Color Names & 40+ cat survey

enuja

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I thought I remembered a nice thread with good descriptions of what the names are for cat colors, but I'm not finding it when I search, and I don't see it stickied (common words I think are making the search problematic).

I have a thread over in SOS about the at least 40 cats that my spouse is trying to rescue from his cat hoarding mother. We're taking pictures of all of them and also describing their appearance, and we both have no idea what we're talking about when we describe their appearance.

I'll come back to this thread and post good images of each and every one of these cats, along with what I think the pattern might be called (so you all can correct me!) when I'm past the time-crunch of looking for possible homes for anyone who gets a positive FIV or FeLV test (if we don't have homes before we test, any positive cats will be euthanized).

A sample of the common patterns in the colony and what I think they are called:


Is he just a bi-color black and white, or does he count as a tuxedo cat? How much white belly (and back of neck) disqualifies a cat as a tuxedo cat?


Orange with white? How does one correctly describe the tabby-like stripes in orange cats?


Because this is a moggy, we just call it "seal-point", right?


Dilute calico?


Tortoiseshell?


Also tortoiseshell, or is this some kind of tabby?


Bi-color white and tabby?


Tabby, specifically classic?
 

snake_lady

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Originally Posted by Enuja

I have a thread over in SOS about the at least 40 cats that my spouse is trying to rescue from his cat hoarding mother. We're taking pictures of all of them and also describing their appearance, and we both have no idea what we're talking about when we describe their appearance.
Wow, the amount of work you guys are going through to rescue these poor babies... I haven't read the SOS thread yet. What an
The kitties and all of us thank you



Because this is a moggy, we just call it "seal-point", right?
This is the only one I can answer because I have one
Yes, he's a seal point blue eyed beauty.....(I have a seal point bi-color)
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by Enuja


Is he just a bi-color black and white, or does he count as a tuxedo cat? How much white belly (and back of neck) disqualifies a cat as a tuxedo cat? I call them tuxedos as long as the black outweighs the white. Some people call them moo cats once they get more white than black. But I've never seen them called "moos" on petfinder.


Orange with white? How does one correctly describe the tabby-like stripes in orange cats? I've had a number of these colors. I call them red (or orange) and white tabbies.


Because this is a moggy, we just call it "seal-point", right? Chris had a good answer for this one


Dilute calico? Yes


Tortoiseshell? Yes, or even a torbie


Also tortoiseshell, or is this some kind of tabby? Shes a tortie / tabby mix. I've seen tabby patterns in some of my torbie ferals. I think this is quite common.


Bi-color white and tabby? I call these brown and white tabbies.


Tabby, specifically classic?
Classic tabby (with sworl markings)
 
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enuja

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The Tortoiseshell with white feet and the Tortoiseshell/Tabby mix above have both tested negative for FeLV and FIV. Yeah!! So they are spayed, getting worms and the like diagnosed right now, and they'll return to the property. They are available for adoption, and, failing that, will hopefully have a much more pleasant life, with the place somewhat cleaned up and both wet and dry food payed for by my spouse.

Additionally, these lovely cats were spayed last week and all tested negative for FeLV and FIV.


Dilute tortoiseshell? She's a friendly lap cat.



Tuxedo cat.
Extremely good sport: did a lot of nursing of the kittens. Because she's got some nasal issues, we were worried that she might be pretty sick and giving it to the kittens, but both she and kittens tested negative for at least the evil retroviruses.


BiColor Tabby.

And here is a nuetered guy, also tested negative for FeLV/FIV

Orange, medium length hair. I'm told he's looking much, much better. It's been getting up to 101 C the past two days, and apparently this guy is shedding like a maniac, but otherwise is looking very good. He's apparently an outdoorsy, adventurous type and is constantly getting hay all over himself and otherwise very, very messy. My spouse was very worried about this cat, but has been treating his eyes with terramycin, and he's doing much better.
 

katiemae1277

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gosh, there are so many gorgeous kitties there!


congrats again on your negative test results!
 

wellingtoncats

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Originally Posted by Enuja

I thought I remembered a nice thread with good descriptions of what the names are for cat colors, but I'm not finding it when I search, and I don't see it stickied (common words I think are making the search problematic).

I have a thread over in SOS about the at least 40 cats that my spouse is trying to rescue from his cat hoarding mother. We're taking pictures of all of them and also describing their appearance, and we both have no idea what we're talking about when we describe their appearance.

I'll come back to this thread and post good images of each and every one of these cats, along with what I think the pattern might be called (so you all can correct me!) when I'm past the time-crunch of looking for possible homes for anyone who gets a positive FIV or FeLV test (if we don't have homes before we test, any positive cats will be euthanized).

A sample of the common patterns in the colony and what I think they are called:


Is he just a bi-color black and white, or does he count as a tuxedo cat? How much white belly (and back of neck) disqualifies a cat as a tuxedo cat?

Black & White


Orange with white? How does one correctly describe the tabby-like stripes in orange cats?

Red Tabby & White


Because this is a moggy, we just call it "seal-point", right?

Blue Point


Dilute calico?

Looks like Dilute Calico but may be Dilute Smoke Calico


Tortoiseshell?

Tortoiseshell & White


Also tortoiseshell, or is this some kind of tabby?

Brown Tortoiseshell Tabby



Bi-color white and tabby?

Brown Tabby & White


Tabby, specifically classic?
Brown classic tabby


I hope this helps
 
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enuja

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I put last week's weekly newsletter on the SOS thread, but now that I've got this thread, I think it's a better place for this to go. So, here it is, the Weekly Newsletter my spouse is writing as a coping mechanism and for this mother to read.

CATLAND CONTINUES TO DRAW CROWDS

(Catland) Cats continue to enjoy the fine dining of morning and evening service at Catland. The mix of wet and dry food with fresh water provides the feline community with the nutrition and hydration a large cat colony needs to thrive. If the 111 were home to four or five cats, such measures might not be necessary. However, the 111 at present is home to MANY more cats than can support themselves off the land. Therefore, authorities must be attentive and conscientious in ensuring that the needs of the cat colony are met. Because cats are prone not to drink enough water on their own, strategically placed water bowls and daily provision of wet food are critical to maintain adequate hydration. These cats need to be pampered to some degree, as otherwise many will become dehydrated, malnourished, and likely to fall prey to opportunistic parasites and infections that should not be life-threatening to healthy cats. Also, placing small amounts of food in many different containers is essential to prevent fighting over food and ensure that even the smallest cats have the opportunity to consume their share. Since some cats are intimidated by the crowds, this may mean opening an additional can of wet food after the initial rush has subsided. Also, there remains a cadre of furtive cats who prefer to dine in Furtive Cat Corner (formerly known as the Cat Ghetto), but management hopes they will mix well with others after spaying and neutering is completed.


GOAT MOCKS LOCAL AUTHORITIES
(Furtive Cat Corner and Front Yard)- The criminal mastermind known as Dancer was spotted Sunday in Furtive Cat Corner, where it is suspected that he consumed a small amount of dry cat food that the feral and semi-feral members of the feline community had not yet finished off. Later that evening, Dancer declared his supremacy over all of the 111 by climbing atop the Big White Truck, which was only recently returned to the Front Yard. In response to this impudence, authorities vowed to get that goat.


WEEKLY HORSE SENSE
Provision of grain to the two nursing mother horses and their children became more complicated this week as fence damage made separation of the four from the larger horse population impracticable. Authorities now actively guard the four privileged horses against the efforts of other horses as well as mischievous goats to steal grain.
Horses across the 111 expressed concern about dwindling hay reserves, expressing a strong preference that more hay should arrive soon.





DISPATCHES FROM DOGVILLE
Not-the-Brightest-Puppy-in-the-World and Silly Dog continue to coexist happily in Dogville. Authorities are actively exploring adoption options for both, as they are cute (see pictures), outgoing canines who crave more attention than management at the 111 can realistically offer.




The temperature has surged into triple digits in recent days, causing heavy panting among local dogs and lots of digging holes into the cool, shaded earth. Management is taking great care to ensure that fresh, cool water is available at all times, not only to dogs but to all residents of the 111.


Psycho-Dogâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s behavior has improved significantly, with much less barking at authorities. For safety reasons, management would like to remove the gnawed end of rope that remains attached to his collar, but he still scurries away when approached.

Three dogsâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] persistent fears of authorities have necessitated extensive modifications in the canine feeding system. Aside from the Dogville cuties, there are four dogs who are fed in the Front Yard as part of the regular morning and evening feeding schedule. For the three furtive others, food is distributed in the evening right before management retires to the House for the evening, as they will not emerge from the Edge of Property Woods until management is no longer visible.

YARD CAT NOTABLES
Efforts to conduct an accurate survey of the feline community at the 111 have faced challenges due to large numbers of cats of similar sizes and colors. For instance, the first picture shows three medium-large adult male black-and-white tuxedo cats. Personality differences as well as slight variations in facial features make distinguishing these three friendly cats from each other relatively easy, but with more aloof cats the effort to make an accurate count gets considerably harder. The second picture shows two dark orange tabbies of similar size and appearance, as well as two other orange cats whose size and demeanor marks them as clearly different. Additionally, there are at least five adult “Brown tabby and white†cats at the 111, as well as multiple cats that are predominantly black or gray and of similar small size.




The 111 notes with sadness the passing of Orange and White Kitten last Tuesday. The kitten, who arrived on the scene after walking up to authorities from a horse pasture covered in manure and meowing hysterically, was in fragile health throughout its short time in Catland, but authorities had hoped that with the support of several surrogate mothers it would be saved. However, after its condition had appeared to improve over several days, it was observed to be in severe distress Tuesday afternoon and died an hour later in managementâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s arms.

In better news, efforts to find new homes for the booming kitten population of the 111 are looking up. To celebrate, we will close this weekâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s newsletter with lots of cute kitten pictures.








A fair number of the cute kitten pictures were pictures I'd already uploaded, but I gave you three!

Yes, WellingtonCats, your answers, along with everybody else's, are very helpful! So, what's the difference between a "dilute calico" and a "dilute smoke calico"? With the additional pictures, can you say which this kitten is? This is just out of sheer curiosity at the moment, because I'm not longer responsible for describing the appearance/writing up PetFinder ads for these kittens, as the vet is adopting them out.

I've also grouped the images I've been putting up on ImageShack into a gallery ... here it is.
 

wellingtoncats

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Looks like a Dilute Calico Smoke to me from those pics. If there is a pale white/cream undercoat under the fur including the blue fur then she will be a smoke.

Here's one of my "Dilute Calicos" altho we call them Blue Cream Bicolours here in NZ
 

sarahp

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To be honest, I wouldn't be too worried about colour. People don't know what a "torbie" is, and they wouldn't know what a dilute smoke calico is. I would call the black and white cat a "black and white" or maybe a Tuxedo.

Keep it simple if you're looking for homes for them so potential adopters who don't know a lot about cat colours can visualise them.

Good luck, you've got a lot of work ahead of you, and are doing a great job


You don't need to answer this, but I hope your spouse is getting professional help for his mother too. Just taking the cats isn't enough, cat hoarding is an illness, and something she will keep doing.
 
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enuja

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So far everything is going very well: we've had 25 adults and 8 kittens test negative for FeLV and FIV, and none of them will ever breed! (Any unfixed kittens are still at the vets, two of the adults were already neutered and the other 23 adults have been fixed!) There are 6 more cats that we know of, and probably a few more that we've not identified yet.

At this point, we are interested in the color names more to make a clear, concise database for ourselves than for PetFinder. And it's fun!




He's got a point coloration, except that he's also got light colored splotches on his feet. I'm pretty sure his eyes are blue, but I'm not certain (S has said he thinks so).


This is the one-eyed momma cat with one of her (four! - she's so small!) kittens.




This is an orange cat with medium-length hair. S says he shed enormous amounts of hair over a four day period. The picture on top is before, and the picture on the bottom is after. I informed S of the existence of a lion cut and recommended it for the future, but this cat's hair is pretty thin right now.




There are a huge number of brown tabby and white cats on the property. This is one them, now clearly identified by details of her coat.
 
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