12 Rare Coat Colors and Patterns In Cats

#1 Chocolate

A chocolate Oriental Shorthair

The chocolate or brown color coat is encoded by a recessive primary gene for coat color. In order for a cat to appear chocolate, he has to carry two recessive genes for brown coloration. The intensity and pattern of the brown coat will be further determined by other coat-related genes.

Chocolate is derived from a genetic mutation of the gene for a black coat which in a dilute form becomes chocolate. While chocolate can appear as points in several breeds like the Balinese and Siamese, the Havana Brown is a breed known for being solid chocolate.

#2 Tortoiseshell

Tortoiseshell is a mixture of black and orange (red).

Tortoiseshell colored cats, or “torties,” do not belong to a specific breed. They are distinguished by a coat that mixes two coat colors of red and black into a swirling pattern that is distinct on every cat.

Tortoiseshell cats have no white mixed in, but the mix of colors can sometimes appear to have gold, gray, orange, or brown in it. Tortoiseshell cats are common in both purebred and in mixed breed of cats, but this color pattern is almost exclusively found in female cats.

#3 Silver

Silver cats may be shaded, tipped or spotted.

Silver cats refer to both colors and patterns and can occur in many breeds. There are three possible patterns in silver coats that could be more or less desirable depending on demand. In general, a silver coat is indicated by hair that is only colored at the tip, which gives the cat its smoky appearance.

The silver coats may have patterns that are striped where the coat has full color, shaded, where even less of the coat has color, or just tipped, meaning that only the smallest part of the coat is colored.

#4 Lilac

Lilac is a very pale brown, so light as to have a slight purple cast.

The lilac color is a variation of the brown color, determined by the recessive primary gene for coat color, and diluted by the dense pigment gene. The process of the formation of this color is similar to that of the smoke color coat.

In order for a cat to be lilac, it has to be a recessive homozygote for the primary gene for coat color, and it also has to be a recessive homozygote for the dense pigment gene. It is a point color found in Persian, Siamese, Balinese, and Colorpoint Shorthair cat breeds, as well as a solid color found in the Oriental Shorthair.

#5 Chinchilla

The chinchilla pattern is very beautiful and seen in a few different colors.

The chinchilla coat pattern is found in the Persian cat breed, and is sometimes called chinchilla Persian. It is characterized by silver-tipped hairs with a pale base that is caused by the dominant melanin inhibitor gene and is a tabby variant.

The dominant allele of this gene suppresses eumelanin production, which fades the base of hair in solid cats, and turning tabbies into a sparkling silver color while leaving the stripes intact. The chinchilla pattern is the tabby variant affected by this melanin inhibitor gene.

#6 Colorpoints

Colorpointed cats have light-colored bodies (white or cream) with darker “points” of color on their extremities.

A cat with colorpoints has a light-colored coat that is marked with color on the head, legs, and tail. There are 16 possible point colors, including chocolate, blue, lilac, and seal, which are the recognized Siamese color variants.

However, there are other variations, including flame point (red), as well as various pointed patterns, such as tortoiseshell and lynx.

#7 Dilute Calico Cats

A dilute calico cat has lighter coloration than a traditional calico cat.

Dilute calico cats have the same coloring as calico cats, in a “diluted” form. Basically dilute calicos are calico cats with less intense color hues. The coloring can be blue/gray and tan patches on a white or cream base, which is different from the standard calico of black and red patches on white.

#8 Rosette

The rosette pattern is seen in several breeds, including Bengals and Savannah cats.

The rosette pattern, also known as a spotted tabby pattern, is determined by the agouti gene which is related to tabby and ticked coat patterns.

This is a less common form of the pattern, and it is usually seen in the Bengal, Serengeti, Egyptian Mau, Maine Coon and a few other domestic cat breeds. Cats with rosette look like little leopards and are most often found with hybrid breeds like the Bengal, Savannah, Egyptian Mau, and Ocicat.

#9 Albino

Albino cats often suffer from genetic health issues.

The albino cat is the rarest color pattern of all. To get an albino cat, you need parent cats with two recessive genes and the offspring must receive both.

The recessive genes in true albinos damage their TYR gene, which causes them to produce no melanin in their skin, resulting in a cat with pink skin that casts their white fur with pink. They can have light blue or pink eyes. Sadly, albino cats are prone to sicknesses of the eyes and skin, with many being photosensitive, immunodeficient, or prone to balance issues.

#10 Black Smoke

Black smoke is a very rare but beautiful color.

The black smoke cat color is solid black but white at the roots, which makes them appear to be wavy or patterned as they move. The first Black Smoke cat was reported in the 1800s when, according to some theories, a tabby with the gene for black markings bred with a silver-white coated cat and the two colors layered creating black smoke kittens.

Black smoke colors are rare but most likely to occur in the Maine Coon, Norwegian Forest, Persian, Turkish Angora, Egyptian Mau, and Siberian breeds.

#11 Fawn

Like lilac, fawn is a dilute form of brown, but it’s lighter than lilac.

Fawn is dilute of brown and resembles the lilac coat color, but is lighter. The non-agouti cinnamon and fawn colors are seen most often in the Oriental and British Shorthair breeds.

The fawn color is a variation of the cinnamon color, determined by a recessive gene and diluted by a dense pigment gene. In order for a cat to be fawn color, it has to be a recessive homozygote for the primary gene for coat color, and it also has to be a recessive homozygote for the dense pigment gene.

#12 Cream

Cream is a dilute form of red.

Cream coat color is a dilution of red and is pale with a tiny rusty hue. As with most of the other dilutions, cream is uncommon among mixed-breed cats, but is becoming more common among purebred cats.

Cream color cats come from a variation of the orange color, determined by a red gene and diluted by a dense pigment gene. This red gene, found on the X chromosome, determines whether there will be any red variations in the fur color.