# Guide to Housecat Coat Colors and Patterns **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091 "2011-01-18T18:10:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/1 "2011-01-18T18:10:40Z")
[This](http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/catstut6.jpeg) showed up about a week ago on I Can Has Cheezburger, the premier lolcat site, and I find I keep returning to it to read more and see if I can figure my own cat, [Squeak](http://s1142.photobucket.com/albums/n603/Robin_Rhoads/The%20critters/?action=view¤t=20110118-1.jpg), out. So, according to the chart, Squeak is a golden shell patched chocolate torbie with white chin, locket, and button, green eyes, pink nose, and pink/black leathers. How about your kitty? And remember, per SDMB rules, you are required to link to pic of said kitty. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/2 "2011-01-18T18:22:18Z")
Oh I love that chart! Thanks for posting that! I’m gonna examine my cats in details! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/3 "2011-01-18T18:44:00Z")
I saw that chart on ICHCB too, and downloaded it. My cat [Pudding](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/katzenfrau/2147989956_757b38caa6_o.jpg) is a poser. I believe she is a “Snowshoe Siamese”, with chocolate points showing up as markings on a white ground. Her markings are pretty erratic though; she’s about a 6 on the Piebald/Spotted scale. Her blue eyes indicate Siamese/Himalayan/Mink/Tonkinese ancestry. Those dark brown on sable points, though, are listed as Burmese. ??? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/4 "2011-01-18T18:47:05Z")
Pudding’s got two colors of blue in her eyes! Sapphire blue around the pupil and sky blue at the edges. The chart doesn’t show any combos of blue, just ranges. I wonder what that means. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/5 "2011-01-18T18:55:56Z")
There are a lot of weird-ish things about her. She’s either a very bad example of a snowshoe, or a second generation snowshoe… dunno quite what to think. She does look like Hitler, though. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/6 "2011-01-18T18:56:36Z")
Poor kitty! She should write a story about her struggle. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/7 "2011-01-18T19:01:09Z")
And she’s been a shelter cat twice. And the second time, she lost an eye. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/8 "2011-01-18T19:57:15Z")
I was looking at that a few days ago - [Edison](http://www.flickr.com/photos/62555962@N00/2279443835/) is your standard orange tabby, but that chart says his paw pads should be darker. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/9 "2011-01-18T19:59:59Z")
And Squeak’s nose is outlined in brown/black, which isn’t addressed. Perhaps we should bug the creator to consider these things? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/10 "2011-01-18T20:09:06Z")
Hm, Max-cat doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. He’s ALMOST a Harlequin, but the tips of his ears aren’t white, they’re black, just like the rest of his ears. I guess this chart doesn’t cover Bulgarian street cats. Fine, then. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/11 "2011-01-18T20:22:27Z")
Lying on the couch suffering from a sinus infection so I’m not up to staring at the chart or linking to pics of my cats. But the chart is kinda cool and might be fun to post in our exam rooms to give owners something to do while waiting. We lost our cat breed chart during the remodel. It was always fun to walk in the room and have the cat owner announce that their standard grey domestic shorthair was actually a Russian Blue or their overweight longhaired cat was actually a Maine Coon. This would really keep them busy. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/12 "2011-01-18T21:06:48Z")
Well, Diego ([on the right](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30265295&l=d14ea784aa&id=1401845193)) seems to be a bicolor Point (pointed with white mitts). Serafina (on the left) is more of a mystery. They are from the same litter, both blue-eyed. Diego is very Siamese with a dark nose, sleek fur, long tail and [darker blue eyes](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30259365&l=1552b175c1&id=1401845193). Serafina is porky and pink nosed, with thick, plushy fur, light light blue eyes, with an undercoat like a bunny. Most of her fur is tipped on the ends. When she was [much younger](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30223247&l=40a98fac8d&id=1401845193), her back fur looked siamese brown - she tabbied up as she got older. I used to think she was a lynx-point Siamese. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/13 "2011-01-18T21:08:53Z")
Wow, that’s impressive. If you follow it to the source, [http://www.cedarseed.com/](http://www.cedarseed.com/), there are all sorts of [tutorials](http://www.cedarseed.com/fire/tutorials.html) on drawing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/14 "2011-01-18T21:12:33Z")
[Fairuza](http://img232.imageshack.us/i/18443590.jpg/)is solid dilute blue-gray, her hairs are silver-tipped or ‘frosted’ blue pads and nose, and her eyes were blue-green until she was almost a year old and green until she was 2, but now (age 5) they are only green in the center. Little Caesar is almost completely white, barely qualifies as Seychellois Neuviemeis. He has one patchy stripe of blue fur between his ears, and just a few blue hairs towards the end of his tail, and he has less color every year (he’s only 3). He has pink pads but has black rimming his pink nose, which is unusual for an almost fully white cat. [Here is a pic from when he was about a year old, shows his original coloring.](http://img839.imageshack.us/i/9976) I’m not sure if he eyes count as orange or yellow? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/15 "2011-01-18T21:33:46Z")
Chicken is just a massive, solid black shorthair with greenish-yellow eyes. But in the right light you can see tabby stripes on his head–like black on black. I’d post a picture of him but they all look like back, vaguely cat-shaped muffs with a pair of greenish-yellow dots. Love the chart. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/16 "2011-01-18T21:40:52Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > … But the chart is kinda cool and might be fun to post in our exam rooms to give owners something to do while waiting. We lost our cat breed chart during the remodel. It was always fun to walk in the room and have the cat owner announce that their standard grey domestic shorthair was actually a Russian Blue or their overweight longhaired cat was actually a Maine Coon. This would really keep them busy. Please do. I love these kinds of things, and would rather look at that in a waiting room than flip through old Men’s Health mags or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/17 "2011-01-18T21:43:19Z")
By the way, I keep reading this thread title as “Guide to Housecoat Colors and Patterns” and always think about housecoats I have known. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/18 "2011-01-18T23:13:42Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Lying on the couch suffering from a sinus infection so I’m not up to staring at the chart or linking to pics of my cats. > > But the chart is kinda cool and might be fun to post in our exam rooms to give owners something to do while waiting. We lost our cat breed chart during the remodel. It was always fun to walk in the room and have the cat owner announce that their standard grey domestic shorthair was actually a Russian Blue or their overweight longhaired cat was actually a Maine Coon. This would really keep them busy. Ah, but do you have space on your charts for the 20-word description the cat owners will want to change to? ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/19 "2011-01-18T23:22:33Z")
[Cobalt](http://www.contracheck.com/gallery/v/Dorothy_Year1/Dorothy_Weeks9to12/Dorothy_May14to22/P5150021.jpg.html) is a classic cream tabby with yellow eyes. [Rhodium](http://www.contracheck.com/gallery/v/2008_photos/2008May-June/2008May23to26/2008-05-26+13-07-34+_1662.JPG.html) is a broken mackerel brown tabby with a brick nose and hazel eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091/20 "2011-01-18T23:25:09Z")
[George](http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/8089/lionb.jpg) is a tuxedo cat with a white patch between his eyes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guide-to-housecat-coat-colors-and-patterns/568091.md?page=2)