Understanding Cat Color Patterns

When looking at the color patterns of cats, a beginner may encounter terms with which they are unfamiliar. Cat breeds have different color patterns that are acceptable characteristics for that particular breed. A person shopping for a cat may want to know what the terms describing cat coloring mean.

A cat that has a solid color coat has a coat with only one color. Most people understand that coloring term, but may get confused when faced with other terms. Tabby with its darker stripes on a lighter-shaded body is readily recognized.

A colorpoint is a coloring term that is indicative of a darker color on the tail, feet, face, and ears than on the rest of the body of the colorpoint cat. Blue point cats have a slate blue/ gray coloring as their darker color with a bluish-white body. Lilac point cats have frosty gray points with a pinkish tint. The rest of the body of a lilac point cat is pure white.

A seal point and chocolate point colored cat has shades of brown as the darker color on the cat’s tail, feet, mask, and ears. The brown of the seal points is a deep, dark brown while chocolate points are similar to the color of milk chocolate. The body of a seal point is cream-colored, while a chocolate point has a white body.

Shaded, shell, and smoke cat colorings are variations of a coloring that combines the effect of a white undercoat with color-tipped hair. Smoke colorings are created with the combination of a white undercoat and deep color-tipped hair. When the cat moves, the white of the undercoat shows with shading of the color-tipped outer coat. Of the shaded, shell, and smoke colorings, the smoke involves the darkest colored tips. The shell coloring is the lightest. The shaded colorings are between the shell and smoke colorings.

The van cat color pattern is a white cat with other coloring restricted to the head, tail, and legs. Tortoiseshell is a black cat with small patches of red over the body. A calico cat is mostly white with patches of solid black and red. Bi-color generally refers to a cat that is partly white and one of the solid colors that is acceptable for that breed. Parti-color is a coat containing intermingled patches of different colors.