Cat coat patterns and colors

Is a tabby a breed?

No. Tabby is the most common coat pattern of all, found in house cats and in many breeds. Every tabby has an "M" on its forehead, plus one of four patterns on the body: classic (bold swirls), mackerel (narrow stripes like a fish skeleton), spotted (stripes broken into spots) and ticked (banded hairs with almost no stripes). An orange cat is almost always a tabby, even if the stripes are faint.

A few breeds are tied to one tabby style. The Abyssinian is the classic ticked cat. The American Shorthair is known for the silver classic tabby. The Egyptian Mau is naturally spotted. But a striped tabby from a shelter is a house cat.

Solid colors

Solid cats are one color all over, with no pattern. Black, white, gray (called blue), cream, orange (called red) and brown all occur. Some breeds come in only one solid color: the Bombay is always black, the Russian Blue always blue-gray and the Khao Manee always white. Solid black, white and gray are also very common in house cats, which is why so many gray cats get called Russian Blues.

Bicolor and tuxedo

A bicolor cat is white plus one other color. The tuxedo is the famous black and white version, with a white chest, white paws and often a white chin, like a little suit. Tuxedos are not a breed, and most are house cats. White patches also appear in the Ragdoll, the Birman (white gloves) and the Snowshoe (white boots).

Calico and tortoiseshell

A tortoiseshell, or tortie, has black and orange mixed together in a brindled or patchy coat. A calico has the same colors in clear patches, plus white. Both patterns need two X chromosomes, so almost all calicos and torties are female. Male calicos exist but are rare, and they are usually sterile. Neither pattern is a breed: they appear in house cats and in breeds such as the Persian, British Shorthair and Maine Coon.

Van pattern

A van cat is mostly white, with color only on the head and the tail. It is named after the Turkish Van, where the pattern is required. It is also common in house cats, so a white cat with an orange tail is not necessarily a Turkish Van.

Pointed (colorpoint)

Pointed cats have a pale body and darker "points": the face, ears, legs and tail. A temperature-sensitive gene makes pigment only where the body is cooler, so kittens are born almost white and darken as they grow. Pointed cats always have blue eyes. This pattern is the strongest breed clue of all: it is the mark of the Siamese and of breeds descended from it, like the Himalayan, Ragdoll, Birman, Snowshoe and Neva Masquerade. Pointed house cats exist too, usually with Siamese somewhere in the family.

Smoke and shaded

In smoke and shaded cats, each hair is pale at the root and colored at the tip. A smoke cat looks solid until it moves and the pale undercoat shows. Shaded and chinchilla cats look silvery. These coats are common in Persians, British Shorthairs and Maine Coons.

Which patterns point to a breed?

For a full look at your cat, pattern plus head, ears, tail and build, try the free cat breed identifier or read what kind of cat do I have?