# What defines a melanistic cat?



## JasonBond (Aug 25, 2012)

My cats Jason and Deenah are definitely melanistic.. if the light hits them the right way. However, my previous foster cat Thai was considered a melanistic bengal, but his glossy black coat had no pattern in different lights. What makes a difference between black cats and melanistic cats? And if Thai wasn't melanistic what made him a "black" bengal cat?

Deenah:








































Jason:

















You can barely see the tabby stripes in the extra lighting, in the regular light you have to know what tabby stripes look like to even identify them. Yet there are other melanistic cats that have a much more distinguished difference of black-on-black coats.


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