BLUE-EYE ELF & BLUE-EYE SPHYNX (SEYMOUR DBE^ALT GENE)

Jacqui Stevens (Sphynxwillow Sphynx Elf & Bambino Australia) imported Violaflower's Vanessa (born 11-April-2019) in 2019. Vanessa's ancestry is Topaz, so she could have either the Roxi gene, or the Seymour gene, or both. Thesting found the Seymour gene, DBE^ALT. Vanessa was bred by Tatyana Lackies in Germany and has a dominant blue-eye (DBE) gene. She is a fully registered Elf in Australia with ANCATS and will be on the show bench as soon as shows resume in Australia after the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown. Vanessa is part of Jacqui's Elf breeding program in Australia. Jacqui is the foundation breeder of the Elf in Australia and has worked to get them fully recognised and registered to Championship Status. Vanessa is an important part of that program. Jacqui will also be importing a DBE Sphynx later in 2021 from Russia from a breeder that is past the 5th generation of that variety. These are the first DBE in a hairless breed in Australia. Vanessa is a blue tabby & white harlequin-pattern with blue eyes and DNA tests show she is negative for the colourpoint blue eye gene.

Vanessa had a litter early in 2021 and gave birth to one DBE female kitten named Sphynxwillow Azure Ono, a blue tabby and white, which has gone to Jane Cockerton (Born Bold), a registered breeder, as part of the breeding programme.

BLUE-EYE SPHYNX (ROXI DBE^CEL GENE)

Maria Niewiadomska, a Sphynx breeder based in the UK (IconicSX Cattery) has a line of Sphynxes which tested positive for the DBE^CEL (Roxi) gene and not for the expected DBE^ALT (Seymour) gene. In June 2024, her MirMagnificent Y*Sofia (odd-eyed, black with white [n 09]) and MirMagnificent Zhukov (Vincent) (black with white, yellow eyes) welcomed their first litter of three healthy kittens: IconicSX Selina Kyle (odd eyed) black with white, IconicSX Bruce Wayne (DBE both eyes, white tail tip) black with white, IconicSX Maverick (DBE both eyes, white tail tip ) chocolate with white. Sofia is not a carrier of cs gene. The father, MirMagnificent Zhukov carries a single copy of cs gene, so both boys are DBE. Sofia was genetically confirmed as carrying the DBE^CEL gene. She did not have DBE^ALT gene or DBE^RE genes. Both parents and the kittens underwent BAER (hearing) testing, and there is no hearing impairment.

Tracing pedigrees of DBE MirMagnificent blue-eyed cats points to a common ancestor named Marcus (Markus). His son MirMagnificent Zeus is apparently behind DBE lines in the USA, but I don’t have full pedigree information. The DBE trait seems to have "come out of nowhere" and may have been hiding behind blue-eyed white cats that were assumed to be the more usual KIT gene mutations (dominant white/white spotting). The green-eyed whites in Marcus's ancestry might be DBE latents. Alternatively, Marcus has a spontaneous mutation identical to DBE^CEL, or so similar to DBE^CEL that it tests positive for this gene.

Mirmagnificent cats have gone into Elf, Dwelf and Bambino as several breeders have all 4. That could be a worry as breeders have introduced DBE-ALT into those breeds and will naturally assume other DBE lines of those breeds also have DBE-ALT. Experience with the Topaz breed found that mixing these 2 mutations is not desirable. It is essential that DBE Sphynx, Bambino, Elf and Dwelf breeders know which mutation they are working with and do not outcross to the other mutation.

BLUE-EYE SPHYNX (unknown gene)

DBE Sphynx are bred by a number of catteries including Golden Sphynx Cattery (tortie DBE Isabella, born 25/12/2021) and Royal Velvets (TheRoyalVelvets Jean Claude, F4 DBE male; TheRoyalVelvets Sapphire Moon, DBE female) which also breeds DBE Lykoi.