This article discusses very basic elements pelt pigments, which is useful for having some general knowledge on the different colours of fur on cats. I've decided not to get into genetics, to keep this simple. It explains the colours of feline pelts as well as the patterns found - the differences between calicos, torbies and torties, and the four different types of tabbies.

Only four basic colours in cat fur exist - black, chocolate, cinnamon and red - and all other colours are variations of those. White is not actually a colour, but like in terms of light, it is the lack of colour. It and its variations will be treated as a colour in this article though, since cats do come in white. Obviously black is black (also called ebony), chocolate is the brown, red is an orange and cinnamon is a lighter, warmer brown colour. The names of each colour can vary from breed to breed.

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Red Pigment

Ginger cats are also referred to as red, sorrel, orange or marmalade, and there is also a division to very dark ginger called ruddy. They can be solid, patched or tabby, and the gene also appears in calico and tortie cats and patches and spots. Solid and tabby gingers have a high ratio of male cats then female cats, and the variation of a cream colour is a diluted version of red. All the variations of gingers come from the original red pigment.

Black Pigment

Black is obviously a common colour for cats and appears in a torie and calico patterns as well. Gray cats are all referred to as blue in breeding, but there are some shades of blue that are more true to the blue colour we know. They come from a mixture of black and cream, being the diluted form of a normal black. The colour of a hair under a microscope is not a solid gray colour, but a patchy gray/cream.

 

Chocolate Pigment

Chocolate cats are the brown cats, and the diluted form is a lighter, sometimes pink-tinted colour called lilac. Chocolate is probably the most recognizable shade of colour, and makes a common appearance in tortie, calico, and tabby pelt patterns.

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Cinnamon Pigment

Similiar to the red and chocolate shades, cinnamon is a sort of red-brown colour much like of a cinnamon stick. It's diluted colour is a fawn or sorrel colour, and the colour appears as mixture of the diluted versions of red and chocolate (cream and lilac, respectively)

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White Pigment

White cats are the fur that lacks colour, and have several unique attributes. White cats have many variations of eye colours, and can have gold, green, or blue, and are the most common recipients of heterochromia, a condition resulting in different coloured eyes; which may include a combination of blue, green, orange or yellow. Blue eyed cats with white fur have a high likelihood of being deaf.

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Tabby/Blotched Pattern

Tabby banding is thought to be the original, wild pattern of domesticated coats. They often have multi-coloured or bi-coloured pelts with many bands and "pencil lines". The most common colours are mixtures of brown, which are common among feral cats and are natural camouflage. The pelt pattern is made more complex with "agouti" hairs, which are multiple stripes colours on each individual hair. There are four types of tabby cats, and they come in many different colours, being a generic pattern.

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MACKEREL TABBY: Narrow stripes running parallel down the sides, a fish bone pattern, sometimes referred to as tiger cats.

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CLASSIC TABBY: Most common tabby with darker swirling patterns over a lighter base coat comparable to a marble cake. Referred to as BLOTCHED TABBY in the UK.

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SPOTTED TABBY: Tabby with various sized spots and loops, which can often appear as broken mackerel stripes.

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TICKED TABBY: This tabby is not especially identifiable because it does not have stripes or spots on most of it's body. It does have tabby markings on the face and has agouti hairs; striping on the individual hairs of the pelt, resulting in the appearance of darker "tick" marks.

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Solid/Self Pattern

Solid colours are fairly simple as far as cat colouring -- they are one solid colour, and have no agouti hairs, each hair is one colour. This pattern (or lack there of) is referred to as solid, or in the UK as self. Solid pelts are caused by a recessive gene that suppresses tabby markings that would otherwise be there.

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BLACK solids have black hair all over. There are some variations of black; coal or ebony black, a lighter black is a very smoky black and the third variation is a very dark brownish black. In sunlight black coats can go through "rusting" which turn them a lighter brown, similar to the ruddy colouring.

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BLUE solids are a blue-gray colour, commonly known as maltese. The also vary somewhat in shades from a dark slate to a pale ash, and a colour that has a strong blue pigment in the gray fur.

 

WHITE solids are completely lacking in pigments, and have interestingly varied eye colours. Solid white cats are the most common cats to have blue eyes, but can also have gold and green eyes. They also are the most common recipients of heterochromia, a condition resulting in different coloured eyes; which may include a combination of blue, green, orange or yellow.

 

Smoke Pattern

Similar to solid patterning, the roots of the cat's fur is white, and is called a smoke (it's important for the roots to be white, gray is still considered solid). They are especially known for creating a "silver" colour, and depending on the hair length the white roots can be seen beneath the top colour.

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Patched Pattern

A bi-colour patterned cat is one with two colours making patches or a spot, in contrast to the fading point patterns. One darker colour over a white base is the most common bi-colour, sometimes with ginger patches (much like the coloration of Brightheart in warriors) or black on white (Barley is warriors, as well as many others like Ravenpaw or Tallstar). A bi-colour on white has many distinctive names for the patterns and amounts of white.

 

A MITTED cat has white paws.

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A LOCKET shape is a white spot on the chest. (Ravenpaw has a locket)

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A BUTTON shape is a white belly spot.

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A BI-COLOR is nearly half white.

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A HARLEQUIN is mostly white and has large patches of color.

 

A VAN pattered cat has small colour patches on the head and tail.

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A TUXEDO is a distinctive pattern with white paws, chest, belly and a black black and legs.

 

Calico/Tortoiseshell Pattern

Calico cats, or tortoiseshell in the UK (the terms are both used in the US, but calico is usual in the UK) are a distinctive type of patched pattern. The most common tortoiseshell pattern for cats without white markings is a tortie patched with red, black and cream, the patches can be large and distinctive or dappled and varied.

The first with more distinctive patches is more commonly referred to as a calico in the US, while a tortoiseshell term is reserved for brindled cats and is also sometimes called calimanco. The second, less common pattern is a blue-cream tortie (blue tortie, dilute tortie) and is a patched blue and cream (the colours are less distinctive then normal tortie, and often appear as a pale colour like a dappled gray on white and pale gray, sometimes including pale orange). A torbie is a calico with tabby stripes and can be both the diluted variety or regular. They often have white patches. When a pelt has white fur included the terms can change. A "Tortoiseshell and white" pattern is a tortie (usually the mottled coat mentioned above) has a small amount of white and the spots and colours are closely mingled. A calico has more white, and the more white the more distinctive the coloured patches become, and less dappled like the tortie. A calico is a tortoiseshell, but not all torties are calicos (because they do not have enough white).

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Pointed Pattern

If your cat has dark "points" (face, paws, and tail) shading to a much lighter color on the body, it is a "pointed" cat. This is the pattern of the Siamese cat, but many other breeds as well as non-purebreds also come in this pattern, so it does not mean that the cat is a Siamese. This pattern is also sometimes called the "colorpoint" pattern (not to be confused with the Colorpoint Shorthair breed) or the "himalayan" pattern (not to be confused with the Himalayan breed).

Pointed cats are born white and gradually darken with age. A young pointed cat will have a much lighter body color than an older pointed cat.

Pointed cats can come in many different colors:

    * A "seal point" has dark brown points and a body color anywhere between light brown and ivory.
    * A "blue point" has gray points and a light gray or beige body.
    * A "lynx point" has tabby points! It might have any of the colors described in the tabby section. For example, you could have a "blue lynx point" or "red lynx point." The body color may show some shadow tabby markings, especially as the cat gets older.
    * A "tortie point" has tortoiseshell points, and a "blue-cream point" has blue-cream points. Patched tabby points are also possible. 

You can even have a pointed cat with white markings! If the cat has a lot of white, however, it can be hard to see the pointed pattern (especially on the feet). White markings will cover up any other color where they appear. 

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Colors Not Allowed

The above information provides basic insight into the possible colors found in domesticated cats. Some colors, however, are distinctly found in purebreds, and wouldn't be allowed for a Clan cat. These include colors such as pure brown, also known as chocolate. While some pointed cat breeds may be purebred, there are non-purebred possibilities of this pattern in feral cats. If you aren't sure if a cat image you are using is a purebred color or not, ask a staff member and provide a link to your image.

There are also other colors that will not be allowed no matter what. (Pink, green, yellow, etc)

Some genetic traits will be either restricted or denied completely, such as male tortoiseshell cats. Because of their extra chromosome, multiple defects can occur, making it impossible for the cat to survive in the wild, and would keep it from being an outdoor cat.