Colour definition and genetics of a black (?) longhair cat

Sorry if I keep asking questions about the same two cats guys


These are all taken in broad daylight but in the last one is more visible how his hair has a lighter, warmer tone on his chest and belly. If you enlarge the picture you can notice some ligher grey hair on his mane and back legs. His face, legs and back are solid black. I know that red highlights are not uncommon on black cats, but if you part the fur on his chest you can clearly see that the base is light grey and it only reddens on the tip.

In case you need to know, his father is a brown tabby and his mother is a solid white domestic longhair. Fletcher was the only black kitten in a litter of four, his three siblings are white!

Fletcher is beautiful!!

He looks black to me. l have a black smoke (the one in my avatar). l can part his fur anywhere on his body, even where it's really short like on his face or his toes, and it is white underneath. The only place he is just black is on his nose.

He looks just like my cat (apart from his neck fur is redder, while mine has a smoky tint)! So I am also keen to know the answer

My Nala has soft and silky fur that is only thick around the neck and on her stomach. She is very friendly and vocal and hates to be left alone (although she copes well with it when it is necessary).

Hi Katayl88, your cat Nala is a beautiful black smoke

Chiarabab your gorgeous cat fletcher is a puzzling one (the colour I mean) :lol3:

I personally think he is genetically a solid black. Just not a very sound coated one, meaning his black is uneven from root to tip in some places. Ie the brown rust and grey fuzz

GemsGem said:

Chiarabab your gorgeous cat fletcher is a puzzling one (the colour I mean) :lol3:

I personally think he is genetically a solid black. Just not a very sound coated one, meaning his black is uneven from root to tip in some places. Ie the brown rust and grey fuzz

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That's my opinion as well, but sometimes his highlights look so light that I start wondering if there is sone weird genetics going on. Also, when he was little he really looked black smoke! Here's a picture of his parted fur:

l wish l could help you with the genetics, that's something l'm very interested in but know nothing about. Maybe @GemsGem   or @maewkaew   will see this and help you out with that end of things, they seem to know a lot of the genetics involved in colour results.

What l do know is that a Black Smoke is the solid form of Silver Tabby. Mine is the result of a Blue SF male x Silver Tabby BSH female.

This is something l got from fanciers.com:

If your cat is pretty much the same color all over, it is a "solid." Some people, especially in the UK, use the word "self" instead of "solid."

• A "solid black" is just that: black all over. It may be coal black, grayish black, or brownish black. Black cats can "rust" in the sunlight, the coat turning a lighter brownish shade.
• A "solid blue" is blue-gray all over. It may be a dark slate gray, a medium gray, or a pale ash gray. This color is also sometimes called "maltese." This is the color of the Russian Blue, Chartreux, and Korat, but it can appear in almost any other breed as well, and is also seen in non-purebreds. Solid blue does not indicate that a cat is related to any of these breeds.
• A "solid white" is white all over. Sometimes white cats have blue eyes, sometimes they have green or gold eyes, and sometimes one eye is blue and one eye is green or gold! This last color is called "odd-eyed white."

Most solid colored cats are the result of a recessive gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not totally suppressed, so you might see indistinct "shadow" tabby markings in certain lights even on a solid black cat. If you look at a black leopard in a zoo, you might also see these shadow markings, because the black leopard has a similar spot-suppressing gene!

The tabby-suppressing gene is not effective on red or cream cats, so you won't see red or cream cats without tabby markings.

Solid white cats are the result of a different gene that suppresses color completely. Young white cats often have vague smudges of color on the top of the head where the color is not completely suppressed. Sometimes this persists even in an older white cat.

If your cat is pretty much solid black or gray, but the roots of the hairs are distinctly white, it is a "smoke." (It's normal for the roots on a solid cat to be grayish; true smokes, on the other hand, have definite white roots.) Smokes are the solid version of silver tabbies. These cats are very dramatic because when they move, the hair parts and the white undercoat can be seen.

Does your kitty have white roots on his face and legs too? lf he does he's a Smoke rather than a solid. lt's hard to tell on a computer monitor View media item 197080View media item 197081

unfortunately l'm of no help answering your color question but I had to say that is a beautiful cat . Your Fletcher kind of reminds me of my late Daisy.
When I took the pic I cut her ears out like a darn moron(kicking self for the millionth time)

Andrya said:

View media item 197081

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Oh wow my Nala is definitely not a smoke then! That's pure white! How awesome  

chiarabab
katayl88
You both have very beautiful cats [emoji]128525[/emoji][emoji]128525[/emoji]