One of the most eye-catching qualities of cats is the amazing variety of colors they have. It is not strange to find cats of many colors within the same litter, be they of race or mestizos. Here are some of the most common patterns and meaning of cat colors.
Before we continue, you must take into account that the color of a cat does not correspond to a breed, the races are determined by the structural and genetic characteristics described in a pattern.
The color of a cat's mantle is defined by a genetic condition derived from its main colors, red or black. That is why certain patterns are established, but this does not make all cats of the same color belong to a specific breed, for example not all gray cats are blue Russians.
The most common patterns of cat color
Tiger
This is probably the most widely observed mantle pattern in the world. It is directly related to wild cats and can be found in lions and also in lynxes.
The special feature of this mantle is that it generates a pattern that can be striped like the Maine Coon, linear like that of the bengal cat or dotted like the Ashera, being more common that the animals present with grays or oranges colors.
Possibly, this type of pattern is due to its oldest ancestor, the Felis Lybica or wild cat of the Middle East. The mantle of this cat was a gray color, covered with other shades of ash that helped it generate an uneven color to camouflage.
The coat of the cats that have this characteristic usually has three types of colors in each hair and is of the mixture of each of these by which gives sensation, when observing, that they are striped.
Three colors
They are also known as calyx cats and the vast majority of cats with this characteristic are females, males that are born calicos are usually sterile.
The most common colors in this type of cats are a white robe with red and black spots. This type of combination is defined by the color orange, attached to the X chromosome, so this is believed to be the reason why almost all of them are females.
One curious fact about these cats is that they are considered good luck and they attract fortune. In the United States, he is known as the money cat, Japan already identifies him under the figure of the Maneki Neko, or cat waving, and it is very common to have it as a business talisman to attract prosperity.
Tortoiseshell
Cats with this characteristic as well as calico cats are mostly females. However, their coat is usually a combination of black, orange and cream, forming a pattern similar to the tortoise shell (from which comes the name of the breed), in addition, unlike the tricolor cats, they have little or no white in his coat.
They say that cats with this type of coat are especially vowels, like to receive attention, are independent and usually are very jealous with their owners.
Cats' colors defined by predominant genes
The predominant genes in the coat color of cats are black and red, all other colors correspond to the modifying genes that derive from them. In this way red, in a lower concentration, gives rise to the cream. Black at lower concentrations can become gray (or blue), chocolate, cinnamon or beige.
White cats
Cats with a completely white mantle have the presence of the W gene, which masks other colors making them white. Curiously, this gene also carries the information of the blue eyes and the deafness, therefore a great amount of the white cats and with the blue eyes are deaf of birth.
Depending on the white cats, the color of the eyes varies between green, yellow or another color other than blue, this also determines the level of deafness.
The colors of the most common cats are black, red, white, gray or blue and cream.