FREE shipping on orders over $100
10% off your first order
180-day guarantee
One of the wonderful things about cats is the vast range of coat colors and patterns that makes each one unique. Genetic mutations can cause the most wonderful combinations of colours and markings, and selective breeding has also produced some beautiful patterns.
These are the main colors that cat varieties come in:
- White
- Black
- Red (Ginger)
- Blue / Grey
- Cream
- Brown
- Cinnamon
- Fawn
This playful tabby is playing hide and seek with a paper bag
These are the many color coat patterns found amongst our feline friends:
Solid / Self-color
This is the easiest coat type to spot, because they are all one color. If a cat has any other splodge of color on her then she is not considered a solid coat type.
A solid black cat
Bi-color
Bi-color is when a cat has a white coat with patches of another hue, for example black or tabby. As you would expect there are many different variations. This coat type is caused by the white spotting gene. You will sometimes hear bi-color cats being referred to as having magpie (random spotting), harlequin (random spotting with colored tail), cap and saddle (coloured head, with a colored saddle on their back), or van (colour splashes in-between ears, and colored tail).
Life in black and white: A beautiful bicolor cat
Tabby
This is the most common coat type in cats around the world, harking back to the stripey pattern of the domestic cat's wild ancestors. There are actually four variations on the tabby theme.
- Striped or mackerel tabby - this is when a cat has vertical stripes running from its spine to its belly.
- Classic or blotched tabby - this is when there is a swirly pattern, creating a marbled effect.
- Spotted tabby - as the name suggests this variation has spots.
- Ticked tabby - these usually have striped legs and tail (but not always), with the rest of the body appearing mottled from the agouti hair. Agouti hair is when each individual hair is more than one color.
A tabby cat with a super cool coat
Tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshells are a mixture of red (ginger) and black. They can come in various dilutions, with the most diluted torties being blue and cream. The coat pattern is mainly seen females. Torties can also vary from brindled, where the two colors are well mixed, to having distinct patches. You can get a mixture of a tabby and a tortoiseshell, also known as a ‘torbie’. These have the distinct markings of both coat patterns.
A Tortoiseshell coat is common amongst feral cats
Tri Color / Calico
This coat pattern consists of red (ginger), black and white colouration. Just like the tortoiseshell, a calico can be diluted, showing grey, cream and white patches.
A Calico cat walk - the height of feline fashion
Color Point
This coat pattern is when the coat is darker on the face, paws, and tail. This is thought to be caused by a gene that causes the coolest part of the cat's body to become darker.
This colorpoint cat knows where it's at
A colorpoint cat is born without the distinct darker markings but develops them as they grow. Strange but true: Scientific experiments have shown that if colorpoint kittens are kept in a warm room, the darker markings won’t develop.
Comments
Anju, 10 June 2021
Good cats colour & types
Baylie, 3 May 2021
this helps me alot. Thanks!
Ruth, 18 April 2020
Tawneyrose, well done re the punctuation error! You must be kept busy, and as with me, you could spend happy hours pointing out errors & typos. As though you hear a horrible discord, but no-one else does, because they're tone deaf, and perfectly happy with it. The cats in the photos are adorable.
Tawnyrose, 19 March 2020
There are punctuation mistakes in here! To imply a plural noun you do not add the apostrophe. Writing “Tabby’s” implies that something belongs to a tabby. Instead, you would write “Tabbies.” Please fix this, whoever wrote it
Abhishek, 22 January 2020
I have 2 white persian cats Male & female So will their offspring will be of same coat colour??