What Color Is My Cat?

There are two primary colors in cats - black and red. All other colors are variations of black and red with the exception of solid white. White is a masking gene. It hides - masks - all other color. So a solid white cat is either black or red but the color is hidden by the white.

All colors are also seen with different markings - called patterns. The three most common patterns in cats are solid, tabby and pointed. All colors and patterns can have some white. Referred to as white spotting, this is also a masking gene. However, white spotting only hides some of a cat's color instead of all of it.
It is not color and pattern that determine a cat’s breed. That is established by the physical characteristics described in each breed’s standard. Just as all pointed cats are not Siamese and all longhaired cats are not Persians and all tailless cats are not Manx, all blue cats are not Russian Blues. The same color and pattern can be seen in many different breeds. For example, there are brown classic tabby Maine Coons, American Shorthairs, Oriental Shorthairs, Devon Rex, Persians, Norwegian Forest Cats, Siberians, and Scottish Folds. There are seal point Siamese, Himalayans, Birmans, Snowshoes, Ragdolls, Balinese, and Tonkinese. Domestic cats have all the same colors and patterns that are seen in purebred cats.The color and pattern names used on this site are the official names used by The International Cat Association (TICA). This is a list of other names commonly used to describe the same color: