# Why are there no brown cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674 "2010-02-12T06:46:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/21 "2010-02-12T20:05:22Z")
Actually I now realise I have three brown cats! The one I described earlier, the ‘black’ one, and the tabby. As identified by Tamerlane, the black cat can be seen to actually have a brownish tint in bright sunlight (also faint ghost stripes). ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/22 "2010-02-12T20:26:57Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [Burmese cats are generally brown.](http://images.google.nl/images?rlz=1C1CHMG_nlNL291NL305&sourceid=chrome&q=burmese+cat&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=0AN1S7CONsH-4AauvrmzCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQsAQwAA) My in-laws have owned several burmese and all of them have been completely brown. It is a dark brown, but definitely would never be mistaken for black in any normal lighting conditions. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/23 "2010-02-12T22:38:42Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > This is the key. I believe ALL black cats would look brownish in a sunbeam. Quoting: _Technically, the black is an almost-black, super-dark brown that is virtually black; true black is theoretically impossible, but often reached in the practical sense (so much for theory)._ Isn’t this the same with human hair, and why true black dye looks so fake? ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/24 "2010-02-12T23:09:55Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Exactly - [this](http://www.flickr.com/photos/62555962@N00/3834054210/) is Stokie, and in that particular light you can see that he’s indeed very dark brown. Normally he just looks black. (Well, with his sockpaws and his dapper little shirt and… open fly, I guess. You can’t see his tuxedo pattern in that picture, is what I mean.) I can’t tell you how disappointed I was that the picture didn’t show his open fly.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/25 "2010-02-13T02:49:45Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Isn’t this the same with human hair, and why true black dye looks so fake? Yes, I think the same principle is at work. For some reason I don’t really notice brown highlights as much with humans. Which might mean we can achieve darker shades or might just be down to most black hair tending to hang flat, unlike fur that sticks out so you get more of a profile when it is in a sunbeam. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/26 "2010-02-13T03:40:58Z")
My dad had a Burmese when I was a kid and it was semi-sweet chocolate brown; and he had a great purrsonality. (The cat not the dad.) ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/27 "2010-02-15T05:39:09Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Neither [do I](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/DSCF4463.jpg) :). But you can definitely see it in the [right](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/DSCF6514.jpg) [light](http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff114/Timur_photo/cats/IMG_5939.jpg). Sonofagun, you’re absolutely right. I took a look at the cat from my photos sleeping in a sunbeam today, and she really is brown. Whodathunkit? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/28 "2010-02-15T11:53:39Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > Sonofagun, you’re absolutely right. I took a look at the cat from my photos sleeping in a sunbeam today, and she really is brown. Whodathunkit? I had a himalayan that was absolute black, until we started letting him go outside, then he faded to a very lovely blackish brown at the base of the hairs and a faded tobacco brown at the tips of the hair. He had the classic grey skin of a black cat, and no stray white hairs. Beautiful cat, I really miss him =( ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/29 "2010-02-15T14:14:56Z")
OP, surely you knew this thread would be made up of links to pictures of brown cats? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/30 "2010-02-15T15:49:15Z")
My friend the cat lady has a little brown cat named Brown Bear. Brown Bear and her siblings were born to a mother that was just a kitten herself, and even as adults they’re teeny tiny. Bear’s mother, sister, and brother are all normal black. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674/31 "2010-02-15T15:55:42Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yes, I think the same principle is at work. For some reason I don’t really notice brown highlights as much with humans. Which might mean we can achieve darker shades or might just be down to most black hair tending to hang flat, unlike fur that sticks out so you get more of a profile when it is in a sunbeam. My hair is very thick and has a lot of volume, so it catches highlights like crazy. Compare [this picture](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/image.php?dateline=1241663405&type=profile) with [this one.](http://www.nouilles.info/illustrations/sdmb_portraits/53163.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-brown-cats/528674.md?page=1)