How rare is black smoke coat?

Sharra

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I had a kitten that was black with a few white hairs throughout his coat. He was black most of the time. But once a year he had a beautiful silver coat covering his body. Here is a picture of him during his smoke coat time. The rest of the time he was black.
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lutece

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Lovely! From what I can see, I think your cat was probably a solid black cat, not a smoke. It's normal for the longest parts of the coat to appear grayish or brownish when a longhaired cat is in full coat. Look up pictures of top winning black Persian cats and you'll see what I mean.
 

Sharra

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Lovely! From what I can see, I think your cat was probably a solid black cat, not a smoke. It's normal for the longest parts of the coat to appear grayish or brownish when a longhaired cat is in full coat. Look up pictures of top winning black Persian cats and you'll see what I mean.
He was only a different color on his body for a couple months of every year. Otherwise he was all black. Never understood how or why. Not a black with under coat of silver or gray, but black fur down to his skin.
 

Moka

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These 2 photos are of the same cat
Wow, that is a big difference! What a beautiful cat! 🥰 I agree with lutece lutece in that your kitty was long haired and solid black, but not smoke. I have a long haired black cat as well and her coat changes colors throughout the year. As it gets colder and her coat gets fuller, she develops silver and red- brown colors. All cats can and do have coat changes through out their lives, but black cats seem to have the most stunning and obvious changes, in my personal experience. Black cats will often develop "rusting" (red- brown) as they age and supposedly also with sun exposure. As for the silver, I have noticed with Salem that it develops with her winter coat all over her body (Nowhere near as silver as you kitty though) and she sheds it off in the spring. But, the patch of silver on her belly stays year round. It was where she was shaved for her spay. Did you ever shave you kitty? I noticed in your second photo that the silver is everywhere except his head and legs, areas generally not shaved.
Here is a picture of my little one, Salem. Her coat is just starting to change for the season, so I expect more colors to appear in the coming weeks. But, you can already see the reds, browns and silver. This is only her second winter with an adult coat. So I am curious how things will change over the years.
Edit: I forgot to say, Welcome to the site! :hellosmiley:
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Sharra

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Wow, that is a big difference! What a beautiful cat! 🥰 I agree with lutece lutece in that your kitty was long haired and solid black, but not smoke. I have a long haired black cat as well and her coat changes colors throughout the year. As it gets colder and her coat gets fuller, she develops silver and red- brown colors. All cats can and do have coat changes through out their lives, but black cats seem to have the most stunning and obvious changes, in my personal experience. Black cats will often develop "rusting" (red- brown) as they age and supposedly also with sun exposure. As for the silver, I have noticed with Salem that it develops with her winter coat all over her body (Nowhere near as silver as you kitty though) and she sheds it off in the spring. But, the patch of silver on her belly stays year round. It was where she was shaved for her spay. Did you ever shave you kitty? I noticed in your second photo that the silver is everywhere except his head and legs, areas generally not shaved.
Here is a picture of my little one, Salem. Her coat is just starting to change for the season, so I expect more colors to appear in the coming weeks. But, you can already see the reds, browns and silver. This is only her second winter with an adult coat. So I am curious how things will change over the years.
Edit: I forgot to say, Welcome to the site! :hellosmiley:
View attachment 355339
Thanks for the welcome. I am not sure how long he stayed silver but I do know that he was never shaved. I did have a male torti that was shaved every summer. He actually looked a lot like your kitty. View attachment 355422
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View attachment 355422
Wow, that is a big difference! What a beautiful cat! 🥰 I agree with lutece lutece in that your kitty was long haired and solid black, but not smoke. I have a long haired black cat as well and her coat changes colors throughout the year. As it gets colder and her coat gets fuller, she develops silver and red- brown colors. All cats can and do have coat changes through out their lives, but black cats seem to have the most stunning and obvious changes, in my personal experience. Black cats will often develop "rusting" (red- brown) as they age and supposedly also with sun exposure. As for the silver, I have noticed with Salem that it develops with her winter coat all over her body (Nowhere near as silver as you kitty though) and she sheds it off in the spring. But, the patch of silver on her belly stays year round. It was where she was shaved for her spay. Did you ever shave you kitty? I noticed in your second photo that the silver is everywhere except his head and legs, areas generally not shaved.
Here is a picture of my little one, Salem. Her coat is just starting to change for the season, so I expect more colors to appear in the coming weeks. But, you can already see the reds, browns and silver. This is only her second winter with an adult coat. So I am curious how things will change over the years.
Edit: I forgot to say, Welcome to the site! :hellosmiley:
View attachment 355339
Your kitty reminds me of my male torti. I do not know how long Wolfgang stayed silver but I do know he was never shaved. My male torti was shaved every summer.
 

Moka

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Thanks for the welcome. I am not sure how long he stayed silver but I do know that he was never shaved. I did have a male torti that was shaved every summer. He actually looked a lot like your kitty. View attachment 355422View attachment 355423View attachment 355422

Your kitty reminds me of my male torti. I do not know how long Wolfgang stayed silver but I do know he was never shaved. My male torti was shaved every summer.
I don't think you other kitty is a male tortie. From the one picture you posted, he looks like another long haired, solid black cat. The reds, browns and tans are the rusting that I mentioned earlier. It happens a lot with black cats. Only a very tiny percentage of torties are male and from that percentage an even smaller number are true male torties. Most of the "male" torties that you see stories about are either hermaphrodites (Both male and Female parts) or pseudo hermaphrodites (Looks Male outside, but is female inside).True male torties are very rare and are often sterile because of the same genetic defects that caused them to be a tortie in the first place. A true male tortie that is fertile is like bigfoot. Sure, there are plenty of sightings, but they end up being a bear or something else mistaken for bigfoot. ;)
 

Sharra

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I don't think you other kitty is a male tortie. From the one picture you posted, he looks like another long haired, solid black cat. The reds, browns and tans are the rusting that I mentioned earlier. It happens a lot with black cats. Only a very tiny percentage of torties are male and from that percentage an even smaller number are true male torties. Most of the "male" torties that you see stories about are either hermaphrodites (Both male and Female parts) or pseudo hermaphrodites (Looks Male outside, but is female inside).True male torties are very rare and are often sterile because of the same genetic defects that caused them to be a tortie in the first place. A true male tortie that is fertile is like bigfoot. Sure, there are plenty of sightings, but they end up being a bear or something else mistaken for bigfoot. ;)
No my Razzmatazz was a male torti. He was checked every time he saw a new vet technician because they didn't believe me, or his chart. It was funny most of the time. He was a beautiful cat. These photos are all the same cat. I loved his chest markings the most.
 

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lutece

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That looks like a tortie to me!

Male torties are most likely to be either a chimera (basically, two fertilized eggs that got smooshed together and became one cat instead of two cats), or XXY. Although chimeras are rare, I've been told that they are more common than XXY males.

Chimera males can be fertile, but they don't pass on their chimera status to their offspring. Each sperm contains genetic material from just one of the "two cats" that make up the chimera male. So there is nothing valuable or special about a chimera male in terms of his reproductive potential, other than perhaps the ability to create a slightly more varied assortment of kitten colors.
 

Sharra

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I don't know if he was ever fertile or not. He was a rescue who was 3 or 4 yes old when we got him and already neutered. But he was a character. He passed away this year about a month after my eldest son. We miss them both terribly.
 

Dcbuck

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we got these twin babies as kittens and thought they might be melanistic half bengals,they make strange howls like bengals and are extra active and crazy but we aren’t quite sore on that.But for certain they have black smoke coats and maybe half or quarter Bengal possibly.

they have little ginger spots scattered around as well but the full white undercoat all over.They were the only two cats in the whole litter!
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lutece

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They are very pretty! :)

From these pictures and your description of them as having white undercoat, I would describe them as black smoke domestic shorthairs. The brownish tint to the coat in bright sunlight is normal for black cats. Black smoke is a beautiful and subtle color, isn't it?
 

Stella6377

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I now believe my cat Rocky is a black smoke. He brother and mother were both tabbies. He's black with a tabby undercoat. Very unique and he is so friendly. As a kitten he was shades of gray with black mohawk. Now he look black but you can see the underlying tabby. Esp on his belly .
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e was shades of gray with a black mohawk.
 

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I am curious. Some places seem to say that black smoke is very rare in "moggies" (essentially mix breed cats with no purebred in them anywhere) but then had someone argue that they knew several strays at the shelter who had "black smoke" coloring. The coloring I am talking about is the CFA definition, not a unsound coat or slightly lighter undercoat, but a drastic difference between the top coat and undercoat. My rescue Raven is clearly a smoke, his hair shaft splits about halfway from black to light grey/white and it shows through when he moves.

So is Black Smoke rare in the DSH/DMH populations? Or is it common to find mixes with it?
 

Chica07

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I been wondering that to, my cat Chica is about 13 ish yrs old now. she has a complete black top coat and white half way down she also has very light gray tiger stripes you can see in the light... SHES IN MY PROFILE PAGE IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER!!! I have always thought of her as very unique colors but what is also very very unique the other things is she dose,
1, is fetches bottlescaps, my hair bands and her favorite is half dead live mice that she would put on my pillow and beg me to throw it so she could fetch it! She just taught herself one night when she was a kitten and so she only fetches when she wants to of corse, and
2, She also sleeps on my head every night, she will also sleep on my neck, to my chest, in my arms...

The guy we got her from in 07 gave her to us cus he was moving and couldn't take her back east with him. He said he paid alot for her, if she is a smoke then that would make sense to why she was alot$$
After reading some of these and seeing the characteristics of mine I pretty positive that she is... I really wish my late hubby hadn't gotten her fixed. I would have loved to get a baby or two out of her... I'll never find anything like her again!!!
 

AsuraX

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Hello,
Here is my black smoke (can someone confirm?) little kitten Night (I named her when she was a baby and was almost all solid black) , she s 4 months old now.
I have never met or seen a cat with similar color, even tho it s anecdotal and not scientific evidence, but I think her color is pretty rare.
 

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