Cat fanciers: color my cat!
July 14, 2015 1:46 PM Subscribe
I've done some internet reading about the fascinating world of cat genetics, but I'm still not certain what color my cat is. Help me figure it out!
I have a domestic longhair cat adopted from the local shelter, where she was brought in as a stray. She has a Maine Coon-ish look but is almost certainly a randombred. The shelter identified her coloring as tortoiseshell, and her microchip says "tortie point" (not sure what that means).
Here are some representative pictures: like a tabby, now like a tortie. I do know about the existence of torbies, or tortoiseshell cats who are also tabbies, but I'm not sure what the definitive diagnostic criteria is?
Her overall coloring reads as brown, but I'm not sure if she really qualifies as chocolate. I'd describe her back as patched tortoiseshell in red, brown, and cream. Her stomach is cream and her legs are gray with black stripes. But, her face alone looks very tabby with the forehead stripes and white rim around her eyes.
She does resemble some brown torbies on the internet, although those pictures more clearly show the tabby markings. But maybe I'm looking for a fancier description that doesn't really apply and she's just a lovely tortoiseshell cat with less face patching than usual. I admit that I don't love the colors of the prototypical tortie, all dark and mysteriously painted, so it feels strange to call her a tortoiseshell when her "look" is pretty far from that.
In short: if my cat were purebred, what "official" color would I register her as?
I have a domestic longhair cat adopted from the local shelter, where she was brought in as a stray. She has a Maine Coon-ish look but is almost certainly a randombred. The shelter identified her coloring as tortoiseshell, and her microchip says "tortie point" (not sure what that means).
Here are some representative pictures: like a tabby, now like a tortie. I do know about the existence of torbies, or tortoiseshell cats who are also tabbies, but I'm not sure what the definitive diagnostic criteria is?
Her overall coloring reads as brown, but I'm not sure if she really qualifies as chocolate. I'd describe her back as patched tortoiseshell in red, brown, and cream. Her stomach is cream and her legs are gray with black stripes. But, her face alone looks very tabby with the forehead stripes and white rim around her eyes.
She does resemble some brown torbies on the internet, although those pictures more clearly show the tabby markings. But maybe I'm looking for a fancier description that doesn't really apply and she's just a lovely tortoiseshell cat with less face patching than usual. I admit that I don't love the colors of the prototypical tortie, all dark and mysteriously painted, so it feels strange to call her a tortoiseshell when her "look" is pretty far from that.
In short: if my cat were purebred, what "official" color would I register her as?
Best answer: I'm thinking torbie. Markings are harder to read on longhairs, but she's definitely a tabby per the face stripes, and she's got the orange tortoiseshell splotches on her back. The orange bits look uneven and asymmetrical; if they were part of the tabby pattern, they'd be mirrored on either side.
If you can get a good, color-accurate photo of her belly or legs, or of both sides of her back, it'd be easier to tell for sure.
posted by Metroid Baby at 2:11 PM on July 14, 2015
If you can get a good, color-accurate photo of her belly or legs, or of both sides of her back, it'd be easier to tell for sure.
posted by Metroid Baby at 2:11 PM on July 14, 2015
Looks tabbier than tortie to me. But definitely a little hodge podgey. Some of that reminds me a little of Maine coon cats.
Either way, she is a lovely cat and I want to fuzzle her.
posted by aubilenon at 2:14 PM on July 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Either way, she is a lovely cat and I want to fuzzle her.
posted by aubilenon at 2:14 PM on July 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Some more pictures. First and third are the most color-accurate, but the second picture shows her cream belly reasonably close.
posted by serelliya at 2:22 PM on July 14, 2015
posted by serelliya at 2:22 PM on July 14, 2015
Yeah, I'm leaning towards brown torbie, just not all that strongly marked. She's cute as hell, too! (And sorry for completely failing to read pronouns on my first answer.)
posted by restless_nomad at 2:27 PM on July 14, 2015
posted by restless_nomad at 2:27 PM on July 14, 2015
Just so you know: "Tortie point" is a cat who has points (the colored patches on face, ears, paws, and tails that Siamese-type cats have) that are tortoiseshell. It doesn't seem to fit your (gorgeous!) cat at all.
posted by jaguar at 2:37 PM on July 14, 2015
posted by jaguar at 2:37 PM on July 14, 2015
She has the classic tabby face with the M on the forehead, and tabby leg-rings on her forelegs, so there's tabby there for sure. Her back does have a torbie look to it (though as others have said, markings are harder to read on longhaired cats). Definitely a very high quality cat, worthy of many ear scritches.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:44 PM on July 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:44 PM on July 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Ooh, thanks for the additional photos. See how she's got pink toe beans on her orangey back paw, but black toes on her front paws? That's the giveaway that she's got some tortie in her tabby. Solid brown tabbies have dark paw pads.
She is a superb cat!
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:18 PM on July 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
She is a superb cat!
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:18 PM on July 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, especially Metroid Baby for the detailed explanation. I never knew that toe colors were different for different coat patterns! (Also, now I know I'm not going crazy when I scritch her face and keep thinking tabby but she was identified as a tortoiseshell.)
posted by serelliya at 3:59 PM on July 14, 2015
posted by serelliya at 3:59 PM on July 14, 2015
She definitely looks like a torbie to me.
I have two, and their paw pads are mixed pink and black also. One has two different colors of skin on her nose as well- skin color is linked to coat color.
posted by Adridne at 4:40 PM on July 14, 2015
I have two, and their paw pads are mixed pink and black also. One has two different colors of skin on her nose as well- skin color is linked to coat color.
posted by Adridne at 4:40 PM on July 14, 2015
She's definitely torbie. You can find out more than you ever wanted to know about cat colours and genetics here, but the upshot is that black and orange are each carried on an X chromosome, so you get female torties/calicos only, white spotting is a different gene (turning torties to calicos -- as you get more white, the splotches get better-defined), orange cats are always tabbies (the orange part of calicos are tabbied) and tabbying (agouti) is carried on yet a different gene.
posted by jeather at 6:39 PM on July 14, 2015
posted by jeather at 6:39 PM on July 14, 2015
Now that you have gotten useful answers I can tell you that your cat's official color is: gorgeous! Beautiful! WHO'S A WUZZA??!
posted by rtha at 6:47 PM on July 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by rtha at 6:47 PM on July 14, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Both my husband and I looked at that picture and said, 'Damn, it's Loki!' (our Maine Coon). His official colouring when we got him from a breeder 12 years ago was 'Brown Classic Torbie', if that helps. Obligatory pictures.
posted by meowf at 3:28 AM on July 15, 2015
posted by meowf at 3:28 AM on July 15, 2015
Response by poster: Wow, Loki looks like Maya's older twin brother! She even has the lighter cream color on the bottom side of her tail.
posted by serelliya at 12:05 PM on July 15, 2015
posted by serelliya at 12:05 PM on July 15, 2015
Yep! I think the only difference is that Maya has a little more of a rusty colour in some places. I would be really surprised if she didn't at least have some maine coon in her.
posted by meowf at 12:43 PM on July 15, 2015
posted by meowf at 12:43 PM on July 15, 2015
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(In re: bleaching: we have a straight-up black tuxedo kitten, and his belly has turned almost completely orange and white since he got some mats clipped. Cat color is weird.)
posted by restless_nomad at 2:04 PM on July 14, 2015