Coat colours

Colour name

Red (primary)

Colour name

White

Colour name

Black (primary)

Colour name

Cinnamon

Colour name

Chocolate

What does colour black come from

Eumelanin

Controlled by the B gene

What does colour red come from

Pheomelanin

Controlled by the O gene

What does colour white come from

Unpigmented

Comes from the gene W

W gene

Epistatic - if a cat has at leat one W allele, it will be completely white

O gene

Epistatic to the B gene - if it is active, the cat shows red instead of black

On the X chromosome so affects males and females differently

B gene

Only visible if the cat is not white (ww) and not red (oo)

Dilution - D gene

Black → blue/gray

Chocolate → lilac

Cinnamon → fawn

Red → cream

Agouti gene (A)

Controls if hairs are banded

A_ - banded hairs (agouti and not solid)

aa - solid colour

Inhibitor gene (I)

Removes pigment at the base of the hair

Creates a silver or smoke effect

Wide band gene (Wb)

Influences how much of each hair is pigmented

Works with agouti and inhibitor genes

Determines if a cat is tipped, shaded or smoke

Tipped

Only the tip of each hair is pigmented

Shaded

Coloration on the ¼ to ½ or so of each hair

Smoked

Pigmentation at about ½ or more of the hair