Tuxedos

[morumi]

I have a tuxedo full-grown male cat. one day we were out in the yard on a bright sunny day I turned and looked at him and the black on his body was actually brown and black calico! this was really interesting to me does anybody know anything about this ?

 

[fairfaxtoaustin]

I've heard that some black cats have a barely perceptible tabby pattern, consisting of slightly brown black hairs slightly contrasting with totally black hairs:

 "Sometimes the tabby pattern is not completely suppressed; faint markings may appear in certain lights, even on a solid black cat."    from  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cat

Not sure, but is this what they mean by "ticked" fur?

 

[fairfaxtoaustin]

Some black cats have a tabby pattern, which is not totally suppressed.  It shows up as faint brownish black hairs among the black fur, and it can be seen only in some lighting.

 

[Willowy]

Yep, black cats actually are tabbies, the solid color masks the stripes until you can see it in just the right light. So you just saw his ghost stripes!

 

[GoldyCat]

You may also see something called "rusting" in black cats who have been out in the sun. Basically, the black fades out to a brownish color, and it can be patchy rather than an even color change.