

Some might not even be noticeable! If you only had 5 seconds to identify how many shades of white the cat in the picture had on its fur, you’d probably only see 1 shade of white. If you know enough about the Colorpoint pattern, you might notice that Colorpoint Himalayan cats, or just Colorpoint cats in general always repeat the same color put in up to about 20 nameable shades! They may also, like our cat in that top picture, have another main color, except has only 1-4 shades of it. There’s the dark, chocolate brown in between the eyes, the light brown on the legs into a brown more like the color of the tabby, AND the really light brown on the cheeks by it’s whiskers. Looking at the photos on the side, you can say that the Colorpoint Himalayan has mostly white and brown- however, if you look closely, you can find that there are at least 5 different visible shades. While there are many good apps where you can simply take your cats picture and your device will tell you what pattern & breed it has, it is good to learn the basics of telling them apart mentally by looking at there fur & shape. For example, a calico cat may have a orange spot on its left ear, while another may have a black spot and another orange spot on its right ear! Below, you can read all about a cats patterning and how it works. These can still have many different patterns with there shape size and coloring. The main cat patterns that a cat will have are called Tabby, Colorpoint Shorthair, Tortoiseshell, Calico, & Bicolor Cat. Other links to check out: Cat Anatomy | Cat Behavior | Cat breeds | Cat Age | Cat Mating | Cats and KittensĬats come in all different shapes, sizes, colors and fur. There are many different ways these two colors can be arranged. The bicolor has two colors, black & white. The colors are white, orange and/or brown, sometimes black as well. Calico’s have spots and can be mixed with a tabby. Tortoiseshell (like tabby spots and stripes)Ĭolors: The tabby can be identified in any color, likely orange & white, brown & dark brown, black & gray, ext.Colorpoint (Like a rag doll or Himalayan, many shades of color).Bicolor AKA tuxedo cat (Black and white pattern).Calico/Tricolor (Spotted, usually white with black and orange spots).Interesting tabby cat fact: The English term tabby derives from the translation of the French phrase “striped silk taffeta”, and the root of it is tabis, which means “a rich watered silk.”Īnd if you want to go into details, there are various variations of tabby cat coat color: spotted, mackerel, stripped, and ticked.Here are the most common patterns a cat will have: A genetic study found five genetic clusters from tabbies to be ancestral to wildcats of various parts of the world.” “The tabby pattern is a naturally occurring feature that may be related to the coloration of the domestic cat’s direct ancestor, the African wildcat, which-along with the European wildcat and Asiatic wildcat-has a similar coloration. The reason for this interesting coat pattern is very interesting: Tabby cats can be male or female, but ginger tabbies, as a rule, are males due to genetics. If you are an owner, you know what we mean by tortitude.īy definition, a tabby is any domesticated cat that has “ a coat featuring distinctive stripes, dots, lines or swirling patterns, always together with a mark resembling an ‘M’ on its forehead." It is not uncommon for tabby kittens to be born without stripes and that they appear after a few weeks. A tortie cat is well known for having an attitude and a distinctive personality. People that own these cats often say that they have “tortitude” to others. Tortoiseshell patterns appear in various breeds, including domestic cats which are not of pure breed. And if occasionally some male tortoiseshell cat appears, it will almost certainly be sterile. Like calicos, tortoiseshell cats are nearly always female. If you have ever wondered about the difference between torbie, tortie, calico or tabby cat, look no further, we are here to fill you in.Ī tortoiseshell cat has a coat that is similar to a specked or particolored tortoise shell. Some have stripes that are bolder/darker than the others, and not all cats have solid stripes. Tabbies, for instance, have a classification of their own. But there is a precise classification for cat coat colors, just like cats are such precise creatures. Cats come in a variety of colors, and to be honest, to most people, they are just grey, yellow, black cats.
