There are about a hundred colors of cats and their variations. Most of them were obtained through selective breeding, such as cinnamon, some are the result of natural processes, like tortoiseshell, but there are cats that are not much different from their distant ancestors and have the same spotted or striped fur. What are the colors of cats and what causes them?
What determines the color of a cat?
All cat breeds that exist today are descended from several species of wild cats that lived in the hot African savannas or the snowy forests of Europe. Initially, color served a very practical role - it made the animal “invisible” among thickets of bushes or tree branches, therefore wild cats were predominantly spotted or striped gray, brownish, sandy in color. After domestication through selection, new shades began to appear in the color of cats.
What explains the variety of shades and patterns on pets' fur coats? The color of the coat is due to the presence of the high molecular weight pigment melanin in the hair body. There are 2 varieties of it: eumelanin, which absorbs the visible part of the spectrum, and we see hair as black, chocolate, gray, blue, and pheomelanin, which reflects the red-orange-yellow part of the spectrum and gives a red or cream color.
The presence of one or another pigment is determined genetically. The O gene is responsible for the activation of pheomelanin, and the o gene is responsible for the activation of eumelanin. Both of them are located on chromosome X, that is, the inheritance of color is linked to sex.
Cats have 3 color options: OO (dark), OO (red), OO (tri-color). Since cats only have one X chromosome, they should not normally be tortoiseshell. Nevertheless, such males do occur, but, as a rule, they turn out to be sterile and unable to reproduce.
What does the concept of “color” include?
Modern felinologists mean by color:
- directly the color of the animal;
- the degree of hair coloring in different parts of the body;
- pattern or its absence on the coat, which is also due to genetic characteristics.
Bicolor color The color of the animal's eyes is also related to its color. Often these two characteristics depend on the breed. Some breeds are characterized only by certain colors of fur and eyes; deviation from the standard is considered a defect. You can see what cats with different types of color look like in the photographs below.
Types of cat colors
Each color is determined by a combination of genes responsible for the distribution of melanin in the hair. Felinologists distinguish several varieties cat colors:
- white with full or partial absence pigmentation;
- tabby (tabby), which is considered the most ancient;
- solid – solid;
- color point;
- tortoiseshell or tricolor;
- tipped;
- unrecognized shades such as cinnamon, fawn or apricot.
British cat fawn color The table below shows the most common colors:
| Code | Color | The breed that appeared for the first time |
| a | blue | Russian ancestors blue cats, approximately XV century. |
| b | chocolate, brown | Appeared around 1000 l. BC e. |
| c | lilac, platinum | The gene was originally present only in Oriental breeds. |
| d | ginger | The gene mutated during the domestication of cats. |
| e | cream | There is no reliable data. |
| f, g, h, j | tortoiseshell | The mutation that caused the tortoiseshell color first appeared in cats living in Turkey - Persian, Van, and Angora. |
| n | black | One of the most ancient colors, appeared during the time of Phenicia. |
| s | smoky | Norwegian forest cats. |
| w | white | Cats of Ancient Egypt and Thailand. |
White (no pigmentation)
Turkish Angora It’s not for nothing that snow-white cats with bright blue eyes are considered real beauties. Many people, when choosing a kitten, try to take an animal of exactly this color. Most often, white cats are found among representatives of the Persian, Angora, British Shorthair, and Balinese breeds.
White hair color and Blue colour eyes are caused by the absence of the coloring pigment melanin. Gene white W dominates the genes of other colors and completely suppresses them. When mating two snow-white pets, multi-colored kittens can be born. This suggests that both parents were heterozygous.
Persian cat Such beauty has its own side effects: Many white cats are born deaf. The W gene is responsible for the migration of melanoblasts from the neural tube of the embryo to the skin and retina of the eyes. During the process of domestication, the gene mutated, due to which melanoblasts do not have time to reach the hair and iris during the embryonic development of the cat - the fur remains white and the eyes remain blue. At the same time, other cells of the neural tube stop moving, inner ear degenerates.
Another reason for white coloring is albinism. Albino cats are born with the participation of the recessive genes ca (blue iris) or c (red iris).
Tabby (tabby), or wild: mackerel, marbled, spotted, ticked
A striped, spotted, “tiger” pattern on the coat is a tabby color. The T gene is responsible for spotting, and it is present in all cats without exception. This is the genetic heritage of ancient wild cats, which had just such a protective, camouflage color.
Why aren't all cats tabby? In order for a tabby pattern to appear on the fur, the dominant allele of the agouti gene A must be present in the animal’s genotype. Agouti promotes partial coloration of the hairs, which is why cats have this color: stripes, rings, spirals, spots.
Mackerel color There are several varieties of tabby coloring with the agouti gene:
- mackerel - a pattern in the form of parallel vertical stripes, the so-called tiger;
- marbled - cats with this color have spiral stripes on the sides, 3 horizontal stripes on the back, the tail and paws are ring-shaped, and there are spots on the stomach;
- spotted – small spots or short stripes scattered across the body;
- ticked, or agouti tabby - there are no characteristic stripes and spots on the animal’s body, only the face is colored this way.
Solid colors (solid)
Blue solid As already mentioned, the pigment melanin, which comes in two types, is responsible for the cat’s color. Consequently, the two main colors are black and red, the intensity of which depends on the dominance or recessivity of certain genes.
A solid coat color is called solid. How are the different solid cat colors formed? Black color appears as a result of the presence of the dominant gene B, its recessive expression b gives a brownish tint, and the bl variation further lightens the coat. Thus, the BB cat will be completely black, the bb cat will be chocolate, and the blbl cat will be a sorrel cat.
The D and d genes are responsible for color saturation. The combination of dominant alleles BBDD gives a rich black color, and, for example, BBdd - gray or blue. Similarly with the red color gene O: OODD is a bright red cat, OOdd is a cream cat.
Color point color
If the genes responsible for fur coloring are only partially blocked, then cats are born with color point color, which is a form of albinism. That is why such animals have blue or blue eyes. This color belongs to the group of acromelanistic colors, which depend on the body temperature of the animal. In areas with lower temperatures, the hairs are colored in a darker shade - on the face, ears, and tail. The body is predominantly light.
Color point color A bright representative Color-point breeds are Siamese cats. Point colors can be very diverse:
- seal – dark gray, almost black;
- blue - blue;
- red – red;
- chocolate – brown;
- cream – cream, beige;
- torti – tri-color tortoiseshell;
- tabby – spotted, striped;
- lilac – pink (gray-pink).
Tortoiseshell colors
Tortoiseshell Maine Coon Despite the fact that the cat's genome was completely deciphered in 2010, scientists still do not know for sure why the tortoiseshell (tri-color) color appears. The simultaneous presence of black and red spots is due to the activity of the Orange gene; one allele blocks the synthesis of eumelanin, and the other does not. Due to the fact that color is linked to sex, cats are not born tortoiseshell, only in the case of a genetic pathology - aneuploidy.
Neva masquerade cat The classic tortoiseshell color is chaotic white, red and black spots. However, there are combinations of blue and cream, chocolate and red, lilac and cream. The following breeds of cats are tricolor: Maine Coon, Manx, Neva Masquerade, Turkish Van, Persian, Exotic, Bobtail, British Shorthair.
Tipped (silver, gold, shaded, smoky)
Tipped colors are caused by the influence of the dominant silver gene I, which is a melatonin inhibitor. It suppresses the production of coloring pigment, which is why the hair is only partially colored, the rest of it is white. There are several main options for this color:
Chinchilla cat - smoky - the hair is white only at the very root, the rest is colored with the main color;
- silver – almost half of the hair is white;
- shaded - only a third is colored; when moving, silvery or golden tints form on the fur;
- chinchilla and cameo - only the ends of the hair are colored, chinchilla's are black, and cameo's are red.
There are quite a lot of different variations of shades of tipped colors. In addition to black and red colors, wool can be chocolate, lilac, blue, and gold.
Unrecognized (cinnamon, fawn, apricot)
All colors have their own code and are classified by felinologists from the International Cat Federation. Breeds have standards that indicate acceptable variations in coat, skin, and eye colors. Deviation from the standard is considered a defect; such animals are disqualified and do not participate in breeding.
Some colors have appeared recently. They were obtained through the efforts of breeders and are still so rare that their names are not included in international standards. In the photo below you can see rare colors.
Rare colors british cats
- cinnamon, faun!
Cinnamon or cinnamon color - the color of ground cinnamon, EMS Code - "o" , this is new and very rare color, found in Abyssinian and Oriental cats.
Our nursery has been successfully dealing with these new colors for several years, but many buyers still believe that the British only come in blue or lilac, so let’s take a closer look....
Cinnamon color is much lighter than chocolate (dark brown) and has a warmer reddish tone. The gene “responsible” for this color is brown light - bl , it promotes further oxidation of melanin. The nose is pinkish-brown (almost beige), as are the paw pads.
cinnamon chocolate
Cinnamon refers to undiluted colors "D" , and its clarified version "d" called faun.
Faun has light beige color, which can be compared to ice cream - creme brulee. The nose and paw pads of fauns are beige-pink.
These shades are difficult to describe in words, even photographs do not give a complete picture, you have to see it with your eyes!
On the territory of the CIS, animals of the described colors still exist in isolated variants, mainly in capital cities!
faun lilac
Cinnamon looks very elegant in combination with white, bicolor.
The intensity of the color is determined by a gene called Dilution (symbol "D" ) - thinner. Gene "D" responsible for the distribution of pigment in hair granules.Dilution increases the spaces between pigment particles, due to which the color becomes lighter. Under the influence of the normal allele "D" the processes of pigment cells are formed long with dense granules, and when the mutant allele works "d" - shortened with loose granules.
Let's dwell a little on the history of color recognition.
In 1980, cinnamon was recognized among Orientals and Siamese in several independent Dutch clubs, and in 1982, fawn was recognized as a clarified version of cinnamon. FIFe confirmed this color for Orientals in 1991 and only in 2004 for Siamese.
In British cats, the colors cynamon, fawn and bicolor in combination with onny are still extremely rare. More recently, in the mid-90s, the first attempts were made to add this color to the British, and only inIn 2004, a WCF show was held in Holland, the main task of which was to confirm this color according to the WCF system. This show brought together enthusiastic breeders from all over Europe. There was excellent British stock of Cinnamon and Fawn, as well as Cinnamon and White and Cinnamon Tabby on display.
And finally, in August 2006, this color was officially confirmed at the WCF General Congress in Essen on January 28, 2007.
On this moment, the work is carried out through the carriers, trying to introduce as many fixed lines as possible. They breed the producers of prepotent lines with cinnamon, leave 100% of the carriers and go with certain colors a generation later.
FAUN OR LIVEL? HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE TWO COLORS.
On April 18, 2013 we had an interesting litter British kittens. Mom is a British lilac cat, dad is a British fawn cat. As a result of this mating, were born british kittens lilac and fawn color. That's when we started thinking: who is purple? who is a faun? These colors are different, but very similar in early childhood...
So let's find out.
LILE color – lilac – BRI c
The lilac color of the cat is a genetically bleached chocolate color.
Lilac – what is it?
Shade in the web palette #C8A2C8
Delicate light purple
Pale lilac color
The color of the clouds in the sky during sunset...
It is also similar to such colors as “thistle”, “lavender” and even a color with such an unusual name as “Abdel Kerim’s beard color” :)
My favorite comparison is the lilac color to the color gemstone amethyst (like this kitten’s tail). True, I would also add a little milk to this amethyst...
Do you understand what color it is – lilac? :)
color FAWN – fawn- BRI p
Relatively British breed cats, official confirmation of this color according to the WCF system occurred in August 
2006 at the WCF General Congress in Essen.
Interestingly, fawn means young deer or the color is light yellowish brown.
Faun – what is this?
Light beige
Creamy, just a little darker
Coastal sand color
Roe deer fur
Marshmallow crème brûlée….
Of course, all these comparisons are very, very relative :) But still there are similarities!
HOW TO DISCOVER
Now let's get back to our cats! If you have lilac and fawn kittens in your litter, it’s not so easy to immediately figure out which one is which, because the shades are very similar. The color of the nose and heel will help us not to make a mistake. Lilac British kittens have a nose and paw pads that are initially beige-pink, but gradually darken to match the coat or a little darker, while British faun kittens are clearly beige-pink all their lives.
lilac nose and fawn nose
lilac heels and fawn heels
lilac cat and fawn cat
I hope our article was interesting and useful to you.
Translated from English, “fawn” means yellowish-brown. This color, in addition to Abyssinian cats, is found in other breeds. British, Scottish, and Oriental cats also have a variety of beige coat colors.
The peculiarity of fauns is their rarity.
The fawn was the last to be added to the line of official colors of the Abyssinian breed in 1989.
Representatives are distinguished by sandy-beige coat color with a more saturated area along the spine and ivory-colored coat on the belly and inner surface of the limbs. There are no sharp transitions, spots, or stripes.
The nose is pink, as are the paw pads, which are bordered with pinkish-beige hairs. The tip of the tail of all Abyssinian cats is darker than the body. In the case of the faun, it is a rich beige.
The Abyssinian cat is often called the "house puma". Faun representatives have some similarities with lionesses. Their grace and elegance, combined with coastal sand-colored fur, would serve as excellent camouflage in the vast expanses of the wild savannah. In the litter abyssinian cat usually 3-5 kittens, males are born 3-4 times more often than females. Fawn kittens are born even less frequently. The main reason is the complete recessivity of the genes responsible for coat color. Parents must be heterozygous for the pigment genotype in order to produce such a long-awaited kitten.
The amazing fact is that the fawn color is an extreme state of oxidation of the black color gene B. Genetically these cats are black. But due to the pronounced work of enzymes, eumelanin undergoes strong oxidation, the gene goes into an extreme recessive state b l. In addition, in the Abyssinian breed the intensity and richness of color is influenced by the “diluent” gene D(Delutor). In the faun it is also homozygous and recessive. d. A random combination of recessive genes produces a kitten of this color. This probability is very small, since the original set of genes in the parents is rarely known.
Not all breeders check their animals for genotype. The wild Abyssinian color is considered the most commercial. The birth of an Abyssinian faun from wild parents is unlikely, even if initially they are both heterozygous.
The beauty of Abyssinian fawn cats is revealed with age. Ticked coat gene A(Agouti) does not begin to work immediately, only after the first moult the kittens acquire stripes on each hair. And due to the work of the gene T a(Abyssinian Tabby) ticking is evenly distributed throughout the body without patterns or spots. As you grow older and reach puberty, the black color gene becomes stronger b l and the “diluent” gene d. Each hair is painted a warm sandy color with loose zones of pinkish-beige eumelanin.
Abyssinian fawn cats are a lightened version of the sorrel. They are a universal indicator of the genotype of another cat when mating. Based on the offspring from a faun parent, one can quite easily guess the genotype of the partner. Completely dominant wild ones when crossed with a faun will produce kittens of only wild color.
Genetics of the fawn color of the Abyssinian cat.
b l b l dd– fawn color ( ABY p). The likelihood of fawn kittens being born from fawn parents increases if they are bred with heterozygous sorrel or blue Abyssinian cats.
Full genotype of the Abyssinian fawn breed: AAb l b l ddssTaLL. s– gene “ white spot", the Abyssinian breed is in a recessive state, so there are no white spots in the color, with the exception of the chin. L– a dominant gene that determines coat length. In this form it produces a short, smooth coat.
Photos of Abyssinian faun
Solid colors
The color should be solid and uniform, without variegated hairs, spots, shades or patterns.
The fur of such cats is short and thick, and soft to the touch, like plush.
British black cat
Blue British kitten
Photo of a British chocolate cat
Lilac color of British cats
- Red (red, golden)
Photo of a red British cat
- Cream (peach, beige)
Photo of a cream British cat
Photo of a white British cat
Eye color is bright copper or orange, and white British people can have blue or even multi-colored eyes.
White british kitten With blue eyes
Odd-eyed Briton
The very rare solid color cinnamon was developed quite recently.
It is much lighter than chocolate and is called the color of ground cinnamon.
Chocolate Britons have a nose color that is slightly darker than the coat or matches its color, while Cinnamon, on the contrary, has a pinkish-brown nose that stands out against the darker coat.
British cat cinnamon
Cats of the fawn color (also called the color of a young fawn) have fur of a warm light beige shade, and the pads of their paws and nose are a delicate pinkish color.
The eye colors of cinnamons and fauns range from golden to rich copper.
British fawn cat
The solid color of British cats is uniform, without spots, patterns or any white hairs. The coat looks and feels plush, thick and soft.
Classic and most common. It is this color that comes to mind when it comes to British cats. The coat of this color should be uniform, while the undercoat may be slightly lighter than the main color, but whitish hairs are unacceptable. The lighter blue color is especially valuable.
Black color
This is a rare color, it is difficult to obtain and is considered “capricious”. It often happens that a kitten born black changes its coat color to chocolate as it ages. The pigmentation of the coat, undercoat and skin is rich. In this case, the color of the undercoat and coat should not differ. It is believed that the more unbleached colors the ancestors have in their pedigree, the richer the black color will be. The rule of mating like with like, without experiments, so as not to harm the breed, applies here.
White color
The white color of a British cat's coat should be pure, without yellowness or spots. Kittens may have blue or black stripes on their foreheads, but they disappear with age. Eye color coding is indicated by a number, thus 61 – blue (or) blue eyes, 62 – orange, 63 – odd-eyed, 64? green. I wonder what the name itself is “white”?
It’s not a color, but its absence, which is why in the group of solid shades, white stands alone. It is quite difficult to breed animals with perfectly white fur, and obtaining such a color is associated with a high risk of producing unhealthy offspring. Thus, white parents have a high probability of giving birth to offspring with deafness. Since 1997, breeding work with white color has been stopped.
This is a bleached red that is produced by the presence of a bleach gene. This shade of wool belongs to the oldest types of solid colors, but in Lately it has become rare in breeding. The cream-colored British must have a clear (pastel) shade, intense color, and color i.e.
Chocolate color
Should it be rich and deep? the darker the shade, the better. This color is also called havana or chestnut.
Recently, breeders, as a result of careful selection of offspring, i.e. future producers have achieved high quality wool, in no way inferior to classic blue. The fur of such cats looks like a mouton. For the British, the standard recognizes all shades of chocolate: from light milky to dark “bitter”.
Lilac color
Lilac coat color of a British cat? it is a combination of grey, pink and blue colors and looks like bleached chocolate. The animal's nose, as well as its paw pads, match the tone of its coat. Eyes orange-copper shades. The lilac color is presented in various variations: from cold lavender to warm pink-gray.
The undercoat of cats of this color may be slightly lighter in tone than the outer hair, but a pronounced contrast is not acceptable. Kittens often have a residual pattern (moire) that disappears with age. The quality of the wool of lilac British cats resembles a blue mink coat, the color of which is mixed with a little pink dye. The nose, paw pads and lining of the mucous membranes are pink-purple in color, which darkens slightly with age.
The red color of the Briton was introduced from Persians and other exotic cat breeds that have a red tint to their coat. These cats often have tabby markings on their foreheads. The eyes of British cats with red fur have a rich Orange color. The shade of the nose and paw pads is red, brick. A significant drawback of the red coat of the British is the uneven color distribution; for example, a cat's tail often has a lightened tip, so it is quite difficult to meet a Brit with a uniform red color. In view of this, the standards allow for a small, weakly defined tabby pattern.
What is ticking
The “coat” of an Abyssinian cat is dense, shiny, perfectly smooth, fits well to the body, short, without a pattern on the tail and paws. A distinctive feature, which is a kind of “business card” of the Abyssinian breed, is the coloring of each hair in different (dark, light) shades at the same time.
