Tuxedo Cat

A bicolor cat (also tuxedo 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 a bicolor cat. The coat patterns range from the Van-patterned, which has color on the tail and crown of the head, to a solid color with a throat locket or medallion. Bicolor coats are found in many cat breeds and are in domestic longhair and domestic shorthair cats.

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

Solid-color bicolor cats occur because there is a white spotting gene present with a recessive allele of the agouti gene. The agouti gene evens out the striped pattern within coat colors. 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

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 cats are bicolor cats, they are mostly white (generally more than 75% white). They have color around their ears and tail, separated by white coloring. They may have small (roughly coin sized) colored spots on and around their spine. 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

This pattern type has high-grade white spotting. The coat pattern ranges from seven to nine on the Bicolor grade chart.

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," "magpie" or "panda cat" and includes the "cap-and-saddle" and "mask-and-mantle" patterns. The harlequin patterned coat is predominantly white (generally 50%-75% white) combined with colored markings on the cat’s body, including its head and tail. The coat does not have the solid colored "jacket" like the tuxedo coat. Harlequin patterns have multiple, conjoined, or larger spots on the body and/or an extended head spot that reaches the face. Harlequin coats have large colored patches over a white body, with a colored mask over the head. Harlequin cats can be called "Black-mask cats" because they look like they are wearing a black mask over their heads.

True bicolor pattern

The cat labeled "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 separated from each other, even in color and harmoniously distributed." They also state "at least should be colored, but not more than ; the rest is white." The World Cat Federation (WFC) allows an amount of color between up to for bicolor patterned cats. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) says that "cats with no more than a locket and/or button atch on chestdo not qualify for this color class."

Tuxedo pattern

A tuxedo cat, 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 the black tie formal wear of the same name; however, the origins of the term "tuxedo cat" are murky at best, with linguist Cecily Raysor Hancock having been only able to track the term back to the early 1980s in America.

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. Tuxedo cats can appear to have goatees due to the black coloration of their mandible, lower jaw, and chin. White muzzles or a white coloring 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.

In most cat registries, the tuxedo pattern is not an official term used to categorise white spotting patterns in show cats. 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 enthusiasts.

Genetics of coat patterns

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.

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 have 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.

Possible bicolor colorations

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. 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.

Skin coloration

Bicolor may also appear in the skin color. This feature may be seen in bicolored hairless cats. Paw pad coloration may be black, pink, or a mixture of both. Paw pad coloration may match the pattern of a cat's coat that is nearby the paw. If the color boundary crosses the underside of the paw, the pads on either side may be different colors or even bicolored.

In popular culture

'' Jellicle cat'' is a tuxedo 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 the musical ''Cats'', the character Mr. Mistoffelees is a tuxedo cat. Mr. Mistoffelees is a stage magician wearing a lacy ruff and bow tie. The character Bustopher Jones 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 cartoon bicolor cats include Sylvester the Cat, Felix the Cat, Tom Cat from ''Tom and Jerry'', Oggy from '' Oggy and the Cockroaches'', Blackie the Cat from '' The Cat that Hated People'', '' Ventriloquist Cat'', Krazy Kat,''The Purrington Post'', 1 February 2018
A Tribute to Tuxies and their 'Tuxitude', Famous Tuxies
/ref> Jess from ''Postman Pat'', Kitty Softpaws from the ''Shrek'' spin-off ''Puss in Boots'' and its sequel, Disney's Figaro, the Cat in the Hat from the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Beans from Looney Tunes, Penelope Pussycat, Sebastian the cat from ''Josie and the Pussycats'', and Chao from Osamu Tezuka's Unico series. 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 the giant Kat Kong in the children's book of the same name. Bo, a character from the TV series '' Abby Hatcher'', is a "Fuzzly" who resembles a tuxedo cat. Tuxedos are 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. 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. Shade, one of the Cat Pack members and a character from ''Paw Patrol'', is a tuxedo Turkish Van.

Notable bicolor cats

*Félicette, the first cat in space
* Palmerston, a black-and-white bicolor who was Chief Mouser of the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, London, 2016–2020*
* Socks Clinton (1989–2009), the pet cat of the family of former US President Bill Clinton

References

External links

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Cat coat types