Marking Identification

[Cutegrapefrute]

This is the best place I could find to ask this question. My cats are mostly black so I don't usually mention them as bicolor (I just say they are black) even though they have white patches. I would like to be able to describe them better, but can't for the life of me find out what a white patch low on the belly is called on a colored cat. I know mittens, blaze, and locket as terms, but what is this placement called? pics below ... I had some trouble holding them like that since they were uncomfortable, but the white does not travel upward past where their back legs start and is only on their undersides, with one having a much more defined marking than the other.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

My gray kitty has a small patch of white there. I call it her Butt Wings. Because they peak through, like little white wings, when she sticks her butt in the air to stretch.

Unlikely to be the official term, though....

 

[Meowmee]

This is the best place I could find to ask this question. My cats are mostly black so I don't usually mention them as bicolor (I just say they are black) even though they have white patches. I would like to be able to describe them better, but can't for the life of me find out what a white patch low on the belly is called on a colored cat. I know mittens, blaze, and locket as terms, but what is this placement called? pics below ... I had some trouble holding them like that since they were uncomfortable, but the white does not travel upward past where their back legs start and is only on their undersides, with one having a much more defined marking than the other.

I think they are just called black with white or bicolor, I don’t know how much they need of one color to be considered bicolor. My beloved Wizard and Jezibel both at the bridge, were mostly black with some white. Wizard only had a tiny spot on his upper chest, but Jez I discovered after bringing her inside for med care etc. had the larger than Wizard’s chest spot and also an even larger patch on her tummy which I had not seen before. I would still call them both black cats though.

* so I looked it up and here is apparently the answer: any amount of white will still be called bicolor. But according to one cat group you need an even amount of white and the other color to be a true bicolor. I still see them as black kitties if they only have a small amount of white.

I tried to see if a stomach patch has a name but I can’t see anything. I am now wondering if a small patch on the chest is called tuxedo? * Just answered this now reading a bit more, it says that at small chest patch is called a locket so they would not be a tux and a stomach patch is called a button. Maybe there is a name for a bum patch as well. I will search some more.

7+ Bicolor Pattern Variations in Cats (and Why They Occur)

 

[Cutegrapefrute]

As long as there is white i think they are technically bicolor because they just arent solid, but I don't refer to them as such since they only have small white patches. I am just hoping to find better terms to describe their patches. Also in the case of their record with the vet their coloring should be black & white instead of just black.

I was aware of the term locket. The fluffier of the 2 has a small one. And as for tux they have alot more white. Their whole underside and sometimes paws. So this patch they have is a button! Thats a cute name. I am curious where you found the info so i can read more and bookmark. Thank you so much!

 

[Cutegrapefrute]

Ahh wait the link is there. I just missed it. Thank you again

 

[Cutegrapefrute]

cute pic of his locket for fun

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

Here's the response I got about whether my kitty's "butt wings" made her bicolor. A: no.

Question about white spotting

 

[Meowmee]

Ahh wait the link is there. I just missed it. Thank you again

Yw It is all in that article as you found and here is another one about the whole science of it. Bicolor is also called piebald and it all comes from a genetic mutation or defect in a gene called KIT, the piebald mutation is part of a group of defects called neurocristopathies many of which cause serious diseases. When the embryo develops there aren’t enough pigmentation cells to cover areas in the stomach and front which is where you see most of the white fur apparently. They used to think it was that the pigment cells migrated from back to front and were not fast enough to reach the front but now they think in piebaldism they actually migrate faster and don’t divide enough so there aren't enough pigment cells for those areas. The white fur is lacking pigment. Very interesting and that it all happens in the embryonic stage due to a defect. And chiameric animals have patchy areas caused by 2 embryos combining they think now.

How the Cat Got Its Coat (and Other Furry Tails)

 

[Meowmee]

cute pic of his locket for fun View attachment 387001

Aww he is gorgeous…interesting that your dvm said they should be listed as bicolor mine just listed them as black. Here is my Wizard. He will always be a black cat to me with a locket now. I don’t have any great pics of Jez unfortunately, mostly blurred.
)

 

[Meowmee]

As long as there is white i think they are technically bicolor because they just arent solid, but I don't refer to them as such since they only have small white patches. I am just hoping to find better terms to describe their patches. Also in the case of their record with the vet their coloring should be black & white instead of just black.

I was aware of the term locket. The fluffier of the 2 has a small one. And as for tux they have alot more white. Their whole underside and sometimes paws. So this patch they have is a button! Thats a cute name. I am curious where you found the info so i can read more and bookmark. Thank you so much!

Yes I noticed after you had said locket already. tux I know usually has a lot more… according to the article some cat groups say there has to be an equal amount of white and the other color to be called bicolor though. But techinically I agree they are not solid really. Here is Merlin who is a ginger tabby tux with mittens and boots and Fred another of my colony cats who is still outdoors, he is I think what would be called a bicolor. I am not sure why white spots or patches on the tummy are called buttons

 

[Cutegrapefrute]

Here's the response I got about whether my kitty's "butt wings" made her bicolor. A: no.

Question about white spotting

Ahh nice. Their answer helped as well

 

[Cutegrapefrute]

Yes I noticed after you had said locket already. tux I know usually has a lot more… according to the article some cat groups say there has to be an equal amount of white and the other color to be called bicolor though. But techinically I agree they are not solid really. Here is Merlin who is a ginger tabby tux with mittens and boots and Fred another of my colony cats who is still outdoors, he is I think what would be called a bicolor. I am not sure why white spots or patches on the tummy are called buttons

View attachment 387012

View attachment 387014View attachment 387014View attachment 387015

Your Wizard and Merlin are adorable. I think ginger tabbies and black with a locket are my favorite colors/pattern. And i am interested now why my vet listed them as black & white. I am guessing (since i don't really remember how their markings looked as kittens) that maybe Echoes' white patch looked larger. And i know Gohan has gone through times where his fur shows grey or brown in areas around the button and mane area since his button is ill defined. Hmm i don't know. From all this I am still seeing its proper to just call them black with white patches.

I am thinking button maybe because its where a belly button would be

 

[Cutegrapefrute]

Gohan at a few years old. He is now 9. His color was more varied and i cant even see his locket on those so maybe he didnt have it yet

 

[Meowmee]

Aww

Your Wizard and Merlin are adorable. I think ginger tabbies and black with a locket are my favorite colors/pattern. And i am interested now why my vet listed them as black & white. I am guessing (since i don't really remember how their markings looked as kittens) that maybe Echoes' white patch looked larger. And i know Gohan has gone through times where his fur shows grey or brown in areas around the button and mane area since his button is ill defined. Hmm i don't know. From all this I am still seeing its proper to just call them black with white patches.

I am thinking button maybe because its where a belly button would be

thanks I miss having my wizard so much he was the best they all were. Jez reminded me of him due to being mostly black and the locket etc. That makes sense about the patches being larger etc. Yes the button is from the belly button obviously. W will always be a blk cat to me though. Merlin is my first fully ginger kitty and tuxedo. He has the biggest head. Syb and Angie & Tess were calico & torties. I love when they have changing colors, Quinn is a pb sealpoint siamese and he has gotten darker over time etc. but he is still very light on areas.

 

[Meowmee]

Gohan at a few years old. He is now 9. His color was more varied and i cant even see his locket on those so maybe he didnt have it yet

Such a beauty, I love fluffy cats it looks more like the lower part if his ruff is lighter rather than a locket here.