of light for a few weeks, all the pigmentation goes away and they appear pink skinned again! The heat from them sleeping on a tv or xbox will have a similar effect!
One study shows black cats may be healthier than other colors. Read it HERE.
Coat Development Day 1 to 8 Months
UPDATE…NOT ONLY BLACK ROAN ANYMORE!
Since the Lykoi have come out, breeders have only been focusing on the Black Roan color Lykoi because they are the most striking looking and look most like the original feral cats that this breed was founded upon. Indeed the Black Roan IS the most striking of all the colors, look like the werewolf this breed was created after “Lining Wolfie” the best, and you can def see the Roan effect on the Black Roan coat the best. In TICA, the show standard will always be the Black Roan. Any other color shown will be considered HHP. However, we have now been accepted into the CFA Association and we (our current breed committee) are still deciding upon what colors look the best and which colors actually are taking away from the Roan effect. We are the only registered breed of cat to have a Roan Effect in our coat, so that is one thing that we do not want to lose in the appearance of our Lykoi. In time, we will choose the best colors, (whether that includes Tabby patterns, solid colors, bi colors, or even tortie in color) that make the Lykoi look the best. We still have a semi limited gene pool esp for the colored Lykoi, so we will be expanding on making more colored Lykoi available.
What is a F1?
These two babies are full brothers. The coated boy on the left only has one copy of the Lykoi gene. The partially hairless boy on the right has two copies.
The black coated kitten is what we call a “F1” or “Gene Carrier”.
There is no outward signs that a F1 is any different than a “normal” barn coat.
They do NOT lose hair!
They do NOT have a thinner coat!
They are fully coated from birth and they stay that way. There is no way to know a black cat carries the Lykoi gene! You must know the parents, and one of those parents must be a Lykoi (partially haired like the boy on the right).
Again, there is NO way to tell your black cat carries the Lykoi gene.
Hairloss is not a sign of carrying the Lykoi gene.
