When black cat is black and not very dark brown?

I have Panther the cat that is black, nose is black, claws are black, his skin is white though. He does appear as black, except when he is at the window and sun is brightly shining on him, then he is incredible dark brown.

But for example at bright like at vet he was completely black.

So now I don't know if he really is a black or just so dark brown that he does look like a black.

Certainly it has not much meaning for anything as he is what he is and certainly his color is not much of importance to me (as long as he is not going to turn transparent, he is enough hard to spot now already), but I have been curious about this question, when black is black.

Panther is the one that has forgotten which way is up (he is bit underweight there as he is kitten saved from starvation, that was almost two years ago), one that is attempting to mimic Frankenstein is Mouku.

That's a great question, and one I've been wondering about, too, since we adopted Mogli two weeks ago. He also looks black unless the sun is shining "through" his hair. Then you can see his fur is "sable", i.e., a very dark brown.

In daylight on a cloudy day:

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In the sun:

Black.

Thanks. What had me wondering was that Jamie's black fur (he was a bicolor DSH) looked deep black even in the sun.

Coats vary, but there are three basic colours black, chocolate and cinnamon and he is clearly not chocolate or cinnamon. He has black nose leather and pads as well.

the color we call Black in cats is really a very very very dark brown, so dark it appears as black . But sometimes in bright sun you might seen the very dark brown. There's some variation between cats, though, so some appear more black than others. There IS an alternate allele (gene) for Brown (aka Chocolate), but the handsome kitty in the pics here is Black. There was a recent thread titled something like "well she certainly is brown" that has photos of a cat that does have the chocolate color. As Oriental Slave said, one way to tell is the paw pads and nose leather.

Black is also confusing sometimes with cats that go out, as they get sub-bleached and parts of their coat turn slightly gingery.  Sunbathing behind windows doesn't do this as the glass cuts out the UV light.

Mogli had access to an enclosure at the shelter and spends time on a secured balcony here, so I suppose there could already have been some bleaching (not that it's been all that sunny here recently. Spring hasn't "sprung" yet. :lol3.

Yikes! Northern Germany has had a lot of snow this past week, too, but we've been spared that down here in the south. I can't remember the last time the UK had such a bad winter. I always watch your forecasts because we often get your weather two or three days later. We've had a lot of snow here, but it hasn't been really bitter cold.

Mogli has decided he doesn't want to go out on the balcony today (it's 2°C), so I don't think there's any chance of him fading right now. :lol3:

Ah, so it is nose and paws that indeed are things to look, that is good to know.

Yeah, no spring here either, yesterday morning it was -27C, but days are much better already.

Not just paws and nose - it's obviously a black cat even though it's not as black as some are.  If you'd seen a chocolate cat in the flesh you'd realise why it's obvious.

I can't remember the last time the UK had such a bad winter.

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Err...  2008/2009 and 2009/2010?

Couldn't get my car out for a week in one of them, and all the lakes around here were frozen over with enough ice that there was curling on them.  I think that needs 8" or so of ice.

Don't most black cats kind of bleach dark brown in the sun? Like, even if they've just been lounging in windows... I see some jet black cats, but black seems to range from very dark brown to a more dusty coal-black, but they're all still black cats. Sometimes you can even see the faintest hints of a tabby pattern.

I'm curious, what about cats whose noses and paw pads are part black and part pink? Usually they're tuxedos, but not always... in such cases are they still technically "tuxedo" even if their fur is all-black?

I'm sure there are different shades of black just like there are so many shades of white. Have you ever wanted white and went into a paint store?  I've always wondered if it means anything if the inside of their mouth is black? My Chrissy was a tabby with a coal black nose, pads, and mouth. It went well with her reddish/grey/ black fur.

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OrientalSlave said:

Coats vary, but there are three basic colours black, chocolate and cinnamon and he is clearly not chocolate or cinnamon. He has black nose leather and pads as well.

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So are we saying if their nose and paws are black, then their color is black. Here is Max. I always called him black

If their pads or some of them are black then they are a black cat - a brown tabby is still genetically a black cat.  The other colours (blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon & fawn) have different colour pads, for example my blue girl has slate-blue pads and nose leather, and my Havana had dark chocolate brown pads & nose leather.

A cat with some pink mixed in in it's pads is with white, or a tortie - and I have no idea if you can see different tones of pink on a ginger and white cat!

Black cats do have a black nose leather, but tabby cats have one with brick red over most of it.

Your lovely cat is a black cat, with some white spots - funnily enough it's called the White Spotting gene!

He might have a mix of black & pink pads or they might all be pink, but as he's not a tabby cat and the white doesn't go across his nose he will have a black nose leather.

Si has the black nose, all pads are black leather.  Only in the sunlight does he show what I call a cherry wood color to the fur on his chest.  In the shade he's jet black.  Even the inside of his mouth is about 2/3rds black with a little pink.

For me, this looks like to be wonderful example of how in nature there are no absolute, so our desire to define things in nature is sometimes bit challenging. As we are clever animals we still can make up 'rules' to define natural variations to fit our 'drawers' which of course make communications easier, however it is interesting habit of our species.

I enjoy especially to learn which are defined rules to classify and define certain feature to be for example black color.

And things like that white spotting gene, someone has actually figured out gene that is responsible of white spots, it is incredible how such things have been figured out and placed to appropriate 'box' of information library

One little kitty I did save about two years ago, cappuccino color in my boxes, who knows if there is real name for that color too, nose was dark reddish brown and I did not see paws of this one as it did go straight to lost pets house and from there to nearby farmer, there is no white at all, just different stages of brown:

OrientalSlave said:

If their pads or some of them are black then they are a black cat - a brown tabby is still genetically a black cat.  The other colours (blue, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon & fawn) have different colour pads, for example my blue girl has slate-blue pads and nose leather, and my Havana had dark chocolate brown pads & nose leather.

A cat with some pink mixed in in it's pads is with white, or a tortie - and I have no idea if you can see different tones of pink on a ginger and white cat!

Black cats do have a black nose leather, but tabby cats have one with brick red over most of it.

Your lovely cat is a black cat, with some white spots - funnily enough it's called the White Spotting gene!

He might have a mix of black & pink pads or they might all be pink, but as he's not a tabby cat and the white doesn't go across his nose he will have a black nose leather.

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Thanks Oriental Slave., this is Max. He was my forever soul mate cat and has been gone since 2005. I can still remember how his furn felt like silk.