Cat Colors: Facts Behind Different Coat Types & Patterns

Cats come in many different fur types, colors, and patterns. While some breeds have specific looks, these features aren’t always tied to particular breeds.

Some cats have short, single-colored fur, while others have complex patterns or no fur at all. Common coat types can be found everywhere, but some are rare and valuable. There are many different cat coat styles, and breeders keep developing new ones.

Discover fascinating facts about cat colors, coat types, and patterns. Learn what influences your feline’s unique look and the genetics behind their fur!

Different Types of Cat Coats

Let’s first look at how long cat fur can be and how it feels before we talk about their colors and patterns.

Types of Cat Coat Lengths:

• Hairless: Some cats don’t have thick fur and are almost hairless, with just a thin layer of soft fuzz on their skin.
• Short hair: Shorthaired cats are common and easy to care for. Their short fur is simple to maintain and looks neat.
• Long hair: Cats with long fur can look beautiful with their eye-catching patterns. However, longhaired cats need more care and must be brushed often.

Types of Cat Coat Textures:

• Curly coat: Rex cats have curly, soft fur without the stiff outer hairs. Their fur can be short or long, with different types of curls.
• Wirehair: Cats with wire-like fur have rough, stiff coats that feel bristly.
• Double coat: Double-coated cats have two layers of fur – a rough outer layer and a thick, soft inner layer. This can happen in both short-haired and long-haired cats.

Different Types of Cat Coat Colors and Patterns

Cats come in many colors like black, white, gray, cream, brown, and orange. Their fur patterns fall into a few main types: solid (one color), tabby (striped), two-colored, calico (three colors), tortoiseshell (mixed dark colors), and colorpoint (dark face, ears, legs, and tail).

A cat with a solid coat is all one color, like a fully black cat. Two-colored cats have clear patches of two different colors. Some cats, like calicos and tortoiseshells, have three or more colors mixed in their fur.

Solid Coat Colors

1. Black

Black is a common color for many house cats, though it’s rare to find one that’s completely black since their whiskers or paw pads often have different colors.

For a cat to be black, they need a special gene that controls the black pigment in their fur. The Bombay cat is known for being all-black. This pigment also determines their eye color, which is usually gold, copper, or green.

2. Chocolate (Brown)

Brown cats are uncommon, though you often see cats with some brown in their fur, like tabby cats. Pure brown cats are very rare because they need specific genes from both parents. Only a few cat breeds can be completely brown, including the Havana Brown, Burmese, and Oriental Shorthair.

3. Cinnamon (Light brown)

Cinnamon cats are even harder to find than brown cats. They have a light brown coat with golden or orange tints. This color comes from special genes passed down from both parents. You might see cinnamon coats in Oriental Shorthairs, British Shorthairs, and Ocicats, but solid cinnamon cats are extremely rare.

4. Orange (Ginger)

Orange cats get their color from genes on the X chromosome. Since female cats have two X chromosomes (XX), they need both to carry the orange gene to be ginger. Male cats only have one X chromosome (XY), so they only need that single X to be orange. That’s why most orange cats are male.

Orange cats always have patterns in their coat, usually mixing orange with white. They’re never completely orange. You can find these orange patterns in cat breeds like the British Shorthair and Abyssinian.

5. White

White cats can have one or two copies of the dominant white gene. Most white cats with two copies (75%) are deaf, while those with one copy often have hearing problems (60%). White cats usually have blue or amber eyes or one of each color. You can find white coats in Turkish Angoras and Persians.

6. Blue (Gray)

Gray cats get their color from a lighter version of black. While gray appears in many patterns like tuxedo and tabby, some breeds like the Russian Blue, Nebelung, and Korat have solid gray coats.

7. Cream

Cream-colored cats come from a lighter version of orange fur. To be cream-colored, a cat needs specific genes: the dominant red gene and the recessive dilute gene. The Turkish Van is a breed known for its cream coat.

8. Fawn

The fawn color in cats comes from a lighter version of cinnamon or light brown fur. Pure fawn-colored cats are very rare because both parent cats must have specific genes: the cinnamon color gene and genes that make the color lighter. You’re more likely to see fawn as part of a pattern, especially in Oriental Shorthair cats.

9. Lilac

Lilac is another light color that comes from diluted chocolate brown fur. Like a fawn, cats need special genes to have this color. Lilac has more black in it, which makes it look slightly purple. You can find lilac-colored cats in breeds like British Shorthairs and Burmese.

Cat Coat Patterns

1. Bicolored

Two-colored cats have white and another color. The three main two-colored patterns are tuxedo, harlequin, and van.

Tuxedo cats are black and white. They look like they’re wearing a formal suit because they have black fur with white on their neck, chest, and face. Many types of cats can be tuxedo cats, like house cats and British or American shorthairs.

Harlequin cats are mostly white with patches of another color like red, brown, cream, black, or grey. Their tails match the color of their patches. While many cats can have this pattern, it’s most common in Persian cats, Japanese Bobtails, and Turkish Vans. Harlequin cats can have two or three colors, but they’re usually mostly white.

Van-patterned cats are mostly white, with colors only on their ears and tails. Due to special genes, about 75% of their body is white. Their ears usually have a white stripe between two colors.

Some van-patterned cats may have small colored spots near their tail. These spots can be red, blue, or black, though the original color was reddish-brown. This pattern is common in Turkish Van cats.

2. Tabby (Striped)

Tabby cats have an “M” mark on their forehead. Tabby isn’t a breed of cat but rather describes how their fur looks. These cats can have different patterns in their fur, like stripes, spots, or swirls. Their fur has special hairs that create light and dark bands, giving them their unique look.

Most pet cats can have tabby markings because their wild ancestors in Africa and Europe gave them this trait.

3. Tortoiseshell

Most tortoiseshell cats are female and have two main colors in their coat: red (which looks orange) and black (which looks brown). These colors can appear either mixed in small spots (bridled pattern) or in bigger, clearer patches (patched pattern).

Torbie cats are a special type of tortoiseshell cat with stripes. They have three colors: white, orange, and black. The orange is usually the main color, and the stripes are usually the darkest part. Like other tortoiseshell cats, torbies are almost always female because of their genes. Many different cat breeds can have torbie coloring, though it’s not very common.

4. Calico

Calico cats have three colors in their fur and are almost always female. Their special coat pattern of orange, black, and white comes from their X chromosome. People often think of calicos as tortoiseshell cats with white patches.

To be a calico cat, they need one X chromosome with an orange gene and another with a black gene. Male calico cats are scarce and usually can’t have kittens. The few male calicos that exist have a genetic condition called Klinefelter syndrome.

5. Colorpoint

The special colorpoint pattern happens because of gene changes that make coat color depend on body temperature. Siamese, Himalayan, Burmese, and Tonkinese cats often have this pattern.

These cats have lighter fur on warmer parts of their body and darker fur on cooler areas like their face, ears, paws, and tail. A protein called tyrosinase controls how temperature affects fur color.

Seal point cats have cream-colored bodies with dark brown or black markings on their face, ears, tails, and paws. This is one of the most common colorpoint patterns, and you can often see it in Himalayan, Ragdoll, and Birman cats.

Conclusion

Cats come in many beautiful colors and patterns. Most breeds can have different colors, patterns, and fur lengths. Only a few breeds have special patterns, like Turkish Vans with unique markings or Bengals with their spots. These patterns can appear in different colors, showing just how many ways a cat’s coat can look.