Is my rescue kitty a smoke?

[libby13]

Hello!

I am a first time cat owner and I just adopted my kitty, Moira, from a shelter last week. I was examining her fur and noticed that she has white underfur. I am curious: does that mean she is a smoke and not just black? You can see the white underneath when she walks or when she stretches out.

kitty.jpg

• libby13
• Oct 20, 2014

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• libby13
• Oct 20, 2014

 Thank you!

 

[GemsGem]

Welcome to the site

There is one sure way to tell the difference between a smoke and a black cat with an unsound coat color.

Smoke's have a white undercoat even in the really short hair on their feet and top of head.
If the cat doesn't have a white undercoat in these places, this means it is not a smoke, but has a unsound coat color.

An unsound coat color just means the coat color is uneven from root to tip in solid colored cats. It is quite common in black cats, especially longhaired black cats. The darker the hair color and longer the hair length means the unevenness is going to show up more.

If a black cat came from several generations of just black cats only. They would have a sound, even black color from root to tip. But if other colors get mixed into the breeding, then these other colors do have an effect on the black color gene, producing cats with uneven black coats.
Why this happens is still unknown, but then the world of cat coat color genetics is complex and not fully understood.

 

[libby13]

Thank you for your reply! She doesn't seem to have the white underfur on her head so I think she might just have an unsound coat. Thanks for the information!