Coat Colors and Mutations

# Cat coat patterns and mutations.

## Coat patterns for cats:

**There are the main 4 cat patterns:**

Tabby, Solid, Bicolor, Tricolor, Tortoiseshell, and Colorpoint. From these, many different patterns have bloomed. Here I will name most of them.

#### Tabby:

There are many different tabby patterns. Some are Classic, Spotted, Ticked, Mackerel, Patched, Agouti, Barred Ticked, Broken Classic, Mist Marble, Broken Mackerel, Broken Spotted, Sokoke, Speckled, Pinstripe, Classic Spotted, Tiger, Caliby (Calico Tabby mix), Color Point Tabby, Rosetted, Candle-flame, Ghost tabby, and Marbled.

#### Bicolor:

These are normally 2 different colors. Sometimes the same color but different shades.

Van (2 types), Harlequin, Bicolor (4 different types), Cap and saddle, Mask and mantle, Tuxedo, Mitted, and Colorpoint Bicolor.

#### Tortoiseshell:

Tortoiseshell cats, or torties, combine two colors other than white, either closely mixed or in larger patches. The colors are often described as red and black, but the "red" patches can instead be orange, yellow, or cream, and the "black" can instead be chocolate, gray, tabby, or blue.

Red vritieys: Chocolate tortie, Cinamion tortie, and Tortie.

Dilute Red: Blue-cream, Lavender-cream, and Fawn-cream.

Yellow/Ginger: Blue caramale, Lilac caramale, Fawn caramale.

#### Tans:

A tan only has two forms: Classic Tan pattern and Saddle tan pattern. Bicolor and tans are pretty close as they normally only have two colors.

Black and Tan, Choc and tan, Cinnamon and tan, Red and tan, Dove and tan, Lilac and tan, Fawn and tan, Cream and tan.

#### Chimera:

These normally have a ‘split face’ due to two kittens fusing together while still in the womb. Not very common. Also normally have two different color eyes.

Text taken from google:

“A chimera cat is one that has one color scheme on half of its face and/or body and another on the other half. The line that separates them is sometimes uncannily straight, making the face look like Mother Nature was having a little joke—trying to blend two cats into one.”

#### Tricolor:

These are just calicos but with with an extra color on them. So brown, black and gray/silver.

#### Colorpoint:

These are just solid color cats with colors onthe paws, face, tail and sometimes the back. They are normal  Seal, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Cinnamon, and Fawn. But can be other colors. Think of Burmese, Siamese, or Tinkinese cats.

Flame-point, Cream-point, Seal lynx-point, Blue lynx-point, Mink colorpoint, solid colorpoint,

### Other coat patterens:

#### Roan:

Roan (Teweed), Karpati (Salt and pepper), and normal Karpati.

#### White ear tufts:

As the names says, they just have ear tufts that are white.

#### Piebald:

When the amount of white is small (under 40%), it is called low-grade spotting and comprises the white belly patch, mitts, locket and blaze. In medium grade spotting, the amount of white varies from 40% to 60% of the coat and is the typical pattern of a show quality bicolour (a mask and mantle effect). When it is extensive (more than 60%), it is called high-grade spotting - the Seychellois or Van pattern.

### Age/health related patterns:

#### Vitiligo:

This is pigment loss in the skin which can affect the skin, fur, ears, paws, and mouth. The color slowly become white.

#### Old age:

Often the muzzle will start to fade to silver/white.

## Mutations:

### Ears:

#### Folded ears:

This trait is associated with a natural dominant mutation in the **Fd** gene. The mutation is specific to the Scottish Fold breed. Their ears are folded forward and down to different degrees of folding. However, this gene is also associated with cartilage defects such as swollen feet and a thickened tail. The mutation is harmful in homozygous form (Fd Fd), or when a cat inherits one copy of the mutation from each parent, in which case it causes osteochondrodysplasia. This is why breeders breed folds only with non-folds to avoid homozygous fold offspring.

#### Curled ears:

This unusual trait is associated with the Cu gene, associated with the American Curl breed. Fortunately, no harmful defects associated with this gene have been identified yet. However, the ears of these cats need to be handled carefully as the ear cartilage is fragile. Regular ear cleaning is also required because more of the inner ear is exposed in comparison to typical ear forms.

#### Rounded ears:

Rounded ears were originally observed in a cat in Italy and some free-roaming cats in Texas. These ears are rounded rather than pointed in shape. While the carriers of the trait in Texas actually died out, the one found in Italy is being assessed for breed potential.

#### Four ears:

This feature is associated with a recessive mutation that results in four ear flaps (additional flaps do not lead to additional organs of hearing). Sometimes, due to these duplicated ears, a cat’s eyes may be reduced in size and its jaw slightly undershot. Carriers of this trait can be relatively inactive and lethargic and may struggle with possible interferences of brain functioning. This mutation also seems to be lethal, with most kitten carriers actually dying in utero. Despite these data, the majority of recently-reported four eared cats have actually been healthy, indicating that there may be more genes involved in this unusual ear configuration.

### Tails

#### Japanese Bobtail "bobbed tail"

The bobbed tail in the Japanese Bobtail breed is a unique feature associated with an autosomal dominant mutation in the *Japanese Bobtail gene.* Because the mutation is dominant, both homozygotes and heterozygotes will have bobbed tails. Unlike other unusual tail shapes, the mutation causing bobbed tails is harmless and does not relate to lethality or skeletal disorders.

#### Manx tailless

This is a trait caused by a harmful dominant mutation in the *Manx tailless gene*, **M**. Homozygous carriers (MM) die before birth while heterozygous carriers (Mm) are either tailless or have very short, stumpy tails. Sometimes they can also exhibit skeletal and organ defects, with some Manx cats dying before ever reaching 12 months of age.

#### Short tails

Tails which are simply "short" in length can be very difficult to distinguish from bobbed or Manx tails. Shortened tails can occur in many different pure or mixed breeds and can be caused by different genetic mutations, most of which are still being investigated.

#### Curly tails

Tails looping over from the back come in different forms and can be caused by different mutations. One such mutation has been developed into the new experimental breed called *American Ringtail*. The breed started with a Californian cat named Solomon in 1998. The mutation identified in this cat doesn’t seem to be associated with any health issues. Curly tailed cats were bred with Ragdolls and American Shorthairs.

### Paws

#### Syndactylism

This is a trait associated with the *Split Foot gene*, **Sh**. The dominant mutation of the gene causes a reduction in the number of toes on a cat, giving it a so called *"lobster-claw"* appearance.

#### Polydactylism

This is a trait associated with different dominant and recessive genes causing a higher number of toes than normal. To learn more about this unusual appearance, read our blog about polydactylism here.

### Height and Size

#### Munchkin legs

This is the trait of shortened legs, and it is caused by a dominant mutation in the *Munchkin gene*, **Mk**. Homozygous (Mk Mk) carriers may be at a higher risk of dying as the kittens are very small in the litter. However, the mutation doesn’t seem to cause impaired mobility or spinal problems, and Munchkin cats are not disabled despite having short legs. The anomaly is not achondroplasia but can be either hypochondroplasia or pseudochondroplasia (meaning that the long bones of the legs are affected and other bodily proportions remain unaffected).

#### Teacup-sized Persians

These are very small, diminutive but proportional Persian cats whose size is caused by a dominant germ-cell mutation first identified in a male Persian named Treker in 1995. Today, Teacup Persians are a separate breed from Persians, and not all of them are descended from Treker. Most of these kittens today were actually raised from Silver and Golden color divisions.

## Gallery:

White spotting diagramFace markingsUnique pattern diagramSkunk pattern diagramSpot development diagramTuxedo development diagramCoat pattern diagram 1Coat pattern diagram 2Coat pattern diagram 3Coat pattern diagram 4Coat pattern Diagram (Calico) 5Coat pattern Diagram (Torbie) 6Coat pattern diagram (Counter-shading) 7Coat pattern diagram (White Markings) 8Coat pattern diagram 9Coat pattern diagram 10Coat pattern diagram 11Coat pattern diagram 12Coat pattern diagram (Caliby) 13Coat pattern diagram (Caliby) 14Coat pattern diagram (Caliby) 15Caliby ref