# What color is my cat considered?



## Kytkattin (Oct 18, 2013)

First, I want to apologize for any incorrect coloration terms I use! I also understand that Midas is likely just a domestic short-hair without any specific "breed" origins. I got him from neighbors whose father owned him and the man was going into a nursing home. The man has since passed away, so I have no idea if Midas was purchased, given as a gift from a breeder to the man, or found in a box that said "free kittens" in front of a local market. There is just no way for me to know. I also understand that while he might act like "insert breed here" in that he is very attached to his people, talkative, and trainable, so are many cats from unknown or common origins. 


With all that being said, I have NEVER seen another cat that looks like Midas. I frequently browse Petfinder just to see one. I have seen cats with a similar color, but never the color and markings at the same time. Hence why I would love some sort of consensus on what his markings and coloration would be considered. That way when people ask me "what is he?" I can be like, "domestic short-hair, with an unusual purple-polkadot coloration and pattern that makes him think he is more special than he really is." 

My personal best guess is that he is simply a ticked tabby with buff coloration. Except the ticking is very messy, with some places darker than others, not evenly like the ones I see.

Of course you can't guess without pictures...

This first picture is of him when I first got him almost 3 years ago. He does NOT have the spots anymore, but he did have them at one point. Weird. 



This is a picture I took of him today. I apologize that they are in a bathroom, the lighting was good. 







These next two are with flash. With flash you can see that his left side has a few small/faint spots, while his right side has a dark patch in the middle, as well as a few smaller dark patches.

^Right side^


^Left side^


This last one is of his rump to really highlight the variation of his undercoat vs. his overcoat. 


If you need more pictures in order to better guess and/or have a specific way to taking pictures in order to better determine colors, please tell me! I will gladly take more.


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## Auroraei (Jun 18, 2013)

Looks white/fawn to me. Beautiful!


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

Buff??


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

I'm going to vote "gorgeous."  He looks almost like an orange tabby that's just fading out with time, but I know zero about cat coloration/genetics, so I have no idea if that's even possible. He's such a pret....er, handsome boy though!


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

The first pic I would say he is _cream spotted tabby_. Often tabby markings as a kitten fade as an adult. In his later pics he does look to me like a _cream ticked tabby _as you can still see faint barring on his legs. If the hair shaft is pale at the roots and colored on the end, then it would be ticked. If the hair shaft is pretty much the same color then it would be a cream tabby. A breeder would likely say it is a "cream spotted ticked tabby" as it is still showing tabby barring, as opposed to just a solid "cream", and did show a definite spotted tabby marking as a kitten. Hope it makes sense to you. Midas is a very beautiful unique cat with gorgeous copper eye color to boot.


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## Kytkattin (Oct 18, 2013)

He has a much lighter undercoat, though I have not looked closely to see if the individual hairs have more than one color on them. They are very light, so I don't see them much, and I imagine it might be a challenge to see a variation in color. His fur is very fine, though I am used to dog hair so I am kind of comparing apples to oranges. 

I will continue to photograph him frequently and I will try to compare his coloration between seasons. He seems to be getting darker now that it is colder, and in certain lighting I can see the spots more clearly again. Of course I suppose it doesn't really matter what color he is actually considered, people will still think he is some exotic breed and I won't be able to convince them otherwise!


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