the changing coat pattern. what is she?!

[jessica00]

When Lilly was a kitten she was a charcol black with darker stripes, i had never seen a cat like her, but as she grew up she lost her stripes and is now pure black, she is very friendly and follows me everywhere. What do you think? just a cross tabby/black? or something else? thanks!





this is her when she had her stripes (not sure why its upside down lol)



Today, all black!?

 

[arlyn]

All cats are tabby, genetically.

Color and pattern determine whether or not we see the tabby markings.

All black cats, at some point in their lives, will show ghost markings.

My Jade was jet black at birth, but at nearly 4 years, you can now see markings in bright light, and she gets 'rusty' looking when she lays in the sun too long.

 

[jessica00]

that makes sense! I didn't know that all cats were genetically tabbys. so she must just have had darker parents, I noticed she almost looked blue in the sun today

 

[nekochan]

Wow that is interesting! I've seen cats with faint tabby markings as kittens, but never so pronounced.

Maybe the best color description would be melanistic tabby?

 

[northernglow]

All cats are tabby, genetically.

I would correct that solid cats are not genetically tabbies, they are however all carrying a tabby gene. Sometimes the pattern shows through if the main color is not strong enough, it's called ghost markings and you can see what kind of tabby pattern the cat is carrying. (Considered as a fault in most purebred cats, excluding black smoke Egyptian Mau where ghost pattern is desired trait).

 

[orientalslave]

I'm sure she's black, ghost tabby markings are common in kittens though it's not common for them to be as obvious. It might be the light in part.  If she goes out then she may well develop rusty tinges and ghost markings from lying in the sun.   Suspect it you look at the roots of her fur she will be quite pale - a good black cat is black all the way down. 

She has a beantiful face, love her expression.