# What colour is my cat? (Pic happy)



## krazykiwi (Oct 21, 2012)

I know, that probably seems like a silly question, but I am a dog person, not a cat person. 

I'd call him orange, but, someone told me he's called cream, except he seems far too dark for that to be right. On the other hand, my last dog was officially registered as "White and Badger", so I understand that "in the fancy" the colours are not what normal people would call colours. 

In Swedish, he's called Beige. Which really doesn't fit (and personality wise, he's anything but beige, he is quite the diva.)

Also, he is very long haired, so it's hard to see a pattern, but he's obviously some kind of tabby (he has a nice M on his forehead), i just have no idea what kind, because I don't think "Randomly blotchy" is an official kind of tabby type, but theres' definite stripes on his legs, from the right angle, and he's not the same colour all over, most days. 

Also most of his fur is white almost it's whole length , you can see in the pic taken outside where the wind has parted his fur on his back, so it depends a lot what angle you look at him on and how the lighting is, how much orange he looks.

So, could someone expert maybe tell me what colour my orange beige cream blotchy tabbyish colourchanging thingy cat actually is :crazy ?


































(Luckily, my other cat is white, and even a non-cat-afficionado such as myself can tell what colour that is!)


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## rightsaidfed (May 31, 2012)

He's beautiful. I'm not sure exactly, but I'd probably go with "cream" or "buff" before I'd say orange. Hopefully someone more "official" will comment. 

He has the same type of tail as my kitten. So fluffy!


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## PHILIPPE & MEI LI (Nov 30, 2012)

hi , that is one gorgeous kitty.
i would also say cream color..
i think orange would be much darker...


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Your cat's color is cream with white. Very beautiful cat! (BTW, "orange" in cat world is called "red".)

Pattern-wise, I think he is a classic tabby. But I cannot be sure with that, because red cats, even when non-agouti (i.e., solid not tabby), don't hide their tabby marking well. Your cat's marking is very faint, so he may be a solid cream with ghost tabby marking.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Haha love the picture of him in the harness! I always get made fun of when I say I have a leash for my cat :lol: I would defiantly say cream like the others here. He looks like my Godzilla! Only a little lighter!  


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## krazykiwi (Oct 21, 2012)

Thank you so much for the replies, it was a big help. I think I am starting to get the hang of, but I keep mentally relating back to dogs, which is messing me up, cos I'm thinking the combos are actually much simpler here.

Do I understand correctly, cat colours are effectively called the same no matter what breed or unknown mix of? And red (dilute or not) is more or less "not black", correct? In Sune, the boy above, his mamma was a pedigreed Norwegian Forest Cat, but apparently adept at letting herself out windows, so god only knows what his pappa was, so he's just a cat, no breed (albeit a cat with a glorious tail) 

In dogs, this colour is called all sorts of things, depending on the breed: Fawn, red, yellow, créme, even "dried grass" if you happen to have Chesapeake Bay Retrievers), but in cats, always basically red (or dilute, cream)?

Also: All cats are tabby, self-coloured lack the agouti gene and therefore show only ghost markings, particularly in red? Now that I kind of got a hint what to look for, I'm having fun looking at websites, but without a bit of grounding knowledge, googling "cat colour genetics" kind of dumped me in the deep end!

Did I mention I have a White Cat? This is Sepideh, she just happens to be coloured white, right, (as in, she's genetically a tabby like everyone else, but doesn't happen to have the genes that make any colours express in her coat?) Nothing else funky going on there? Heritage wise she's your average mix of housecat crossed with a helping of adorable princess kitty fluffiness: 









At first I thought "white is white" but then I got thinking. My dogs were Great Pyrenees, which are head to tail white except for the odd spot on their ears and butt, but they're genetically black (or brown, aka red) dogs with an extreme white spotting gene, so they're basically just one big white spot covering up all the rest, with the splotches on the ears almost invariably agouti, but we call that Blaireau or Badger. But the splotches can amount to just one or two hairs, so visibly, the dogs often seem pure white.

Very different genetically from say, the lethal white merle gene that can make great danes or boxers white, and often deaf (or dead). Or is this the same one that's responsible for deaf white cats, so there's multiple ways to get to all white in cats too?

Sorry for all the questions, but this is fascinating


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## krazykiwi (Oct 21, 2012)

Zilla said:


> Haha love the picture of him in the harness! I always get made fun of when I say I have a leash for my cat :lol: I would defiantly say cream like the others here. He looks like my Godzilla! Only a little lighter!


Heh, missed to reply to this in my other reply: He loves to be outside, and hates the leash, but he's lived all his life in a highrise apartment until he came to live here 2 months ago. So harnesses it is, because behind me is about 100 acres of woods, and I don't trust him yet to figure out where he lives. I'm probably paranoid, but better safe than not, and as much as he acts like I am murdering him when I put his harness on, he loves his walks!


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Cream or buff is what the dilute coloring is call.  There are some breeds that have specialized names for colors.

http://messybeast.com/colours.htm


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

I would say buff, my kitten looks JUST like yours and I would call him a buff color.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

The outdoor pictures usually give the best light for true colour, and I can see the light undercoat which puts his colour in the "shaded and smoke" category, and the faint Classic Tabby marking on his side and face. So I would say your cat's colour is *Cameo Tabby & White*, because of his white narrow blaze on face and feet. 

To determine a cat's colour: Determining Cat Color 

It's real mystery trying to figure out a cat's colour. Check out this link:

THE INDEFINABLE COLOURS

He's a gorgeous cat!


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Yes, technically he's a dilute red, but buff or cream is also commonly used. Here's a nice site on colors for Maine Coons:

Maine **** Colors

Holly (in my signature) is a red with white classic tabby Maine ****...her coloring is much darker than your guy.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

doodlebug said:


> Holly (in my signature) is a red with white classic tabby Maine ****...her coloring is much darker than your guy.


And we need some updated pictures of the beauty. It's been awhile, Lisa.


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## krazykiwi (Oct 21, 2012)

Lol, ok, I take it back that this is simpler than dogs (although in some ways it still is).

He's a peach whatever colour he is, he's a real lovebug, and I'm happy to have him, but I'm still finding this whole colour thing utterly fascinating. Thanks a lot for all the answers and links, I'm working my way through them!


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## jadis (Jul 9, 2011)

Both your cats are gorgeous, I love blues and creams. Those blue tabbies on the Maine **** site are stunning too.


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## Ottismommy (Nov 17, 2012)

Can you tell me what my little guy Is called (color& type).






.






. I'm a new kitty owner. All I know is he is gorgeous and quite the little ham!! He seems like a shorthair but I noticed lately that he has quite a few longer white tip fur throughout. Is that normal for a shorthair? Or does it mean he will be fluffier as he gets older? He is only young. Maybe 12 weeks or so


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Short haired tabby with white is what he looks like to me. And obviously he's orange but I'm not sure what the proper term is.... 


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Looks like a Domestic Short Hair Buff Mackerel Tabby aka Cutie Patootie


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

His color is Cream Mackeral Tabby & White, and a beautiful boy is he! Looks like he's going to be shorthair.


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