Black cat has stripes! :)

So I have noticed that my kitten has black stripes! Is this unusual in black cats? I've never seen stripes on a black cat before.. It's cute

We had a foster like that. Black enough to be considered a black cat but light enough where the tabby stripes were visible. I find it beautiful, like a black tiger.

Experts say that all cats are genetically black, and all the patterns are modifications of black. "Ghost stripes" are common on black kittens. You usually can't see them on adult black cats.

Cute kitty! Holland had stripes when she was a kitten. I could only see them when she was in the sun or in pictures, from the flash. Like Mike said, now that she's an adult I don't see them anymore.

Awww, I was kinda hoping she'd be a "black tabby" haha. Well it's cute while she has them

Genever, who's grey/blue/whatever you want to call her, has a striped tail but you can only notice it in certain light usually. It's pretty cool, I didn't notice it until after a year or so that we had her. Now I see the rings all the time.

Aww, yeah Phae's stripes are really only visible in certain lighting and sometimes in pictures, they're just on the sides of her belly, no where else that I can tell. If she keeps them that's great and cute!, but I'll love her nonetheless, stripes or not hehe

I believe the scientific term is Ninja Tabby.

Most solid color cats have ghost markings which fade or disappear when they get older. Good examples are lion cubs, they have spots which disappear.

(This doesn't always apply to purebred cats which are bred for a certain color and ghost markings are seen as faults. With selective breeding breeders have often managed to get rid of them).

My Queen Eva has those, I always have called them her Secret Stripes, but I have recently learned that the official term is "ghost tabby".

She's past one year old now and they are still there.

What a gorgeous kitten! Speck (red tabby) had spots like a jungle cat when he was a baby, which have elongated and grown less visible since he has grown up (except on his tummy, an irresistible forrest of spots that I am forbidden to touch. )

My Nora and Hazel, who are both blue/white, have ghost stripes on their tails. Like everyone else, you can only see them in certain light.

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I believe the scientific term is Ninja Tabby.

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Haha, well that makes sense

Originally Posted by NorthernGlow

Most solid color cats have ghost markings which fade or disappear when they get older. Good examples are lion cubs, they have spots which disappear.

(This doesn't always apply to purebred cats which are bred for a certain color and ghost markings are seen as faults. With selective breeding breeders have often managed to get rid of them).

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Originally Posted by otto

My Queen Eva has those, I always have called them her Secret Stripes, but I have recently learned that the official term is "ghost tabby".

She's past one year old now and they are still there.

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Thank you! Ghost tabby it is.. that would be cool if they stayed with her as she got older, but I'll enjoy her cute little stripes as much as I can in the meantime, just in case

Our RB kitty, Hydrox, the Old Coot, was a black kitty (he looked like the Tidy Cats kitty!) and you could see stripes on him sometimes. It depended on what the light was like in the house; there were times when the stripes would show up and you couldn't miss them.

He's adorable When we first got Midnight, he started off as an all black kitten. Then he got stripes, and got lighter.

Your kitten looks exactly like mine. We thought she was pure black then when she was lying in the sun, we saw tabby stripes. Even more special! Her name is Mischief and she sure lives up to her name!

Well since this thread has been revived, our Joey, former feral/stray, was like that too.  He looked black but up close was really very dark grey with black tabby stripes.  His coat was thin and poor when we were first able to get close enough to him to see this.  Now, after a revolution treatment each month all summer which probably helped get rid of worms, (his saggy tummy did disappear) his coat has improve noticeably.  And it's darker and I can no longer see the tabby stripes.  I would have liked to be able to claim I had a black tabby too, it was so unique looking.  But I will take the improved health of the darker coat any day.  Joey is at least two years old so it's not kitten coat on him.

fleshflowers said:

So I have noticed that my kitten has black stripes! Is this unusual in black cats? I've never seen stripes on a black cat before.. It's cute

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Look up black smoke Egyptian maus