Cat’s Coat Colors: A Wide Range
Similar to human skin, melanin also determines the color of the cat’s coat in cats.
Melanin has two structural components: eumelanin and pheomelanin. While the former creates brown and black tones, the latter determines reddish and yellowish colors.
The proportion and combination of these pigments in the genetic structure determines the color of the cat’s coat .
The genetics of the cat’s coat colors
Here, too, cats resemble humans. The amount of melanin is passed down genetically. That is, the genetic load inherited from the parents determines the color of the cat’s coat.
That sounds like a simple system, but genetics aren’t always a straightforward proportion.
Basics for understanding the color variations
Dominant coat colors of the cat
Cats with dominant coat colors have “extreme” properties, ie they have a particularly high level of eumelanin or pheomelanin in their genes. They are black, dark brown, or chocolate and red and are also known as cats in primary colors.
The gene for red has another very special property. It can determine if the kitten is a pure color or if it combines different shades of red. It’s called allele O (red) or allele o (non-red).
Recessive coat colors of the cat
Cats with recessive coat colors have different combinations of eumelanin and pheomelanin in their genes. They have different colors like cream, beige, purple, blue, etc. They can also be called cats with soft genes.
Can you predict the color of the cat’s coat?
In order to predict the coloring of a litter of kittens, it is necessary to know the color and parentage of the parents.
If either parent has dominant genes, the kittens are the same color.
Cats that are the offspring of a pair of recessive genes have soft colors and tones.
In order to father white cats, at least one parent must be from the white genetic line.
Interesting facts about the genetic transmission of the traits
A shaded or shell-colored parent can father kittens that are smoke-colored. But smoke-colored parents do not give birth to shaded or shell kittens.
Bicolor and Himalayan cats (Colorpoint)
Bicolor kittens must necessarily have a bicolor parent. The same applies to the Colorpoint varieties, also known as Himalayan Persian cats.
Shell, shaded or smoke varieties
These are very special color variants. Also called chinchilla (shell), shaded or smoke color (smoke).
To get kittens of these colors, parents must have appropriate genetics. And neither parent should have dominant genes.
Characteristic breeds of cats and their colors
Some colors were typical of certain races. The spread of selective breeding and reproduction made it possible to expand the coat patterns.
Nowadays, most of the breeds of cats of different colors are accepted without losing their purity.
Monochrome cats
In monochrome cats, the fur is the same color from the root to the tip of the hair. The most popular colors are black, white, gray, cream, purple, blue, saber, fawn, chocolate, red and cinnamon.
The uniform color black must not have different shades, nuances or white spots and hair.
The color red is not really uniform. Red cats appear to be monochromatic due to the controlled crossbreeding of selective breeding.
The recessive cream color is a dilution of the red color.
The colors brown, brownish or sepia are exclusive to the Burmese breed.
The white color is produced by a large number of genes and is present in many breeds. White cats with blue eyes carry a gene that often causes deafness.
Agouti pattern
This pattern can often be found in the colors red (chestnut or cinnamon) and classic red or maroon. But it can also occur within other colors, such as silver, chocolate, cream, purple or blue.
Tabby pattern
The tabby pattern is broken down into 3 similar types and can be found in brown, blue, chocolate, cinnamon, silver, camee, red, purple, and cream.
Tortoiseshell pattern
This much-noticed pattern is known as the “turtle shell” and is derived from the combination of the dominant red and black genes.
Tortoiseshell-patterned cats usually have tabby patterns. So it seems to consist of more than 2 coat colors of the cat.
Special patterns (two and more colors)
Special patterns are usually obtained through selective breeding and crossing. For this reason, special colors are currently represented in a wide range of breeds and in the most varied of coat colors of cats.
Main image source: Tsaag Valren
