Cat Colours

There is an incredible range of cat colours that exist, with hundreds of variations amongst moggies and purebreds alike. You would probably recognise a tabby (any striped cat), or a tortie (tortoiseshell, consisting of red, black and cream).

But are you aware of the harlequin, a mostly white cat with several irregular patches of colour? Or the Seychellois pattern, the classic example of which is the Turkish Van?

Even the coat of a ‘solid’ or ‘self’ coloured cat (one colour) is quite fascinating. A white cat, for example, is actually either a black or red cat with a white masking gene that hides all other colour. Sometimes you can tell by looking at the underlying colour on top of a kitten’s head.

All cat colours are modifications on black, which consists of eumelanin chemicals, or red, which is made up of phaeomelanin.

Colourpoint in cats, recognised by a darker face, paws and tail than the rest of the body, is modified by temperature. It is caused by a mutated enzyme, causing the coldest parts of the body to become darker in colour. These markings can be affected by environmental temperature, fever, or even bandaging because of injury.

Tortoiseshell cats are nearly always female because of a sex-linked colour gene. Male torties exist but are usually infertile.

A bicolour cat with a black and white coat is colloquially known as a Tuxedo cat, because of its appearance of wearing a classy dinner jacket! It is also sometimes referred to as a jellicle cat, from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. (Think of Mr. Mistoffelees in the musical Cats.)