Shaded tabby?

Utu has changed his color few times, he is very confusing! When he was a kitten it was obvious that he was shaded, but darkened a lot later. Now he is a bit lighter again and you can't see any pattern in his fur except his face and legs.

Utu as a baby, shaded

His darkest look is clearly a tabby, this was taken after he got rid of his baby fur


Today is Utu's birthday! He is now 2 years old.

Oh Wow I thought Utu was a kitten!

He's definitely a tabby in that 2nd pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UTU!!!!

Let us confuse the issue further...

I have always determined the color of a cat by the % of how many parts color and how many parts white on a single strand of hair....for example:

Solid - only one color
Ticked (agouti) - many bands of color (at least 3)
A smoke - 50% white and 50% color
A shaded - 75% white and 25% color
A shell is tipped with color...

So what say you?

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (runs screaming)

Originally Posted by Abymummy

Let us confuse the issue further...

I have always determined the color of a cat by the % of how many parts color and how many parts white on a single strand of hair....for example:

Solid - only one color
Ticked (agouti) - many bands of color (at least 3)
A smoke - 50% white and 50% color
A shaded - 75% white and 25% color
A shell is tipped with color...

So what say you?

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (runs screaming)

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Rut Roh! Now you've done it.

Originally Posted by Abymummy

So what say you?

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That I'm glad I only deal with ticked

Originally Posted by missymotus

That I'm glad I only deal with ticked

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So am I!

Oh and I forgot...

A tabby has the defining M on the forehead and is subdivided into...

Classic, Mac and Spotted!

Technically there are FOUR kinds of tabby - classic, mackerel, spotted, and ticked. The only one that doesn't have the "M" is the ticked.

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

Oh Wow I thought Utu was a kitten!

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Sorry if I was confusing.. Utu is definitely not a kitten, he is currently my oldest cat. The kitten I was asking about in the first page doesn't have an official name yet, but the breeder calls him Tomu, and I'll propably stick with it 'coz he's already used to it. I went to see them yesterday, but again, I didn't get good pictures. I suck at taking pics. XP
Tomu is very active kitten, little terrorist.. He tried to eat my shoes, my shirt, my camera, my hair, and tried to use my butt as a scratching post.. And then he fell asleep on my lap.

Ticked (agouti) - many bands of color (at least 3)

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Shadeds (also agouti) can have some ticked hairs as well.
I think that the shaded tabby propably is supposed to have shaded fur with tabby markings where the hair doesn't have enough color to make it a 'proper' tabby, right?

I love the name Tomu too!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

The only one that doesn't have the "M" is the ticked.

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But Aby's are ticked and they have the M

Well it sorta looks like a M - but not really to me - not like the other tabbies.

From the Aby standard:
There is an "M" on the head between the eyes and ears.

From CFA's Aby Standard there is no mention about an M

http://www.cfa.org/breeds/standards/abyssinian.pdf

Coat color: warm and glowing. Ticking: distinct and even, with
dark colored bands contrasting with lighter colored bands on the
hair shafts. Undercoat color clear and bright to the skin. Deeper
color shades desired, however intensity of ticking not to be sacrificed
for depth of color. Darker shading along spine allowed if fully
ticked. Preference given to cats UNMARKED on the undersides,
chest, and legs; tail without rings. Facial Markings: dark lines
extending from eyes and brows, cheekbone shading, dots and
shading on whisker pads are all desirable enhancements. Eyes
accentuated by fine dark line, encircled by light colored area. Eye
color: gold or green, the more richness and depth of color the better.
RUDDY

It's in our CCC of A standard, not sure if the link will work cccofa.asn.au/stdabys.doc

Yaaargh! This color is killing me.. We took the kitten, Tomu, yesterday home with us! But his stripes have almost disappeared.. Yet he doesn't look like regular shaded to me as he still has patterns in his head and the stripes in his legs do a full circle (which is a fault in regular shadeds, atleast in FifÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]). Also his ears look like tabbies ears, so does his tail, he also has spots under his belly (quite pale but they are there).
*edit* He seems to have a lot of ticked hairs.. Shadeds can have some of them too, but he has a lot. I can't wait to take him to be checked by a judge! (or who ever does the color checking in TICA-shows).
New pics. Opinions?

I won't comment on the colour But he's gorgeous! We don't see many Folds here, and they are not allowed to be bred in some states.

He's still a Shaded Tabby IMO. With the Ocicats, the ticking sometimes comes in so much that the spots on the surface will blend in and not be so noticable as adults. This usually happens in the dilute colors like blue, fawn, lavendar.

When you have a blue-silver or fawn-silver, the lighter background tends to help the spots show up.

I showed my little girl Keeping Secrets last week and nobody queried her colour (Blue Silver Tabby) but she had a very distinct pattern when I saw her as oppose to your baby, which is still very light and tipped.