In discussing small cat hair colour, I think we have to divide the world of the small cats into two groups: the purebred cats and the non-purebred cats. Purebred cats These are created through artificial selection a.k.a. selective breeding. Selective breeding determines the genes that the cats carry and these genes determine the coat …
First a short introduction. Although the history of the Siamese cat in the West is somewhat vague, it would seem with some certainty that a certain Mrs Vyvyan of Dover, UK acquired some of the first Siamese cats in the West. Of course, they came from Siam (now Thailand) ostensibly from the King’s Palace …
This is another infographic which I hope summarises what is going on when a cat coat becomes pale and washed out. A lot of people like the appearance. All the grey cats are a washed out black. The most famous grey purebred cat is the British Blue. The Russian Blue is also a dilute black.
Scroll down for an infographic on the classic tabby cat coat which is also referred to as the blotched tabby. Of the three types of tabby coat: the mackerel, spotted and classic, as stated in the infographic, the classic is believed to have evolved the last in the Elizabethan era due to a genetic mutation. But domestic cat tabby coats have evolved from the original domesticated cats which were all stripped/spotted tabbies as they were domesticated wildcats. Back in the day there was only one type of tabby.
The word ‘chinchilla’ is used a lot in the cat fancy and it is associated with Persian cats. Usually not the extreme bred, flat-faced variety but the traditional doll-faced types. But there appears to be a certain flexibility in the meaning and use of the word which I have illustrated in the infographic. In essence ‘chinchilla’ refers to a type of coat in the cat world, specifically the cat fancy. The name has been taken from the name of a South American rodent with the same coat.
This is an infographic which summarises albinism in cats. Rarely you will see albino wild and domestic cats. You will see quite a lot of people confusing cats that are completely white with blue eyes or odd-eye colour caused by the dominant white gene and albino cats with light-blue to pink eyes. The eyes are a good way to tell the difference. There are more articles with a reference to albinism below the infographic
This is my infographic on the agouti tabby domestic cat coat which we all know. It is the original cat coat.
We all know that the domestic cat tabby pattern is the most common and best known as it comes from the domestic cat’s wildcat ancestor the North African wildcat which has a less contrasty spotted/mackerel tabby coat. Domestication introduced the blotched tabby in the 19th century; a late arrival.
The blue-cream cat coat is a dilute version of the black-red cat coat which describes the tortoiseshell coat so the blue-cream coat is a dilute tortoiseshell. Blue is a dilute black. It is blue-grey. Grey cats are called ‘blue cats’ by the cat fancy as you probably know in recognition of the slight blue …
