Post by DOG on Jun 5, 2008 19:03:50 GMT -5
(Credit for information goes to the Cat Fanciers Website and Messybeast.com)
Colors: Creating Your Character's Appearance
As important as creating a name for your character, is figuring out what your character will look like. In cats, there are very distinct colors and pattern types, and they are very much different from dogs in terms of what colors a cat can be.
First, I will outline what coat colors can exist in the cat, and will spare you the genetics talk from the tortoiseshell essay (this time!).
Afterward we'll touch on what isn't allowed for coat color and pattern.
When creating a Warriors character, you must bear in mind that these are feral cats living in the wild, having had many generations of litters.
Unusual coat colors unique to certain purebreds are very rare in these wild cat colonies, as the cats in the clans are results of random pairings rather than the careful planned breedings of "kittypets".
Color: The Basics
The ancestor of domestic cats is the african wild cat, which has a brown tabby coat (known as "agouti") that allows it to blend into the background of its environment. As a result, brown tabby is the most common and basic of coat variations in the domestic cat.
Patterns:[/u]
Tabby
Tabbies are known for their stripes, which form a unique patterning to their coat.
Brown tabby is the most common and natural of colors; many times the term "tabby" just means a basic brown tabby.
Tabby is the most common of all patterning in cats, especially the brown tabbies. Because tabby is the original cat color, some solid colored cats will have very faint tabby markings despite not being tabby.
All tabbies, whether they be brown, orange, or gray, have thin pencil lines on the face, expressive markings around the eyes, and a tabby "M" on the forehead. If you look up close at the light parts of a brown tabby's coat, you will see that the individual hairs are striped with alternating light and dark bands, like the fur of a rabbit or a squirrel. This banding is called "agouti." Tabby is thought to be the "wild type" (the original color) of domesticated cats.
There are four different tabby patterns:
* A "mackerel tabby" has narrow stripes that run in parallel down its sides. This is what some people refer to as a "tiger."
--------------------------
* A "classic tabby" cat has bold, swirling patterns on its sides like marble cake. This color is called "blotched tabby" in the UK.
-----------------------
* A "spotted tabby" has spots all over its sides. Sometimes these are large spots, sometimes small spots, and sometimes they appear to be broken mackerel stripes. They are not as defined or distinct as in pedigree cats, and different than a Bengal or Egyptian Mau's rosette markings.
----------------------------
* A "ticked tabby" (sometimes called "Abyssinian tabby" or "agouti tabby") does not have stripes or spots on its body. However, like all tabbies, it has tabby markings on the face and agouti hairs on the body. This is the color of the Abyssinian cat, but it also appears in non-purebreds and does not mean the cat is Abyssinian. In non-pedigree cats, the markings are not as pronounced and often have tabby patterning on the extremities.
----------------------
Tabbies come in many different colors. You can tell what color a tabby is by looking at the color of its stripes and its tail tip. The color of the agouti hairs (the "ground color") may vary tremendously from cat to cat, some cats may have a washed out gray ground color and others will have rich orange tones.
----------------
* A "brown tabby" has black stripes on a brownish or grayish ground color that vary in hue. The black stripes may be coal black, or a little bit brownish.
In the Warriors series, when a character is mentioned as "brown", they are a brown tabby. Solid chocolate/liver, which is seen in dogs such as Labradors, is a recessive color, and is restricted to purebred cats from specific breeding programs.
-------------
* A "gray tabby" or "blue tabby" has gray stripes on a grayish or buff ground color. The gray stripes may be a dark slate gray, or a lighter blue-gray.
--------------------------
* A "red tabby" has orange stripes on an orange or cream ground color. The orange stripes may be dark reddish orange, or light "marmalade" orange. Also referred to as "orange" or "ginger".
-------------------------
* A "cream tabby" has cream stripes on a pale cream ground color. These stripes look sand-colored or peach-colored rather than orange. Basically, a very light red tabby and is often referred to as a "pale" ginger or red tabby.
--------------------------
* A "silver tabby" is a pale gray with darker markings. A non-pedigree silver tabby will not have the defined black markings that a pedigree silver tabby does.
-------------------------
Solids and Smokes
A cat that is the same color throughout, is referred to as a "solid" or a "self". Solids will sometimes have some areas of white markings.
* A "solid black" is just that: black all over. It may be coal black, grayish black, or brownish black. Black cats can "rust" in the sunlight, the coat turning a lighter brownish shade.
.............
* A "solid gray" cat is also self explanatory. A cat that is solid gray, either a light gray, or a dark gray. It may be a dark slate gray, a medium gray, or a pale ash gray. Sometimes referred to as "blue". Blue/gray is a common color in cats and does not mean that the cat is part Russian Blue, Korat, or Chartreux.
--------------------------------------------------
* A "solid white" is white all over. Sometimes white cats have blue eyes, sometimes they have green or gold eyes, and sometimes one eye is blue and one eye is green or gold.
This last color combination is sometimes called "odd-eyed white."
White cats with blue eyes are often deaf, and an odd-eyed white is often deaf on the side of their one blue eye. It is common for a white cat to have faint colored markings.
-----
Most solid colored cats are the result of a recessive gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not totally suppressed, so you might see indistinct "shadow" tabby markings in certain lights even on a solid black cat. If you look at a black leopard in a zoo, you might also see these shadow markings, because the black leopard has a similar spot-suppressing gene.
The tabby-suppressing gene is not effective on red or cream cats, so you won't see red or cream cats without tabby markings.
(Even Firestar, who is mostly orange, is described as having some tabby markings.)
Solid white cats are the result of a different gene that suppresses color completely. Young white cats often have vague smudges of color on the top of the head where the color is not completely suppressed. Sometimes this persists even in an older white cat.
Smoke:
If your cat is pretty much solid black or gray, but the roots of the hairs are distinctly white, it is a "smoke." (It's normal for the roots on a solid cat to be grayish; true smokes, on the other hand, have definite white roots.) Smokes are the solid version of silver tabbies. These cats are very dramatic because when they move, the hair parts and the white undercoat can be seen.
* A "black smoke" is a solid black cat with white roots.
* A "blue smoke" is a solid blue (gray) cat with white roots.
Smoke cats are uncommon in non-pedigrees , and are generally seen in purebred cats.
----------------------------
White Spotting and patched markings
The gene for white spotting, denoted by the gene symbol "S", can also create the impression of a self white cat. This gene is semi-dominant and is variable in the way it is expressed - a cat may have no visible white spots or may be wholly white and all stages in between those two extremes. Unlike dominant white, white spotting is not linked to deafness.
Some white cats are due to the very variable expression of the gene for white spotting. The diagram above shows a typical progression from solid colour through to solid white caused by this gene. The number by each diagram is the "Grade" of spotting from Grade 0 (no white spotting) through to Grade 10 where white spotting has obscured all of the base colour. Grade 10 white spotted cats resemble solid white cats, but are rarely deaf. Again, small spots of colour may be discernible on cats that appear solid white due to the white spotting gene.
Cats with white markings
Clearly delineated white markings (as opposed to shaded points, like the Siamese) can appear on any color. Just add "and white" to the cat's basic color to describe the cat. So for example your cat might be a "black and white" or a "cream tabby and white."
Cats with white markings might have larger or smaller areas of white. If you want to describe your cat's color more precisely, there are different names for the different amounts of white:
* A "mitted" cat just has white paws.
* A cat with a white spot on its chest has a "locket."
* A cat with one or more little white belly spots has "buttons."
* A "bi-color" is about half white.
* A "harlequin" is mostly white with several large patches of color.
* A "van" is almost all white with color patches only on the head and tail.
There are a couple of affectionate, informal terms used for black and white cats:
* A "tuxedo cat" is a black and white cat with white paws, chest, and belly. It might have some white on the face as well.
* Some people call black and white cats "jellicle cats" (after T.S.Eliot)
Torties, torbies, and calicos
(See the Tortoiseshell/Calicos page to learn more about these type of cats! Tortoiseshell/Calicos are to female only!)
Pointed ("Siamese") pattern
If your cat has dark "points" (face, paws, and tail) shading to a much lighter color on the body, it is a "pointed" cat. This is the pattern of the Siamese cat, but many other breeds as well as non-purebreds also come in this pattern, so it does not mean that the cat is a Siamese!
This pattern is also sometimes called the "colorpoint" pattern (not to be confused with the Colorpoint Shorthair breed) or the "himalayan" pattern (not to be confused with the Himalayan breed).
Pointed cats are born white and gradually darken with age. A young pointed cat will have a much lighter body color than an older pointed cat.
Pointed cats always have blue eyes that can vary in shade.
Pointed cats can come in many different colors:
* A "seal point" has dark brown points and a body color anywhere between light brown and ivory.
* A "blue point" has gray points and a light gray or beige body.
* A "lynx point" has tabby points! It might have any of the colors described in the tabby section. For example, you could have a "blue lynx point" or "red lynx point." The body color may show some shadow tabby markings, especially as the cat gets older.
* A "tortie point" has tortoiseshell points, and a "blue-cream point" has blue-cream points. Patched tabby points are also possible.
*A "flame point" has ginger/red points.
You can even have a pointed cat with white markings. If the cat has a lot of white, however, it can be hard to see the pointed pattern (especially on the feet). White markings will cover up any other color where they appear.
Colors Not Seen In Non-Pedigree Cats:
Now that you know the basics of coat colors, we'll discuss some commonly seen coat patterns that would not be permitted for Warriors characters.
NONE of the colors discussed below this are appropriate for a character.
Unusual Coat Colors (Fire-engine red, green, purple, pink, etc.)
This pretty much is a given. Real cats don't come in Crayola colors, and Warriors cats certainly don't either.
Male Calicos/Tortoiseshells, or a male cat with both black and ginger/red
This is explained in detail on the Tortoiseshell/Calicos page.
Uncommon Solids
While solid chocolate, fawn, lilac, etcetera, exist in cats, they were developed to certain purebreds after generations upon generations of selective breeding.
As noted above, when a cat is mentioned as being "brown" in the warriors series, they are brown tabbies, not solid chocolate or liver brown.
Unless there's a rare instance of an escaped kittypet, none of these colors are acceptable in wild-bred cats.
Lilac:
Chocolate
Tattoos/Tribal Markings/Jewelry/Accessories/etc.
These are cats born and raised in the wild, away from people. They aren't going to have "twoleg-accessories", and a kittypet would have a cat collar and nothing more.
Distinct/Special "Markings" and Unusual Color Combinations
There have also been instances of people making unusual-looking coat patterns that were not mentioned in the Acceptable Colors list at the beginning of this page. These are so varied that it's impossible to get into specifics, but one must use their common sense when creating their character.
It is unnatural, for example, for a solid orange cat to have a perfect patch of brown or black in one particular spot on its back, or a solid gray cat to have a patch or patches of black on them (unless they are a smoke, but smokes have a distinct patterning.)
It is also unnatural for a non-pedigree cat to have the distinct rosette markings of the Bengal, the defined patterning of a silver-tabby British Shorthair, the distinct agouti patterning of the Abyssinian, etcetera.
Searching for "feral cat" on an image gallery such as Flickr will insure that the reference photo you use is of a non-pedigree.
Also, you can have a white cat with black patches, but not a black cat with white patches.
Tricolor Cats
Tricolor patterning, which is very common in certain dog breeds, does not exist in cats, even in tortoiseshells.
What does a tricolor dog look like?:
Tricolors have distinct tan markings above the eyes, on the cheeks and face, and on the legs. Tricolors may exist as mostly black as seen in the collie above, and also in red merle, blue merle, and solid red.
In tortoiseshell cats, the patterning does not exist in such a distinct manner as it does in tricolor dogs, because the wild cats are a product of random breeding whereas dogs are crossbred to create distinctive breeds.
Other Patterning Seen in Dogs
Patterning seen in dogs that is not permitted in cats are as follows:
Black/Tan:
i.e., the coloring of a Rottweiler, Doberman, or similar breeds.
Merle:
As seen in Australian Shepherds, Collies, Corgis, and other breeds.
Roan
Roan is a coat pattern in which the base color (often red or black) is mixed with white hairs and looks lightened or mottled.
Brindle:
Not to be confused with tabby.
There are various other dog-specific colors (dapple, sable, bronze, sedge, belton, deadgrass, wheaten, mahogany, liver, chocolate, slate blue, blue-black, chestnut, and so on) that are not permitted in cats, but there's too many to post picture examples here.
Colors: Creating Your Character's Appearance
As important as creating a name for your character, is figuring out what your character will look like. In cats, there are very distinct colors and pattern types, and they are very much different from dogs in terms of what colors a cat can be.
First, I will outline what coat colors can exist in the cat, and will spare you the genetics talk from the tortoiseshell essay (this time!).
Afterward we'll touch on what isn't allowed for coat color and pattern.
When creating a Warriors character, you must bear in mind that these are feral cats living in the wild, having had many generations of litters.
Unusual coat colors unique to certain purebreds are very rare in these wild cat colonies, as the cats in the clans are results of random pairings rather than the careful planned breedings of "kittypets".
Color: The Basics
The ancestor of domestic cats is the african wild cat, which has a brown tabby coat (known as "agouti") that allows it to blend into the background of its environment. As a result, brown tabby is the most common and basic of coat variations in the domestic cat.
Patterns:[/u]
Tabby
Tabbies are known for their stripes, which form a unique patterning to their coat.
Brown tabby is the most common and natural of colors; many times the term "tabby" just means a basic brown tabby.
Tabby is the most common of all patterning in cats, especially the brown tabbies. Because tabby is the original cat color, some solid colored cats will have very faint tabby markings despite not being tabby.
All tabbies, whether they be brown, orange, or gray, have thin pencil lines on the face, expressive markings around the eyes, and a tabby "M" on the forehead. If you look up close at the light parts of a brown tabby's coat, you will see that the individual hairs are striped with alternating light and dark bands, like the fur of a rabbit or a squirrel. This banding is called "agouti." Tabby is thought to be the "wild type" (the original color) of domesticated cats.
There are four different tabby patterns:
* A "mackerel tabby" has narrow stripes that run in parallel down its sides. This is what some people refer to as a "tiger."
--------------------------
* A "classic tabby" cat has bold, swirling patterns on its sides like marble cake. This color is called "blotched tabby" in the UK.
-----------------------
* A "spotted tabby" has spots all over its sides. Sometimes these are large spots, sometimes small spots, and sometimes they appear to be broken mackerel stripes. They are not as defined or distinct as in pedigree cats, and different than a Bengal or Egyptian Mau's rosette markings.
----------------------------
* A "ticked tabby" (sometimes called "Abyssinian tabby" or "agouti tabby") does not have stripes or spots on its body. However, like all tabbies, it has tabby markings on the face and agouti hairs on the body. This is the color of the Abyssinian cat, but it also appears in non-purebreds and does not mean the cat is Abyssinian. In non-pedigree cats, the markings are not as pronounced and often have tabby patterning on the extremities.
----------------------
Tabbies come in many different colors. You can tell what color a tabby is by looking at the color of its stripes and its tail tip. The color of the agouti hairs (the "ground color") may vary tremendously from cat to cat, some cats may have a washed out gray ground color and others will have rich orange tones.
----------------
* A "brown tabby" has black stripes on a brownish or grayish ground color that vary in hue. The black stripes may be coal black, or a little bit brownish.
In the Warriors series, when a character is mentioned as "brown", they are a brown tabby. Solid chocolate/liver, which is seen in dogs such as Labradors, is a recessive color, and is restricted to purebred cats from specific breeding programs.
-------------
* A "gray tabby" or "blue tabby" has gray stripes on a grayish or buff ground color. The gray stripes may be a dark slate gray, or a lighter blue-gray.
--------------------------
* A "red tabby" has orange stripes on an orange or cream ground color. The orange stripes may be dark reddish orange, or light "marmalade" orange. Also referred to as "orange" or "ginger".
-------------------------
* A "cream tabby" has cream stripes on a pale cream ground color. These stripes look sand-colored or peach-colored rather than orange. Basically, a very light red tabby and is often referred to as a "pale" ginger or red tabby.
--------------------------
* A "silver tabby" is a pale gray with darker markings. A non-pedigree silver tabby will not have the defined black markings that a pedigree silver tabby does.
-------------------------
Solids and Smokes
A cat that is the same color throughout, is referred to as a "solid" or a "self". Solids will sometimes have some areas of white markings.
* A "solid black" is just that: black all over. It may be coal black, grayish black, or brownish black. Black cats can "rust" in the sunlight, the coat turning a lighter brownish shade.
.............
* A "solid gray" cat is also self explanatory. A cat that is solid gray, either a light gray, or a dark gray. It may be a dark slate gray, a medium gray, or a pale ash gray. Sometimes referred to as "blue". Blue/gray is a common color in cats and does not mean that the cat is part Russian Blue, Korat, or Chartreux.
--------------------------------------------------
* A "solid white" is white all over. Sometimes white cats have blue eyes, sometimes they have green or gold eyes, and sometimes one eye is blue and one eye is green or gold.
This last color combination is sometimes called "odd-eyed white."
White cats with blue eyes are often deaf, and an odd-eyed white is often deaf on the side of their one blue eye. It is common for a white cat to have faint colored markings.
-----
Most solid colored cats are the result of a recessive gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not totally suppressed, so you might see indistinct "shadow" tabby markings in certain lights even on a solid black cat. If you look at a black leopard in a zoo, you might also see these shadow markings, because the black leopard has a similar spot-suppressing gene.
The tabby-suppressing gene is not effective on red or cream cats, so you won't see red or cream cats without tabby markings.
(Even Firestar, who is mostly orange, is described as having some tabby markings.)
Solid white cats are the result of a different gene that suppresses color completely. Young white cats often have vague smudges of color on the top of the head where the color is not completely suppressed. Sometimes this persists even in an older white cat.
Smoke:
If your cat is pretty much solid black or gray, but the roots of the hairs are distinctly white, it is a "smoke." (It's normal for the roots on a solid cat to be grayish; true smokes, on the other hand, have definite white roots.) Smokes are the solid version of silver tabbies. These cats are very dramatic because when they move, the hair parts and the white undercoat can be seen.
* A "black smoke" is a solid black cat with white roots.
* A "blue smoke" is a solid blue (gray) cat with white roots.
Smoke cats are uncommon in non-pedigrees , and are generally seen in purebred cats.
----------------------------
White Spotting and patched markings
The gene for white spotting, denoted by the gene symbol "S", can also create the impression of a self white cat. This gene is semi-dominant and is variable in the way it is expressed - a cat may have no visible white spots or may be wholly white and all stages in between those two extremes. Unlike dominant white, white spotting is not linked to deafness.
Some white cats are due to the very variable expression of the gene for white spotting. The diagram above shows a typical progression from solid colour through to solid white caused by this gene. The number by each diagram is the "Grade" of spotting from Grade 0 (no white spotting) through to Grade 10 where white spotting has obscured all of the base colour. Grade 10 white spotted cats resemble solid white cats, but are rarely deaf. Again, small spots of colour may be discernible on cats that appear solid white due to the white spotting gene.
Cats with white markings
Clearly delineated white markings (as opposed to shaded points, like the Siamese) can appear on any color. Just add "and white" to the cat's basic color to describe the cat. So for example your cat might be a "black and white" or a "cream tabby and white."
Cats with white markings might have larger or smaller areas of white. If you want to describe your cat's color more precisely, there are different names for the different amounts of white:
* A "mitted" cat just has white paws.
* A cat with a white spot on its chest has a "locket."
* A cat with one or more little white belly spots has "buttons."
* A "bi-color" is about half white.
* A "harlequin" is mostly white with several large patches of color.
* A "van" is almost all white with color patches only on the head and tail.
There are a couple of affectionate, informal terms used for black and white cats:
* A "tuxedo cat" is a black and white cat with white paws, chest, and belly. It might have some white on the face as well.
* Some people call black and white cats "jellicle cats" (after T.S.Eliot)
Torties, torbies, and calicos
(See the Tortoiseshell/Calicos page to learn more about these type of cats! Tortoiseshell/Calicos are to female only!)
Pointed ("Siamese") pattern
If your cat has dark "points" (face, paws, and tail) shading to a much lighter color on the body, it is a "pointed" cat. This is the pattern of the Siamese cat, but many other breeds as well as non-purebreds also come in this pattern, so it does not mean that the cat is a Siamese!
This pattern is also sometimes called the "colorpoint" pattern (not to be confused with the Colorpoint Shorthair breed) or the "himalayan" pattern (not to be confused with the Himalayan breed).
Pointed cats are born white and gradually darken with age. A young pointed cat will have a much lighter body color than an older pointed cat.
Pointed cats always have blue eyes that can vary in shade.
Pointed cats can come in many different colors:
* A "seal point" has dark brown points and a body color anywhere between light brown and ivory.
* A "blue point" has gray points and a light gray or beige body.
* A "lynx point" has tabby points! It might have any of the colors described in the tabby section. For example, you could have a "blue lynx point" or "red lynx point." The body color may show some shadow tabby markings, especially as the cat gets older.
* A "tortie point" has tortoiseshell points, and a "blue-cream point" has blue-cream points. Patched tabby points are also possible.
*A "flame point" has ginger/red points.
You can even have a pointed cat with white markings. If the cat has a lot of white, however, it can be hard to see the pointed pattern (especially on the feet). White markings will cover up any other color where they appear.
Colors Not Seen In Non-Pedigree Cats:
Now that you know the basics of coat colors, we'll discuss some commonly seen coat patterns that would not be permitted for Warriors characters.
NONE of the colors discussed below this are appropriate for a character.
Unusual Coat Colors (Fire-engine red, green, purple, pink, etc.)
This pretty much is a given. Real cats don't come in Crayola colors, and Warriors cats certainly don't either.
Male Calicos/Tortoiseshells, or a male cat with both black and ginger/red
This is explained in detail on the Tortoiseshell/Calicos page.
Uncommon Solids
While solid chocolate, fawn, lilac, etcetera, exist in cats, they were developed to certain purebreds after generations upon generations of selective breeding.
As noted above, when a cat is mentioned as being "brown" in the warriors series, they are brown tabbies, not solid chocolate or liver brown.
Unless there's a rare instance of an escaped kittypet, none of these colors are acceptable in wild-bred cats.
Lilac:
Chocolate
Tattoos/Tribal Markings/Jewelry/Accessories/etc.
These are cats born and raised in the wild, away from people. They aren't going to have "twoleg-accessories", and a kittypet would have a cat collar and nothing more.
Distinct/Special "Markings" and Unusual Color Combinations
There have also been instances of people making unusual-looking coat patterns that were not mentioned in the Acceptable Colors list at the beginning of this page. These are so varied that it's impossible to get into specifics, but one must use their common sense when creating their character.
It is unnatural, for example, for a solid orange cat to have a perfect patch of brown or black in one particular spot on its back, or a solid gray cat to have a patch or patches of black on them (unless they are a smoke, but smokes have a distinct patterning.)
It is also unnatural for a non-pedigree cat to have the distinct rosette markings of the Bengal, the defined patterning of a silver-tabby British Shorthair, the distinct agouti patterning of the Abyssinian, etcetera.
Searching for "feral cat" on an image gallery such as Flickr will insure that the reference photo you use is of a non-pedigree.
Also, you can have a white cat with black patches, but not a black cat with white patches.
Tricolor Cats
Tricolor patterning, which is very common in certain dog breeds, does not exist in cats, even in tortoiseshells.
What does a tricolor dog look like?:
Tricolors have distinct tan markings above the eyes, on the cheeks and face, and on the legs. Tricolors may exist as mostly black as seen in the collie above, and also in red merle, blue merle, and solid red.
In tortoiseshell cats, the patterning does not exist in such a distinct manner as it does in tricolor dogs, because the wild cats are a product of random breeding whereas dogs are crossbred to create distinctive breeds.
Other Patterning Seen in Dogs
Patterning seen in dogs that is not permitted in cats are as follows:
Black/Tan:
i.e., the coloring of a Rottweiler, Doberman, or similar breeds.
Merle:
As seen in Australian Shepherds, Collies, Corgis, and other breeds.
Roan
Roan is a coat pattern in which the base color (often red or black) is mixed with white hairs and looks lightened or mottled.
Brindle:
Not to be confused with tabby.
There are various other dog-specific colors (dapple, sable, bronze, sedge, belton, deadgrass, wheaten, mahogany, liver, chocolate, slate blue, blue-black, chestnut, and so on) that are not permitted in cats, but there's too many to post picture examples here.