Cream Vs. Fawn Vs. Buff

catmomma627

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I've heard people refer to cats by these 3 colors. Are they all the same, and used interchangeably, or is there an actual difference?
 

abyeb

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Cream is the dilute of red. Cream can also be called "buff" but cream is the official cat fancy term. There is a difference between cream and fawn, however. In the cat fancy, the color name fawn is reserved for Abyssinians. This is because, in Abys, fawn is the dilute of red. This might sound like it should be the same as cream (as the dilute red), but it isn't, because in Abys, what CFA calls "red" is actually the cinnamon gene, because it's not a sex-linked red. So, when cream is the dilute of red, fawn is the dilute of cinnamon.
 

1CatOverTheLine

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In the cat fancy, the color name fawn is reserved for Abyssinians. This is because, in Abys, fawn is the dilute of red. This might sound like it should be the same as cream (as the dilute red), but it isn't, because in Abys, what CFA calls "red" is actually the cinnamon gene, because it's not a sex-linked red. So, when cream is the dilute of red, fawn is the dilute of cinnamon.
catmomma627 catmomma627 - abyeb abyeb certainly intended to add that both Cinnamon and its dilute - Fawn - are recognised by the CFA for showing Colorpoint Shorthairs, and that the The United Kingdom Governing Council of the Cat Fancy includes Cinnamon, Fawn and Caramel for the Siamese breed as well.
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Catgrammi

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I have a question along this same line too! Is our tabby a cream or ?? Meet Hobbs! In all my years of having cats & kittens I have NEVER had a cat this sweet. He is 10 weeks old and is a absolute love bug, looooves ti cuddle, in fact his favorite place to sleep is under my chin on my chest 44E9C0DD-A4A2-4872-8FAF-D04C6F677900.jpeg FA6D551E-1AEE-4298-96AD-5884A6199C81.jpeg
 

Maurey

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I have a question along this same line too! Is our tabby a cream or ?? Meet Hobbs! In all my years of having cats & kittens I have NEVER had a cat this sweet. He is 10 weeks old and is a absolute love bug, looooves ti cuddle, in fact his favorite place to sleep is under my chin on my chestView attachment 421790View attachment 421791
Cream, most likely solid, not true tabby :) his mask doesn’t look high contrast enough for it. Here’s my cream solid girl as a teenager.

AD10D7BA-9C6D-4FDF-B029-51CEAA126E54.jpeg
And more recently, after her striping started to fade

D5810234-DEF2-4C4B-ACBD-DF9299476884.jpeg 27FFD7F6-4937-4696-AF2F-47D691E33394.jpeg
 
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furmonster mom

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Y’know, I had to make a color choice when we got Kitsune chipped. The vet had filled her info as “beige”. But that didn’t seem right to me, so I changed it to cream and grey.

Now, to be fair, her back has darkened a bit to a beige-ish brown, but first predominant impression is the cream, imo. 1D87253F-92AE-4CC1-A74D-DD107146245E.jpeg
 

Peaches&Mango

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I’m glad this post came up! I have been pondering on the subject, as I knew cream and buff were the same but always wondered what the difference was for fawn!
This is our girl Rhubarb, who is cream and white
8E94527F-074B-424F-94FA-5C8024D53A31.jpeg
3CBF9779-2CE6-4310-A4FE-7366D3EF3D5D.jpeg
 

CuriousKittens

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Y’know, I had to make a color choice when we got Kitsune chipped. The vet had filled her info as “beige”. But that didn’t seem right to me, so I changed it to cream and grey.

Now, to be fair, her back has darkened a bit to a beige-ish brown, but first predominant impression is the cream, imo. View attachment 431519
That's not actually cream. She's a blue lynx point cat (I think. Maybe seal but hard to tell sometimes from photos). No red colouring.
 

furmonster mom

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That's not actually cream. She's a blue lynx point cat (I think. Maybe seal but hard to tell sometimes from photos). No red colouring.
Thanks for clarifying. At the time that I had to pick, I was just going by layman’s impression.
I think I might be able to go back to the registry and change it. 🤔
 

Meowmee

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Y’know, I had to make a color choice when we got Kitsune chipped. The vet had filled her info as “beige”. But that didn’t seem right to me, so I changed it to cream and grey.

Now, to be fair, her back has darkened a bit to a beige-ish brown, but first predominant impression is the cream, imo. View attachment 431519
She looks like a lynx point, maybe seal, a beauty😻
 
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