Kitty Toes! Or, what color are your cats' paw pads?

[GoldyCat]

Until I started collecting a variety of cats it never occurred to me that paw pads might come in different colors. I know that the breed standard for ruddy abyssinians is black or brown paw pads. Merlin's are brown, although they appear to me to have quite a bit of red in them. Maybe that's what makes them brown instead of black.




My DSHs are all over the map.
Shareena is a blue and white bicolor. Her paw pads look light gray at first glance (except for one pink toe), but in better light they actually have a lavender tint to them. The color in the pictures isn't really accurate, too dark and too much magenta.



Miss Patchwillow is black smoke and white bicolor. Her large paw pads are all black and her toes are pink. . .

. . . except for one foot where she switched the color between one toe and the edge of the large pad.


Goldy is a red tabby with light pink pads


Her little boy, Lion, was also a red tabby, and as far as I can remember had all pink paw pads. I only found one picture that shows his pads.


Iris and Cali, Goldy's other two babies, are brown patched tabbies. Their paw pads are a random mix of black and pink.
Iris



Cali


So my question is: is the paw pad color determined by the same gene as fur color? Would you ever find a red tabby with black pads or a calico with solid pink pads? What color are your kitties' toes?

Okay, so I have way too much time on my hands. You should have seen me chasing cats around trying to get pictures of the bottom of their feet.

 

[missymotus]

The Ocicat breed standard does specify which colour paw pads go with which colour coat.

 

[carolina]

In my house I have 2 paw pads colors: The white kitties, Bugsy and Hope, both have pink; Lucky, a Seal Lynx has brown

 

[goldenkitty45]

Will I'm sure it happens in mixed breeds or non-purebred cats, in the purebreds the paw pads should be the color listed in the standard.

My black & white mix has both black and pink paw pads.

 

[arlyn]

Baby, is a brown tabby and white bicolor, her front paws have all black toes/pads, but her back paws are a random mix of black and pink.

Jade is solid black and has four sets of solid black pads/toes.

Spaz is a warm red tortie and has a random mix of black and brick colored pads/toes and one pink toe.

 

[northernglow]

All of my kitties have black paw pads, or atleast brownish black.

They are all black silvers in different patterns.

 

[GoldyCat]

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Will I'm sure it happens in mixed breeds or non-purebred cats, in the purebreds the paw pads should be the color listed in the standard.

My black & white mix has both black and pink paw pads.

I know the abyssinian breed standard requires specific nose leather and paw pad color to match each of the different recognized colors. I haven't looked at other breed standards but assume they are similar.

I'm more curious about the genetics. Is there actually a link for example between red fur and pink paw pads, or black fur and black paw pads, or is it just random?

 

[goldenkitty45]

No there is a genetic link - most all white cats or reds have pink paw pads and the blacks or browns will have black.

Blue cats tend to have blue paw pads, but in the case of the Russian Blues - they require mauve color pads - so I'm not sure how that came to be since all other blues have blue pads.

Mother Nature is wonderful isn't it?

 

[sohni]

Black paw pads with black fur in between the toes - very beautiful in my opinion.

 

[laureen227]

Pixel's are mostly pink, except on one of her toes where the fur is black - pad is also black.
Cable's are all black, as were Mouse's, Chip's & Firefox's.
Java has the multicolored pads - pix below.




some close-ups





from the top, they're solid white!

 

[GoldyCat]

Originally Posted by laureen227

from the top, they're solid white!

I don't know. Those look kind of blue to me.

 

[nekochan]

Four of my cats are brown tabby and white and their paw pads are a mix of pink and black. Some are half and half, some are mostly/all black, or mostly pink with few black spots. Harlequin is brown torbie and white and hers are the same. I don't have photos of most of their feet.
My tuxedo Sneakers' paws are brownish-black and Roxy my black Maine Coon's are solid black just like everything else on her.

Four on my cats are from a litter of feral kittens I rescued. Two of the other kittens in the litter were torbies (no white) and had really interesting toes. The pads were mostly black on the toes that were brown tabby, and pink on the toes that were red.
Here's one of the torbie kittens:

This is the other torbie kitten, it's hard to tell but one red toe has pink pads and the other has black:

Roxy's toes:

Blaze, mostly black:

Harlequin, mixed pink and black:

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

I don't know. Those look kind of blue to me.

you're such a ! you know what those are!