Bicolor cat

Chelsea Clinton's cat Socks (1989–2009) lived in the White House from 1993 to 2001. Socks was a bicolor cat with low-grade spotting, or tuxedo cat.

A bicolor cat or [color]-and-white cat is a cat with white fur combined with fur of some other color, for example solid black, tabby, or colorpointed. There are various patterns of bicolor cat. These range from the Van-patterned (color on the crown of the head and the tail only) through to solid color with a throat locket or medallion. Bicolor coats are found in many cat breeds, as well as being common in domestic longhair and domestic shorthair cats.

Where there is low-to-medium grade white spotting limited to the face, paws, throat and chest of an otherwise black cat, they are known in the United States as a tuxedo cat. High-grade bicolor results in Van-patterned cats, which is typical for the Turkish Van breed. There are many patterns between, such as "cap-and-saddle", "mask-and-mantle" and "harlequin" (also known as "magpie").

Mostly-solid-color bicolor cats occur because there is a white spotting gene present along with a recessive allele of the agouti gene, which evens out the usual striped pattern of the colors of the coat. In contrast, tabby cats have an agouti gene that produces striping of the coat. The Abyssinian has agouti (ticked tabby) fur, giving the appearance of even color with color-banded hairs.

Bicolor patterns

Bicolor grade chart, ranging from 1 (solid colored) to 10 (solid white).

Bicolor pattern chart

Bicoloration in cats is graded from one to ten; with one being completely colored, and ten being completely white. There are also several patterns with their own names.

Van pattern

Van-patterned red tabby-and-white Turkish Van cat

Van-patterned cats are bicolor cats, that are mostly white (generally more than 75% white), with color around the ears, separated by a white blaze, and on the tail. They may have small (roughly coin sized) colored spots on and around their spine. The presence of multiple, conjoined, or larger spots on the body and/or an extended head spot that reaches the face indicates the harlequin pattern. The term Van pattern comes from the Turkish Van (named after Lake Van), which is a Van-patterned bicolor breed. The Van pattern is known to animal geneticists as the Seychelles (Seychellois) pattern and is classified into three variants:

• Seychellois Neuvieme is white with colored tail and head splashes (classic Turkish Van pattern)
• Seychellois Huitieme is white with colored tail and head splashes plus additional splashes of color on the legs
• Seychellois Septieme is white with splashes of color on the legs and body in addition to those on the head and the colored tail

These are high grade white spotting of types nine, eight and seven.

Harlequin patterned

Another type of color-and-white cat is the harlequin patterned bicolor cat. This coat pattern is sometimes referred to as a "cow cat", "moo cat", or "magpie" and includes the "cap-and-saddle" and "mask-and-mantle" patterns. The harlequin patterned coat is predominantly white (generally 50%-75% white) combined with coloured markings on the cat’s body, including its head and tail. It does not have the solid colored "jacket" of the tuxedo cat. Instead, it has large colored patches over a mostly white body, often with a colored mask over the head. "Black-mask cats" are so called because they look like they are wearing a black mask over their head.

True bicolor pattern

Bicolor patterned black colorpoint-and-white British Shorthair with symmetrical color distribution and a white blaze on its face

The cat labelled "bicolor" or "true bicolor" is the preferred pattern in show-quality bicolor purebred cats. Bicolor patterned cats have medium grade white spotting (generally approximately 50%-25% white). The cat registry Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe) states that for a "standard" bicolor coat to compete in shows: "the color patches must be clearly separated from each other, even in color and harmoniously distributed. At least 1⁄2 should be colored, but not more than 3⁄4; the rest is white." Similarly, the World Cat Federation (WFC) allows an amount of color between 1⁄2 up to 2⁄3 for bicolor patterned cats. In comparison, The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) says that "cats with no more than a locket and/or button [patch on chest] do not qualify for this color class."

Tuxedo pattern

A tuxedo patterned black-and-white cat

A tuxedo cat, or Felix cat or Julius cat is a bicolor cat with low grade white spotting (generally close to 25% white) in the coat. The term "tuxedo cats" is typically used for black-and-white colored cats, but tuxedo patterned cats come in all cat colors. They are called tuxedo cats due to the resemblance to black tie formal wear, commonly known in the United States and Canada as a tuxedo.

To be considered a true tuxedo cat, the feline's coloring should consist of a colored coat, with white fur limited to the paws, belly, chest, throat, and often the chin - sometimes the tail, although many tuxedo cats appear to sport goatees, due to the black coloration of their mandible: the lower jaw and chin. White muzzles or a white blaze on their faces, are a common attribute of tuxedo cats. Most tuxedo cats are also "black-mask cats" with a complete white blaze, a common name for felines who, due to their facial coloration, look as if they are wearing a black mask over their eyes, and often over their entire head. The ideal color distribution is symmetric, and the white areas are of modest size and limited to the desirable areas.

A Snowshoe cat showing the Snowshoe pattern, which is equal to the white spotting pattern often referred to as "tuxedo"

In most cat registries, the tuxedo pattern is not an official term used to categorise white spotting patterns in show cats. However, the standard or code used to indicate the white markings in the Snowshoe cat breed is equal to the white spotting pattern known as "tuxedo" among tuxedo cat enthousiast.

Genetics of coat patterns

Main article: Cat coat genetics

The basic colors and patterns of cat fur are defined by fewer than ten genes. Cats with white color in their coats are thought to have a mutant white-spotting gene that prevents the formation of coat color in patches over the cat's body. This gene has been investigated in several species, particularly mice, and is co-dominant to normal coat color as it prevents the migration of melanocytes into the developing hair follicles. The genetics of this pattern are not as well understood in cats but at least some of the genes involved in melanocyte migration and survival may play a role similar as in other animals.

Three genotypes possible with the S (white spotting) gene, with capital S standing for a wild-type copy and lower-case s standing for the mutant.

• SS (two dominant alleles) results in high grades of white spotting (sometimes resulting in a solid-looking white cat or a white cat with just a few color hairs)
• Ss (one dominant, one recessive allele) results in medium grades of white spotting
• ss (two recessive alleles) results in solid color or low grades of white spotting (sometimes as little as a few white hairs)

The lack of tabby striping in bicolor cats is controlled by the agouti protein, which inhibits the production of melanin and thus prevents the formation of dark hair colors. In agouti cats the gene is turned on and off as the hair grows, producing hairs with alternating stripes yellow and black. In domestic cats, inactivation of the agouti gene by a deletion mutation causes all-black coat color.

Possible bicolor colorations

Comparison of a black colorpoint-and-white adult (left) and kitten (right).

White spotting is not limited to solid color-and-white combinations, and can also occur with any of the tabby patterns, resulting in tabby-and-white bicolor coats. Furthermore, colorpoint cats can have bicolor points (colorpoint-and-white), although this variation is not recognized for showing in some cat breeds. An example of a bicolor colorpoint cat breed is the tuxedo patterned colorpoint-and-white Snowshoe cat. The body markings of bicolor colorpoints become clearer with age, as the body fur of colorpoint cats darkens as the cats grow older and the white patches become more distinctively visible.

White spotting can also occur in combination with tortoiseshell coats, these are known as tricolor cats, tortoiseshell-and-white cats, or calico cats (US English). Tortoiseshell-and-white cats can also be found in combination with a tabby or colorpoint pattern.

Bicolor cats that are black and white are sometimes called "magpies". The cream and white bicolor cat is the rarest of the bicolors, while the black and white or "blue" (grey) and white are the most common.

A female bicolor patterned black-and-white cat with pink and black paw pads

Skin coloration

Bicolor may also appear in the skin color, this feature is easily spotted in bicolored hairless cats. Paw pads may be black, pink or a mixture of both, often matching the coat in that area; if the color boundary crosses the underside of the paw, the pads on either side may be different colors or even bicolored.

Bicolored cat breeds

The bicolor coat coloration is not restricted to a specific breed of cat, as it can be found in many different types of pure-breed as well as mixed-breed domestic cats. However, some breeds are especially noted for having bicolor coats in their breed standards. These include the Ragdoll, American Shorthair, Manx, British Shorthair, and Turkish Angora. The Turkish Van and Snowshoe cat breed are restricted to cats with bicolored coats.

In contrast, other common breeds of cat have specific coat patterns specified in their breed standards. Cats with such specific coat patterns include the Russian Blue, which has a coat of one solid color.

In popular culture

See also: Fictional cats

In the United Kingdom, the tuxedo cat became depicted as the "Jellicle cat" in the fictional tribe of nocturnal black and white cats described by T. S. Eliot in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, which was first published in 1939. In its derivative musical "Cats", the tuxedo cat is exemplified by the character of the magical Mr. Mistoffelees, who is portrayed as a stage magician wearing a lacy ruff and bow tie, as well as the character Bustopher Jones whose outfit consists of a tuxedo and spats. The musical differed from the book in that the characters included cats with many different coat colors, rather than just bicolor cats, but it retains the repeated assertion that "Jellicle cats are black and white." Cats with these markings also played a starring role in the drawings illustrating The Unadulterated Cat, a book written by Terry Pratchett, with cartoons by Gray Jolliffe.

Other well-known cartoon bicolor cats include Sylvester the Cat, Felix the Cat, Tom Cat from Tom and Jerry, Oggy from Oggy and the Cockroaches, Cat from The Cat that Hated People and Ventriloquist Cat, Krazy Kat, Jess from Postman Pat, Kitty Softpaws from the Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots and its sequel, Figaro, Beans, and Sebastian the cat from Josie and the Pussycats. A bicolor cat named Mittens is one of the main characters in the 2008 Disney animated film Bolt. Aldwyn from The Familiars is a tuxedo cat, while Meowrice (voiced by Paul Frees) from Gay Purr-ee is a bicolor. A tuxedo cat is also the protagonist of the popular children's book Tip-Top Cat, and another is one of the ten breeds of cats in the video game Minecraft. Morgana, a playable character in the JRPG Persona 5, is a bicolor cat. Bo, a character from the TV series Abby Hatcher, is a Fuzzly who resembles a tuxedo cat. Klonoa, the main character of the titular Klonoa games, closely resembles a tuxedo cat. Cait Sith, a playable character from the video game Final Fantasy VII is a tuxedo cat.

Known tuxedo cats

• Tilly, Actress Audrey Hepburn's Tuxedo Cat: Tilly was Audrey Hepburn's tuxedo cat for many years and became a popular figure in her own right. Tilly was known for her charisma and personality, and was frequently seen in photographs and interviews with Hepburn.

See also

• Palmerston, black & white bicolor, resident Chief Mouser of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Whitehall London
• Kat Kong, a children's book about a bicolor cat
• Penelope Pussycat, a cartoon character who is a bicolor cat

External links

• Media related to Bicolor cats at Wikimedia Commons

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