Page 20 - The Complete Cat Breed Book (DK)

18 INTR ODUC TION T O C A T S

Particolors Particolor
Particolor
Particolored cats, or partis, have two or more definite British
Ragdoll Shorthair
colors in their coats. Partis include bicolor and
tricolor cats and are found in many breeds,
both shorthair and longhair. Partis also include
torties (see below), with white spotting. Even a small
amount of white counts as particoloring. When
tortoiseshells have a high proportion of white fur, the
pattern is described as calico, or tortie and white.
Particolored cats are almost always female.

Tortie colors Oriental Asian
Tortie Tortie
Torties, or tortoiseshells, have distinct or mingled
patches of black (or chocolate or cinnamon) and
red fur. Variations include the diluted forms of
these colors: blue, lilac, fawn, and cream. The
pattern usually only occurs in females; on rare
occasions the pattern may occur in a male, possibly
due to a chromosomal abnormality. Torties with
tabby markings are known as patched tabbies, and
these cats are classed as particolors (see above).

Pointed Solid-pointed
Siamese Turkish Van
Cats with dark extremities and pale body fur are
described as pointed. In Siamese and Persian
Colorpoints this recessive characteristic is controlled
by a heat-sensitive enzyme involved in producing
hair pigment. The enzyme works only in the cooler
extremities of a cat’s body—hence the darker fur on
the face, ears, paws, and tail. Other pointed patterns—
such as the Van, in which color is restricted to the ears
and tail—are a form of white spotting (see below).

Non-pedigree White-spotted
White spotting shorthair with white Maine Coon
bib and mittens
The gene responsible for white spotting on a cat’s
coat is dominant. It works by suppressing areas of
colored fur to produce a coat that is bicolored
or tricolored. The effect can range from almost
totally white cats and the Van pattern (see above),
to cats with just one or a few white patches in
which the white fur is limited to the face, throat
(bib), belly, and paws (mittens).