Dark Birman Seal point??

I've been meaning to ask this for quite some time but have never had the time to upload a picture.
When I originally was looking into buying my Birman, i wanted one with the darker features, and took moreso to the seal point.
My girl, Aiko is about 3.5 yrs old now.. i thought her main body color would get lighter as she got older, but it just seems to be getting darker and darker! It doesn't really matter to me, of course, but just curious why she is so dark. Do factors like temperature, etc effect how they develop their colors? I always thought maybe it was due to having hardwood floors, which are typically cooler than carpet.. or is it just genetics?
probably not the best picture to see.. but let me know what you think!

Awwe both kitties are so cute! I know nothing about breeds though!

Wow! Absolutely gorgeous!!!! I do know that temperature does effect color but I no good with explaining which is which.

I think your right about seal point! Beautiful cat!

Its true, the colder the climate the darker the points. The dark colour pigment isn't produced in temperatures above about 98F, ie the bulk of the cat, so in the cooler extremities you get darker points. So a Birman in the North pole would be Much darker than one living in Hawaii.
Also overweight cats have a layer of fat between the core temperature and the skin, resulting in darker fur.
Hope that helped I thought it was really interesting when I first read it.

I actually would consider Aiko to be on the light side as far as adult seal point body color.

I maintain my home at a constant 80 degrees farenheit.

This is Cassi at 11 months:

This is Cassi now at 2 years:


This was my boyfriend's seal point at 17 years of age, same house, same temp:

Both of the above cats are/were strictly indoors under controlled climate.

This was my Siamese, seal point. at 19 years of age, she was indoor/outdoor her entire life, we lived in Seattle.


None of these cats are/were ever overweight or underweight.
My point here here is that yes, temperature does affect the coat color, but only to a degree, I think far more depends on genetics, and how dark/light the body color of ancestors in the pedigree.

Originally Posted by cata_mint

Its true, the colder the climate the darker the points. The dark colour pigment isn't produced in temperatures above about 98F, ie the bulk of the cat, so in the cooler extremities you get darker points. So a Birman in the North pole would be Much darker than one living in Hawaii.

Also overweight cats have a layer of fat between the core temperature and the skin, resulting in darker fur.
Hope that helped

I thought it was really interesting when I first read it.

Click to expand...

Yay, Birman babies!!

The cooler temp does have a factor in it, a cat here in maine would be a little bit darker then the same cat in Hawaii. But as said the genetics determine the color far more then the temp. I believe that birmans are like ragdolls that with age they darken as well, not lighten, they are born white and points as well as base color darken. They wont ever get lighter. I think your babies are beautiful, since owning raggies I have a soft spot for all pointed breeds!
Here is a pic with my seal point ragdoll in it, it isn't the greatest pic and it is in a siggy made for me, but you can see how dark she is.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...ggys/Honey.jpg

The seal point color, especially in siamese, birmans, and persians has a tendency to get a lot darker on the body compared to some of the other point color. Its natural and nothing to worry about.

That's why I prefer the chocolate points as the body coat will stay lighter. I've seen some seal point siamese over 5 yrs old that are almost a solid seal/brown color - almost like a burmese!

I also agree that genetics play more of a role in how dark the coat gets rather then the temp. thing. I do know that the Singa Siamese cats of the 50's - 70's were almost a white coat - even on the cats that were over 5 yrs old. That's why I say genetics makes more of a difference.

Here is a pic with two of my ragdoll kittens, the one on the right is chocolate mitted and the left is seal mitted, they are only 8 weeks or so in the pics but you can already see the difference. The chocolate is so much lighter, almost white. pics are not too clear but you can tell how light the choc is.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...s/411cb454.jpg

This is him again
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...kittens104.jpg

I also like the chocolate because the body color stays lighter.

If they move to a different temperature do the colors change? How fast would it happen? Would a cat actually be lighter color in the summer and darker in the winter, or does it take longer then that?

Umm, it depends on how fast the hairs grow. I know that a feverish siamese can end up with lighter hairs dotted throughout the points due to the raised body temp, but the cat would have to be ill alot. So over time I'd say yes the colour does change but I'm not sure if seasonally is long enough.

Ah - Ha!!! All good info! Thanks everyone.. Curiousity did not kill the cat this time!