Roy is a pretty typical cat. It is nice though to see him getting the five star treatment from Helmi Flick. He looks great in these photographs.
Bicolor cats with a solid color and white are probably the second more common cat coat after the tabby and tabby and white. Although the tabby coat is pure wild cat in heritage the bicolor would seem to be a development over the period of the cat’s domestication. There is nothing like in amongst the wild cat species.
Roy is a grade 5 bicolor meaning his has medium grade spotting. This refers to the white fur created by the presence of the piebald gene. The word ‘spotting’ is a bit misleading as it describes white spots of fur but Roy has large areas of white fur. The word spotting is used nonetheless.
You’d call Roy a black and white cat. Although you could call him a white and black cat.
In the early days of the cat fancy, cats that were considered to have high grade spotting (lots of white fur) were referred to as white and black cats. The classic cat breed that has high grade spotting is the Turkish Van.
In fact Roy has a an inverted V pattern on his head that is reminiscent of the Turkish Van head pattern. This is common place. Lots of cats in the Mediterranean area have this sort of pattern. They often have odd-eye color too as the same gene can affect the pigment in the iris. Also hearing can be affected by this gene.
The piebald gene is also called the white spotting gene. Painted horses (piebald horses) carry the same gene. The gene has variable expression as you can see.
So my nephew has a class 4 Tuxedo. A gorgeous cat. If you look at him from one side when he is laying down you would think he is all black. When he sits up facing forward you can see the large patch of white that goes from the neck, widening just a bit to end up mid tummy. Panda is a very slinky cat. He can fit through the tiniest of spaces. Once again, I learned a lot Michael. Thank you.