W locus — dominant white

Controls: A fully white coat that masks all other colour.

How it works

Dominant white (W) is epistatic — it sits on top of every other colour gene and turns the whole coat white. The cat still carries its underlying colour genetically; the white simply hides it.

Alleles

WDominant whiteDominant

wNot whiteRecessive

Colours it produces

White

Related genes

L locus — coat length

Whether the coat is short or long.

B locus — black series

Whether the black pigment shows as black, chocolate or cinnamon.

D locus — dilution

Whether a colour is dense (full) or dilute (softened).

See these colours on real cats.

Browse cat colours