Snow-white British handsome man: everything about this color of the breed. Features of the appearance and character of the British shorthair cat breed British cats silver color

It does not have any marks or smudges. The nose leather, eyelids and paw pads are characterized by a pink hue. At birth, kittens may have a patch of color that lasts for one year. A characteristic feature is the absence of yellowing on the paws, primarily on their inner surface, as well as at the root of the tail and under the eyes.

The eyes of white cats can have a different color:

White with blue eyes(BRI W 61) Cats of this color are characterized by blue eyes, which are characterized by considerable intensity. Blue-eyed white cats often turn out to be deaf - this connection is laid down at the genetic level.
White with orange eyes(BRI W 62)
White with green eyes(BRI W 64)
White with variously colored eyes(BRI W 63)

This color is characterized by the presence of eyes that differ in color from each other. Usually one of them has a blue color, and the color of the other is dominated by a copper or orange tint.

The disadvantages of white color can be called dark spots that are present on the head in adults. Basically, they are only valid for kittens at the beginning of their growth.

The current gene for this color is white dominant - W, in which the cat has a snow-white coat. The white color gene is unusual - it does not color the coat white, but reliably hides all other colors that are present in the cat's genetic set.

Under the white color, several genes are successfully hidden, which are masked by the active influence of the predominant W gene. Under the influence of this gene, not only the color of the coat changes, but also the shade of the eyes. Blocking the processes of pigmentation leads, as a rule, to the predominance of blue eyes. In these individuals, only one eye has a blue color, and the other has a widespread shade. Usually it is yellow-brown, copper-orange or yellow. This does not indicate that the influence of the dominant W gene is completely absent in the cells of the other eye. The predominance of the traditional color indicates that its effect did not affect the iris in any way. It is very interesting to observe what eye color they have white cats. Some of them have an eye, half of which has a normal tone, and the other part is a blue tint. In some cases, various blotches are found in the iris.

White odd-eyed cats are classified as rare, because the number of such individuals is small. It is because of their peculiarity that they are called "royal". There is a belief that a cat whose eyes differ in color provides its owner with good luck and prosperity.

When breeding white cats, there is a certain condition. It lies in the fact that it is forbidden to mate cats that belong to the white color among themselves. One partner must be of a different color. This is explained by the fact that when two white cats are mated, the risk of giving birth to an animal homozygous for W, which may have congenital deafness, increases significantly. However, there is an opinion that this condition is far-fetched, since most cat lovers treat individuals with blue eyes with great love, and the Turkish Angora cat, which has multi-colored eyes, belongs to the royal category. This is a kind of memory of the Turkish hero Ataturk, who had eyes of different colors. It is worth saying that a white cat in Turkey can freely walk around the mosque.

British cats, whose breeding began at the end of the 19th century, are the true pride of Great Britain to this day. Large cats with plush fur are said to have inherited their smile from the Cheshire Cat. The first snow-white beauty belonging to this breed was officially presented at the exhibition in 1987. To this day, the colors of British cats are of particular interest to cat lovers. There are no lop-eared British cats; this anatomical feature is inherent in Scottish cats.

Since then, the popularity of the breed has been steadily growing. The British attract not only with their intelligent character and plush wool, but also with a huge variety of colors, of which there are more than 25 species. A table with a photo will help to study the colors of British cats, as well as a description of the types and types of coloring of this breed. Among the coat colors there are very rare combinations that are extremely highly valued by both professional breeders and breed lovers. Let's figure out what colors are British cats.

Types of colors

Selection work on representatives of the British breed with the involvement of various bloodlines has led to a variety of both colors and breed species. If initially the British had short hair with a thick undercoat, then crossing with a Persian cat made it possible to obtain semi-long-haired animals. The colors of British Longhair cats correspond to the colors of shorthair cats.

Many people think of the British only as smoky, blue or tabby cats and do not even realize what a variety of colors the breed has. Even a couple of quite ordinary parents can get a kitten of a rare color.

To streamline the variety of colors of British cats, they are divided into types and groups according to color, pattern and method of pigmentation.

Types of colors of British cats:

solid (or plain);
typed: smoky, veiled, shaded;
gold;
silvery;
tortoiseshell;
color point;
particolors: harlequin, bicolor, van, mitted;
tabby: spotted, striped, marbled, ticked.

The table of colors of British cats will help to present all the diversity.

Blue plain

This is the color that comes to mind when it comes to the British, so we will start with it. Often it is called classic, or simply gray. The coat should be solid, the undercoat may be lighter, but white hairs are unacceptable. A lighter color is considered valuable. A small kitten may have stripes that disappear with age. The beautiful rich amber color of the eyes of the blue British appears with age, although kittens are born with a gray and blue iris.

plain

In addition to blue, there are six more solid colors: black, white, chocolate, lilac, red, cream. The uniform color is uniform, without white hairs, spots, patterns. The wool is soft, thick, plush.

The jet black plush British look extremely impressive, they have a rich pigmentation of the undercoat, wool and skin, but it is not easy to get such a kitten. This is due to the fact that in adolescence, kittens can change their coat color to chocolate.

The coat of a white British cat is snow-white, without yellowness and spots. In kittens, blue or black stripes on the forehead are acceptable, which disappear without a trace with age. It is difficult to get kittens with perfectly white hair, and breeding cats of this color is associated with the risk of getting sick offspring. Since 1997, selection work with this color has not been carried out.

In a warm chocolate color, richness and depth of shade are valued. The darker the color, the better. This color is called havana, or chestnut.

Considering the solid colors of British cats, lilac is the most difficult to imagine. This color is a combination of pink and blue. The pads of the paws and the nose are colored in the tone of the coat. Obtaining such a color is the result of professional breeding. The gene responsible for the lilac color does not exist. The goal is achieved by a rare combination of parental genes. Kittens are born in a delicate, almost pink color, and the color of an adult animal resembles a latte.

Red British cats are popularly called red. The coat is uniformly dyed, without spots and patterns. The nose and paw pads are brick red. Appreciate the intensity of the color.

Delicate cream Britons are often referred to as beige, or peach. Their nose and paw pads are pink.

Rare colors of British cats

Today, relatively new and rare uniform colors stand out - cinnamon and fawn. The dark colors of British cats are dominant, so bleached kittens are rarely born.

Cinnamon is a very rare and desirable color, its name comes from the English cinnamon, which translates as cinnamon. The color is like clarified chocolate. The gene of this color, identified 50 years ago, is recessive, so cinnamon kittens are born quite rarely.

Faun - an even rarer color, which is a clarified cinnamon. It was recognized as recently as 2006 and is of particular interest to breeders, as it makes it possible to develop new lighter colors.

Kittens that look like fawns, i.e. fauns, and cinnamon cinnamon at birth are classified as cream and blue colors. To identify a rare color, a DNA examination is carried out, which confirms that the animal belongs to a rare color.

Silver and gold

The silver color is one of the most popular with British cats. It can be of the following types:

shaded;
veiled;
smoky;
tabby.

Golden color also does not occur in its pure form. This bright color is one of the most expensive in British cats. It can be represented by the following types:

shaded;
veiled;
tabby.

The ticked tabby, shaded and veiled colors are called chinchillas. It is the representatives of golden and silver colors that are called chinchilla and golden chinchilla.

Tortoiseshell

Tortoiseshell cats are breeders' favorites. From these mothers you can get the most diverse offspring. Their unique color, also called torti, combines two groups of colors at once - red and black, and this is possible only in females. Tortoiseshell cats can only be born as a result of a genetic anomaly - mosaicism. Such animals are sterile and have the XXY genotype.

The tortoiseshell color is black and red spots evenly distributed throughout the body (or derivatives of these colors, for example, blue and cream, chocolate and cream, lilac and cream, etc.).

There are a huge number of types of tortoiseshell British:

Classic turtle (black-red, chocolate-red, lilac-cream, fawn-cream, cinnamon-red, lilac-cream).
Smoky turtle (black and red smoky, chocolate red smoky, etc.).
Tortoise tabby, or torby (black and red tabby, chocolate red tabby, etc.).
Tortoise color point, or tortie (tortie point - black tortie, blue cream point - blue tortie, etc.).
Bicolor tortie or calico (black and red bicolor tortoise, etc.).
Bicolor tabby turtle, or torbiko (marble, striped, spotted bicolor turtle).

A tortoiseshell kitten can be born from parents of different color groups, for example, mom is red and dad is black.

tabby

Patterned cats resemble wild ones in color. They have spots, stripes, rings on the body and legs and the obligatory letter "M" on the forehead. Tabby color also has several types:

Spotted, spotted, or leopard is the most common tabby. Cats of this color look like miniature leopards.
Striped, mackerel, or brindle. Narrow frequent stripes should not be interrupted and intersect with each other. After a year, the brindle color can turn into leopard if the stripes begin to break.
The merle color is very showy, bright and the most complex of the tabbies. The stripes on the back are straight, but on the sides they form well-visible circles and rings.
The ticked color stands apart - it does not have a pattern and outwardly looks like a plain color with a "spray". Reminiscent of shaded or veiled. Each hair has its own stripes.

color point

The color-point Britons have a light color of the body and dark marks on the muzzle, ears, paws, tail - points. This color is also called Himalayan or Siamese. The color of the points corresponds to one of the main colors, and the color of the body is in harmony with it.

Types of color-point:

solid;
shaded;
veiled;
bicolor;
smoky;
turtle;
tabby.

Colors with white

The combination of any basic, patterned or tortoiseshell color with white is called the common name bicolor - these are colored spots without white villi, with clear boundaries. There are several groups of this color:

Bicolor - from 1/3 to 1/2 white - muzzle, chest, paws, belly. Colored - one or two ears, head, back, tail.
Harlequin - only 5/6 white - collar, neck, chest, paws.
Van - the main color is white. Colored spots on the head, but ears are white, colored tail, colored spots on the back are allowed.
Tricolor, or calico, is a tortoiseshell (i.e., two-tone) color with white.
Mitted - not recognized by the standard and considered a disadvantage. There is little white color, no more than 1/4, the head, neck, collar, belly and paws are white.

Now you know what the colors of British cats are. A table with photos helped us understand the variety of types and types of colors.

Every feline connoisseur knows and can easily recognize a British cat. However, sometimes they are quite different from each other. All because of the diversity of their appearance. Therefore, let's try to find out what colors of British cats exist today in nature and how to identify them.

A little about the breed itself

Cats of this breed are short-haired and with a characteristic muzzle. They are mainly distinguished by their kindness, strength of character and intelligence. At the same time, the size of their body basically corresponds to medium or large, animals are called strong and strong.

It is said that the British are the direct descendants of the well-known Cheshire Cat.

External features of animals

If we take into account the color of the coat of cats, you can see that their appearance has certain patterns. These should include:

Round head and wide cheekbones;
Short and rough neck;
Short and straight nose
Small and low-set, roundish ears;
Big eyes;
Grounded massive body;
Short, but rather thick paws;
Thick, medium-sized tail;
Short, soft, but very dense coat.

The nature and characteristics of behavior

The main difference between the British is that they are very independent from their owners. It is convenient to have such animals for businessmen or those who like to travel, because the cat will not be too sad during separation.

They will not fawn and bask in the hands of their owners. However, this does not mean that the British do not like their roommates. The main thing for them is just to be around, and they also love to play and “talk”. At the same time, the cat will not escape from the hands, but will calmly withstand all the gusts of tenderness of the owner. Such a British temperament in an animal.

Positive and negative sides

As with any animal, the Briton also has its pros and cons. The first one should include that he does not require much attention and can easily be left alone for long periods of time. However, the negative aspects include the severity of education, since they almost always have their own opinion about everything and their own vision of what they need to do.

Colors of British cats

Today, the colors of the British Shorthair are known in more than 200 variations. A small part of them has been known since the appearance of the breed in general, the other is the result of the painstaking work of breeders.

The very variety of colors depends on the combination of two components - the color of the villi of the animal and the presence of a pattern on their body.

Melanin is responsible for which pattern will be shown on the British coat. In this case, two different types of substance can give a black or red base, which ultimately acts as a key to the formation of color. The combination of these two types of melanin in different proportions allows you to create very diverse animals in appearance. In addition, it is worth noting that there are solid colors - when one-color wool, as well as wool with a pattern.

Popular varieties

Speaking about the diversity of British cats and taking into account the components that were mentioned above, all of them can be grouped into certain categories. It is in these groups that we will further consider:

blue;
monochrome and smoky;
Collor Point;
silver and gold shaded;
tortoiseshell cats;
Tabby;
Bicolor, Party colors, Harlequin, Van.

Blue plain

Due to the great similarity of cats of this breed to Scottish Fold, mainly those who wish to have an animal think that the color must be blue. This color is indeed recognized as a kind of standard. Quite often in colloquial speech they are called classical.

The coat of such British is mostly monophonic and does not have any light-colored villi. Animal skin is always blue, however much valuable for specialists is precisely the light shade of wool in addition, at the age of a kitten, there may be some kind of pattern, but with age it necessarily disappears.

Myths and their refutation

Although photos and descriptions of the colors of British cats can be easily found both on the Internet and on the pages of specialized magazines, many people quite often make mistakes in their thoughts. For example, most cat lovers think that a British cat of this category is born with bright orange eyes. But this is not so - British kittens of all colors appear with blue, and sometimes with gray eyes, the iris of the eye acquires a different color only later. Another mistake of cat owners is that they do not know about the existence of lop-eared British shorthairs.

plain

Representatives of such a group are considered to be those animals in which all the villi, the layer under the coat and the skin are strictly one solid color or even shade. Literally one small speck is the reason why the Briton is not included here. This group should include colors:

purple;
Black;
cinnamon;
Faun.

purple cat

Animals of this breed have a monochromatic color, which combines blue and pink tones. You may notice that these animals have a pink color of the villi, which is difficult to explain in words. Therefore, before choosing, you should first review the photo of the colors of British cats.

Interestingly, adult cats resemble delicate milk coffee in color. Of the entire set of color components, only the undercoat can have an excellent tone.

It is quite difficult to get an animal of this color, because quite often it is just luck and a consequence of the unpredictability of the breeders' actions.

chocolate animals

This coat color is primarily one-color, with increased pigmentation of the villi, a kitten. For them, there is one law of evaluation: the darker the color (shade) of a brown British cat, the more expensive. Among the people, one can easily hear how such a shade is called “chestnut” or “harbour”.

Black color of the breed

Such Britons are characterized by a deep and intense saturation of the body with black tone, which covers the villi, undercoat and even the entire skin. These animals are very difficult to breed, as their coat begins to fade as early as seven months of age. Enough often, a kitten that was born black can acquire a brown tone in just one year. In such Britons, for the most part, there can be no silver overflow. If it is, then this means that breeders tried to give birth to a kitten. And such a violation leads to the rejection of the animal in the list of defective.

cinnamon color

Shades of this light brown color are rare colors of British cats. After all, at first they were light tones of the chocolate type of color, but over time they were crossed by two carriers of this gene. Their rarity is manifested in the fact that a brown British cat can give birth to such heirs only after one generation, and sometimes much less often.

Faun

The coat color of this group of cats is very easy to confuse with cinnamon or cream. However, the faun belongs to the category that is called "rare and expensive colors of British cats." It contains shades of pink or cream.

White British

Such animals are characterized by a cold tone of villi and a pinkish skin tone. In nature, there is a British white cat with blue eyes, as well as multi-colored ones. There may be a small spot in kittens, but it should definitely disappear with time.

At the same time, the British, in which yellowing still appears in specific places - on the paws, hair under the eyes, as well as on the tail, are considered to be defective.

Breed Collor Point

These animals include those in which there are two colors in color, but white predominates significantly. The second color can range from gray with a lighter tint to red. The most expensive representatives of the breed with a very rare color of the Siamese type with dark strands.

Silver and gold shaded

Representatives of this category are characterized by the presence of the main color on the ears, head, back and even on the tail. In this case, the silver shade should prevail on the collar, paws and stomach. Quite often mistakenly all owners of this color are called chinchillas. Among them, the colors of the wool cover are distinguished:

brown or black;
blue;
chocolate;
cinnamon;

silver chinchilla

If we talk about what colors British cats of a silvery sheen are, then this category can be attributed to the most rare. Due to the direct connection with the representatives of the Persian breed, they have a more docile and softer character.

At the same time, they have an important feature - the hairs should not be silver more than one eighth of the length.

Golden color type

In this group of animals, the base tone is necessarily dark, while the upper part of the hair is painted over in gold. A gray tint in this case is not acceptable, and therefore such cats are considered defective. People call them chinchillas.

turtle animals

Owners of tortoiseshell colors are characterized by a uniform distribution of tones on the body, but with the condition that there are no patterns on the light parts. On the muzzle, the presence of red or cream spots is acceptable.. This species, due to a genetic predisposition, is only real for females, which makes the work of breeders even harder. Another injustice is that the British in this category are infertile. For animals, a combination of 3 colors is important:

black or brown;
cream/red;
blue or purple.

Patterned (Tubby)

Another species that contains the color chart of British cats. It is characteristic of these British that they can have an excellent color of the villi at the very base. The ornament on the body can be striped or spotted. It is advisable to divide them into silver and gold types, sometimes a subspecies of the Collor Point type is also distinguished.

The color of the snow (asymmetrical) leopard

This type of tabby, which is characterized by dark large spots on the coat of a light shade. The pattern practically cannot be symmetrical, and the spots themselves are dark inside and less saturated along the contour. On the lateral areas of the skin are thin strips resembling marble. The eyes of the kittens are large and copper-colored. Any base tone can be used.

Everyone knows that there are a huge number of colors of British cats and each color has its own connoisseurs. Many people with such a phrase as "British cat" seem to have an animal that has a classic blue color and luxurious thick hair. Currently, they are very popular (tabby).

Color is a combination of characteristics such as coat color, pattern on it, as well as eye color. Coat color is genetically related to the color of the paw pads and nose leather. And if a blue cat has any pinkish spot on its pad, then it is not blue, but blue-cream.

To care for the coat of British cats requires a lot of effort and effort. But such labors later pay off - because you can look at these beautiful animals endlessly.

The most rare colors

British cats sometimes give birth to kittens with amazing colors. It is not easy to find such kittens, because behind them there are huge queues of people who want to buy them.

Rarely there are cats with chocolate or black hair and copper eyes. A big rarity is a white Briton with different eyes.

It should be noted that smoky, shaded and chinchilla are one silver color group. Blue British cats are very popular, in second place is lilac, in third is silver tabby, in fourth is spotted, and in some countries the brown-spotted color is popular.

The color of the British breed of cats should be uniform, without spots, shades and white hairs. The British coat is thick, short and soft to the touch.

tortoise color

Tortoiseshell coloration is considered a rare color of British cats, it occurs only in girls. Spots of two shades are evenly mixed all over the cat's body. Cats with this color sometimes give birth to kittens with a very interesting color, so they are valued.

smoke color

These British cats have a silvery undercoat that turns the base color into a smoky one. There may also be smoky colors of two colors.

Chinchillas

In such British coats, the base color of the coat is shaded by another shade, which in turn covers the tip of each hair. One of the rather rare colors of the British is golden shaded with green eyes.

Color with tabby pattern

Marble

Spotted (VISKAS)

Brindle color

The color of these cats can be almost any, but the distinguishing feature is the pattern, which is reminiscent of the wild origin of cats. For the British breed of cats, three patterns are established according to the standard: marble, spotted and brindle.

color point

These representatives of British cats are distinguished by colored spots. In color, they are similar to Siamese cats. In rare cases, there are British cats of this color with a pattern.

bicolor color

This color occurs when any color from the main colors is combined, it is called bicolor. They are divided into (when the tail is colored and there are two spots on the head), harlequin (large colored spots), as well as bicolor (almost half of the body is colored).

Each of these colors has its own clear criteria, and if you follow them, you can ensure that British cats perform successfully at shows. The color of the eyes and the distribution of spots according to symmetry also play a rather large role.

Imagine a British cat. Before your mind's eye, most likely, a large beautiful animal of a gray-blue color with bright copper eyes will appear. In fact, the eyes of British cats, as well as colors, can be very different.

The richness of the palette is endless. The main thing for participation in exhibitions or a breeding program is that the eye color of British cats is in harmony with their color.

However, when buying a small kitten, the owner is unlikely to be able to guess what his pet's eyes will become over time - after all, tailed babies are born blue-eyed, and the real eye color appears in someone by six months, and in someone - only one and a half years.

But in this case, nature itself gives a hint - the color of the eyes of British cats is directly related to the color. If you want to know what the color of the eyes of British cats will be, pay attention to the color of their coat.

Yellow eyes of warm fire

What are the eyes of British cats of solid colors or, in other words, solid colors? All single-colored British cats, except for whites, are left with no choice in the standard - their eyes are yellow, sometimes even closer to orange. The brighter and richer the shade, the more beautiful and expensive the cat.

Yellow eyes are also found in British tortoiseshell cats. It is genetically determined that such “pieds” are born, mainly, female cats. If a tortoiseshell cat was born, then this is the result of a genetic mutation, and the boy, alas, is sterile.

The classic yellow color of the eyes is also in spotted-striped animals - this color is also called tabby (tabby) or drawn. If there is no gold or silver in the color of the British minke whale, then, in theory, it should also be yellow-eyed.

Emeralds - to gold and silver

And what about the eyes of British cats, in the colors of which there are "noble metals"? If we are talking about gold, that is, the colors "golden tabby", "golden shaded" or "golden chinchilla", then only the British cat with green eyes corresponds to it. No other options are given - gold in this case should be combined only with bright greens.

As for silver cats - the same tabbies, chinchillas or "silver tabby" - their eyes can be either green, better than a shade of turquoise, or yellow-orange.

Siamese color - for blue eyes

If you have a British cat with blue eyes or a British blue-eyed cat in front of you, with almost 100% probability it can be argued that this is a color-point animal (it is also called Siamese or acromelanic).

British cats with blue eyes can have six variants of "Siamese" color - black, blue, chocolate, lilac, red and cream. We can say that these are the real lucky ones, because if the cat is blue-eyed, then, as the song says, she will not be denied anything!

Blondes rule!

White color is not the most common among representatives of this breed: it is very difficult to breed such kittens, besides, white cats of any breed often suffer from deafness, so breeding work with white British has not been carried out for some time now. But if such a kitten appeared in the litter by the will of nature, the color of his eyes can be a real surprise for the owner.

Blond British people can have yellow eyes, more precisely, gold, copper or amber, this is the most common option. Extremely rare, but there are white British cats with blue eyes - they are not involved in breeding, but this does not detract from their unique beauty.

And finally, perhaps the most incredible white British cats are those with different eyes, this phenomenon is called heterochromia. Usually one eye is blue and the other is yellow. In English, such cats are called "Odd-Eyed", that is, odd-eyed.

white label

And what about the eyes of British cats with white markings, the so-called bicolors, harlequins and vans? In this case, everything depends on the main color - the color of the cat's eyes should correspond to it. Most often, British cats with white spots are yellow-eyed or green-eyed, but sometimes rare heterochromic specimens are also found among them.

However, all these nuances are important only for those who actively participate in exhibitions or breed cats. For most ordinary cat lovers who live with British cats, the color of the eyes of pets does not matter. Yellow, green, blue or even different - they are still the most favorite!