Black Cat Or Tabby In Disguise?

[MeganLLB]

So I read that the color Black is a dominant allele and Tabby is a dominant pattern, so sometimes you can have the dominant Black but not a totally recessive Tabby.

I think Luna is like this maybe. Sometimes in the right light you can see brownish stripes, but otherwise she looks totally black. So is she a Tabby in disguise?

I also read that black cats are related to Siamese cats. Is that true? I forget how the story went, but somehow the color black was related to Siamese. Any truth to that?

 

[IndyJones]

Black cats often get rusting as a result of their sunbathing. Maybe that's what you are looking at.

 

[MeganLLB]

This is just a stock photo, but its more like this. Like stripes.

 

[haleyds]

Looks like tabby markings to me, not extremely likely for perfect stripes to form from sunbathing but who knows, maybe she lays under a stencil

 

[haleyds]

And on the Siamese thing, technically all cats are related to the Siamese because they are one of the oldest known breeds of cats dating back to ancient Egypt and they became different breeds over time being shipped from place to place through trade. So yes, black in a sense is related to pointed coloration but not directly.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I believe that's called ghost striping, when the faint tabby markings show through in certain lighting. (Luna is beautiful, by the way! Sorry, I didn't realize that was a stock photo!)

Many black kittens have this "shadow" tabby, or ghost striping, visible, but they seem to grow out of it. With my kitty Milly, a tuxedo, she had this ghost striping most apparent when she was 1-6 months old.

 

[MeganLLB]

I can't ever get a good picture of Luna when she looks that way, because it has to be the right kind of light hitting her in just the right way. When she was a kitten my family thought she was a different color, but I argued that she was black. Then she grew older and it was more this stripe thing, but you can't always see it.

 

[GemsGem]

View attachment 186406
This is just a stock photo, but its more like this. Like stripes.

What a beautiful kitty
These strips are called " ghost tabby markings" and are quite common with solid colored cats. They are only normally seen in bright sunlight. Especially in kittens, sometimes they fade with age, sometimes they don't.

 

[MeganLLB]

PushPurrCatPaws You may be right, I think she could be growing out of it.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I can't ever get a good picture of Luna when she looks that way, because it has to be the right kind of light hitting her in just the right way. ...

Yea, I know what you mean. I don't have good pictures of Milly when the striping was showing, but I do have some videos when it was most visible -- which happened to be from one of our early visitation days with her at the rescue, before we finalized the adoption.

 

[kkoleckar]

So I read that the color Black is a dominant allele and Tabby is a dominant pattern, so sometimes you can have the dominant Black but not a totally recessive Tabby.

I think Luna is like this maybe. Sometimes in the right light you can see brownish stripes, but otherwise she looks totally black. So is she a Tabby in disguise?

I also read that black cats are related to Siamese cats. Is that true? I forget how the story went, but somehow the color black was related to Siamese. Any truth to that?

in order to get a black and white cat there needs to be a pointed colored cat in the blood line which is why most people associate siamese, due to their color pointed coats

 

[DreamerRose]

The color black in cats is due to melanism, the opposite of albinism. While an albino has no color in its fur, a melano has too much. Many other animals are melanistic, too. Black Cat Appreciation Day: Do You Know Your Melanistic Cats? – National Geographic Blog

Mingo's stripes always show up in intense sunlight.

 

[Ittyprettyblacksmokekitty]

So I read that the color Black is a dominant allele and Tabby is a dominant pattern, so sometimes you can have the dominant Black but not a totally recessive Tabby.

I think Luna is like this maybe. Sometimes in the right light you can see brownish stripes, but otherwise she looks totally black. So is she a Tabby in disguise?

I also read that black cats are related to Siamese cats. Is that true? I forget how the story went, but somehow the color black was related to Siamese. Any truth to that?

It's called a black or smoke Egyptian
Maus

 

[8kitties]

My black kitty Ember has stripes when the sun shines on her, too.

 

[Fayeaimee123]

Sorry to jump on the post 2 years later, but I’m thinking the exact same thing, plus my cat is called Luna too!!

 

[lutece]

It is perfectly normal for solid cats of any color to have "ghost tabby markings" as kittens, and to have faint tabby markings visible in bright light. This is just part of being a solid colored cat, and doesn't mean that a cat has an unusual genetic background or any specific breed ancestry.

 

[badolinsky]

We had Phoenix for a few weeks before we noticed that she had ghost stripes. She otherwise appears a very deep black and looks and acts very much like a typical Bombay. She's fully grown now, although just under 6 lbs at 3 years and still has her stripes in just the right sunlight.

.

 

[jen]

We had Phoenix for a few weeks before we noticed that she had ghost stripes. She otherwise appears a very deep black and looks and acts very much like a typical Bombay. She's fully grown now, although just under 6 lbs at 3 years and still has her stripes in just the right sunlight.

She is cute. She really doesn't look like a Bombay but she is adorable. I love when black cats get the "glow" in the sunlight.

 

[badolinsky]

She is cute. She really doesn't look like a Bombay but she is adorable. I love when black cats get the "glow" in the sunlight.

 

[badolinsky]

Phoenix being a heat weasel.