# What colour is this?



## Dominoes (Aug 28, 2011)

I posted on another pet forum but got no replies, so here this goes:

This are not our cats. We saw them a while back when we visited a relative; apparently they were the neighbours but weren't really looked after/cared for. 

Anyway, I'd never seen a cat this colour! I know black can turn rusty/reddish in the sun, but having lived in a much sunnier country for years, I'd still never encountered anything quite like these little cats. They were striking!

Anyone got a clue as to what they are?


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Just beautiful. Another poster referred to this a Chocolate or Choco kitty (do a search for that thread). I think that may be the color.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

I would say chocolate and white or cinnamon and white, although I'm no expert. Certainly beautiful, though.

Here are a couple resources:

http://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/files/2011/11/identification-and-coat-colors-patterns.pdf

Cat Coat Color Chart | Earth Pets of Gainesville

If you look on the top left of the second chart (you'll probably need to zoom in a little), you can see how as black pigmentation decreases, it becomes the brownish colors. This is why some black cats can appear red in the sun.

TICA has some excellent information regarding genetics and coloring. But since the parents weren't known in this case, I didn't include those.


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## Lotu (Apr 26, 2013)

Stunning...could this be considered a calico?


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

Lotu said:


> Stunning...could this be considered a calico?


Interesting. Calico cats are tri-colored with (usually) white, black and red. Or white, blue, and cream, if dilute. 

I suppose one could make a case for the brown and red being different colors, thereby having a white, brown, and red calico? Doesn't seem likely to me but I'm no expert.

Eventually one of the CFA/TICA folks will happen along this thread and answer the question.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

There are only two distinctly marked colors on this cat, so not calico. However there are, extremely rarely, chocolate calico cats. Tortoiseshell and Tricolour Cats 

What these cats are is chocolate with white in color. Chocolate itself is very rare and I believe a man created color with highly selective breeding, so you know somewhere in the past these cats had purebred cats (from Asia, such as Siamese, Burmese, Havana Brown, Oriental) in their past.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Here's the choco kitty thread.

http://www.catforum.com/forum/56-feral-cats/215489-here-we-go-again-choco-kitty.html


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## NOLAKitties (May 30, 2013)

Unusual. <3 it!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

I would imagine the colors would be quite different if the cats were healthy. Those cats look very sick.


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## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

i have never in all my years seen a cat that color.....beasutiful rust?

marshall is black....BUT when he is in the window...he has alot of chocolate brown....soooo pretty!!


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Possibly _Havana Brown_ in it's background somewhere....They are solid chocolate color with apple-green eyes and it seems this cat has greenish eyes which are somewhat unusual as well as a somewhat similar shaped head, upright ears and longer muzzle. Very striking cat!

Breed Profile: The Havana Brown


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## maewkaew (Jun 27, 2012)

I agree, either Chocolate and White or Cinnamon and White. I actually think it looks more like Cinnamon but it could be a lighter chocolate. 
Both of those are recessive alternate alleles to black. Chocolate is recessive to Black and Cinnamon is recessive to Chocolate 
They re not exactly "man made" , but in most places they do mean probable pedigreed cat ancestry. Chocolate originally came from Siamese and Burmese. ( the Havana got it from Siamese) and Cinnamon came from Abyssinians. Both have been bred into some other breeds and have also been spread somewhat into the random-bred cat population. These colors are not very common in random-bred cats since the gene isn't that common and it has to be inherited from both parents, but they definitely do turn up here and there. chocolate more than cinnamon. If you see a colony of a bunch of cats of these colors it's probably quite a bit of inbreeding going on.


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## wolfheartmoon (Aug 3, 2013)

lovetimesfour said:


> I would imagine the colors would be quite different if the cats were healthy. Those cats look very sick.


How so? 
He just looks a little dirty is all to me. And since it's apparently a wild cat, it's common for them to not be as clean as a housecat.


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

Very neat! 

You're right Marcia, they are quite a similar colour to Choco-cat, although Choco-cat is much more consistently chocolate, like the colour brown that is on the cats' faces in the photo. She doesn't have any Cinnamon or reddish areas on her. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of Choco-cat in similar lighting conditions, but you can see that she's at least quite close in colour.


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## jadis (Jul 9, 2011)

We have this cat in our rescue right now. She is chocolate and white.

Petfinder Adoptable | Domestic Short Hair - brown | Cat | Alpharetta, GA | Ribbon


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