Cat colors
Hey everyone! Welcome to my little guide on cat colors! I want to make a special note that a lot of these cats are going to look alike- Note that sometimes the eye color or nose color are what gives away a cats genetic make up!! So be on the look out for patterns like that :) Breeders were used for some of our less common colorations (like the points and Bengals!) to ensure accuracy on labeling. Please also note variants in shade color are possible!
Solid colors
~Black/ Blue ~Chocolate/ Lilac/Lavender ~Cinnamon/ Fawn ~White (if considered) Tabbies: ~Classic ~Mackerel ~Spotted ~Broken Mackerel/Classic ~Ticked ~Bengal |
Pointed Cats:
~Siamese ~Mink (Tonkinese) ~Sepia (Burmese) ~Lynx Points (All those but tabby) Smoke and Silver: ~Smoke ~Silver Bengals: ~Standard ~Classic Bengal ~Charcoal ~Snow |
Red/Ginger/ Cream/Buff
Tortoiseshell Caramelization Unexplained Colors Breed Only Colors |
Solid colors
Red is never a solid color- it is genetically impossible. The colors below are their normal colors and diluted versions. For now, White and Red are not going to be included
Tabby Colors and Variants
There are 4 types of tabbies: Ticked, Spotted, Mackerel and Classic. Bengal and Toyger will be covered later :) Always note- the tabby markings are ALWAYS darker than the base color. It is never reverse.
Classic/Blotched Tabbies: The most recessive tabby
Mackerel Tabbies: The most common type
Spotted Tabbies: Broken or fully spotted. This gene may break apart the mackerel or classic pattern in the heterozygous form. The homozygous form produces near perfect spotting
Ticked Tabby: Most Dominant 'Normal' Tabby. A heterozygous pair may result in stripes along the legs. A homozygous pair will eliminate those stripes. Look at Black VS Blue and Fawn
The Color Points and Variants
There are many variations of the 'Pointed' cat. From Color point, Mink and Sepia to Lynx tabbies as well as rare mochas. These colors can be VERY hard to distinguish. For these? It's really about the eyes!
Color Point- AKA the famous Siamese/Ragdoll look. Typically light blue to sapphire blue eyes. Their body color honestly ranges from white to a mink look. Look at the Seal vs the Chocolate
Mink- Tonkinese Cats usually possess Aqua-blue/green eyes. Bodies usually hold a warm tone to them, but not always like the Cinnamon cat. Eyes are the key
Sepia- Burmese cats have yellow/gold eyes. May only have a slight color difference between body and appendages.
Lynx Points- A round term for any tabby pointed cat. Classic, Mackerel, Spotted or Ticked! IF THAT WEREN'T HARD ENOUGH- THEY CAN BE SEPIA AND MINK TOO
Smokes and Silvers
Now things get more..... complex. Smoke is a term coined for cats that have a silvering affect but are SOLID. Silver is a term coined for cats having a silvering affect but are TABBIES
Smokes- Typically ALWAYS solid!!! There are a few rare exceptions but the rule of thumb is SOLID. Chest and bellies are pale usually
Silver- Typically only seen in the tabby variation. All tabbies! Spotted, Classic, Ticked, Mackerel and even Bengal! Think of it as darkening the stripes and paling/silvering the body.
Bengals
To simplify things, lets consider Bengals a tabby variant. Bengals are actually brought upon by 2 different genes, which we use on the server. Things are also going to get a lot harder to identify.... There are also colors brought up- Like Sorrel and Rust- that are caused by unknown gene modifiers. Know it's also important to note the current research suggests bengal genes might be codominant, but on our server we round off 1 gene type as recessive and 1 as dominant. Studies are still being conducted
Standard Bengals
There are many variants of the standard Bengal. This also includes a classic form (What the chocolate is) and a standard form (what the black is). The Rossette pattern itself (the spots) also have variants to them! Notice how different the Black and Cinnamon look.
Fawn and Lilac are EXTREMELY rare
Fawn and Lilac are EXTREMELY rare
Charcoal Bengals
Charcoal Bengals are the other variant of Bengal that can exist. Their coloration is caused by a different gene. Green eyes are usually a give away. Silver, Mink, Sepia, Pointed- All possible variants. Including dilutes and patterns
Snow Bengals
Just as regular cats can be color point, mink or sepia- so can Bengals! They are termed Snow Bengals. The VAST majority of these will be a variation of black!!!! Chocolate, Cinnamon and all of the dilution colors are quiet rare and uncommon
Ginger/Red Cats
Unlike the other solid colors- Red is a sex chromosome color. It is carried on the 'X' chromosome and when present in a cat- they are automatically Red because it is dominant. In females, if it is paired with a recessive solid color (can be black, chocolate or cinnamon) it is a tortoiseshell. SOLID RED CATS DO NOT EXIST. SO DON'T EVEN ASK
Tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshell is a naturally occurring phenomenon where a red X is paired with a non-red X in female cats. Males may possess this if they are a Chimera or have Klienfelters Syndrome. A SPLIT FACE is a normal tortie pattern.
On this server- Any tortie with WHITE is a calico.
On this server- any tortie with tabby markings on both colors is a torbie cat
On this server- Any tortie with WHITE is a calico.
On this server- any tortie with tabby markings on both colors is a torbie cat
Caramelization
Probably the most ANNOYING colorization, these incredibly rare genes dilute the dilute colors. So think of it like this- the dilute genes cause colors to pale, right? Black turns into blue, Chocolate turns into Lavender... like that. Well these genes dilute the dilute. So Blue turns into Caramelized Blue, Lavender turns into Caramelized Lavander and so on. These genes are really rare- so we do NOT allow this gene to be passed down. You can make a cat with it- but the gene will not pass. When a cat is cream and caramelized, it is called Apricot
Unexplained and WTF Colors
While we know an absolute SHIT TON about cat colors- there is a lot we don't yet know or will never know. There are so many genes that go into a cats color, there are definitely a few we are yet to discover. In addition, there are many gene pairings that we don't even know exist yet because they haven't been bred! Some colors are due to these pairings and we just don't know it yet :)
If such cats are submitted on the server, Sheep and I will be aligning them with what they look most like. If we can't find the genes to produce a color, how can we give them genes? We will go with the next best thing
LINKS TO SUCH CATS:
http://messybeast.com/pseudo-cinnamon.htm
http://messybeast.com/indefinable-colours.htm
http://messybeast.com/indefinable-colours-kittens.htm
If such cats are submitted on the server, Sheep and I will be aligning them with what they look most like. If we can't find the genes to produce a color, how can we give them genes? We will go with the next best thing
LINKS TO SUCH CATS:
http://messybeast.com/pseudo-cinnamon.htm
http://messybeast.com/indefinable-colours.htm
http://messybeast.com/indefinable-colours-kittens.htm
Breed only colors and patterns
These colors and patterns are BREED EXCLUSIVE- meaning they must be produced in an on server litter to occur
Eye Color Chart
created by the lovely Shadow. This is simply how we categorize colors... obviously they aren't like this. We want to give Rpers a diverse pallet of colors to choose from since we only focus on real colors.