- Joined
- Apr 8, 2017
- Messages
- 1
- Purraise
- 3
I have recently gotten this little Sphynx and I am trying to figure out her color, can anyone help?
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
What color is my Sphynx?
- Thread starter aninia
- Start Date
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2017
- Messages
- 8,674
- Purraise
- 34,617
Hi, and welcome to TCS ! Your beautiful kitty is a Seal Mink Sphynx. NoCoat Cattery in New Jersey (a CFA and TICA Registered Sphynx Cattery) has a colour chart online here:
https://www.nocoatkitty.com/past-kittens/
.
https://www.nocoatkitty.com/past-kittens/
.
I think it was meant to pronounce it as a mink point which is dark but a good shade lighter than seal point. And here you both are essentially agree, no?
I believe Mink means that the body of a pointed cat is darker colored and not white. Like we see in Ragdolls, they have very obvious difference in body color and pointed areas, but the mink ragdolls do not.I think it was meant to pronounce it as a mink point which is dark but a good shade lighter than seal point. And here you both are essentially agree, no?
The cat from the picture is a diluted cat. Blue to be precize. 'Mink' is not how I usually describe colors, so I used the website instead to explain the color on the same way as the previous person did to show the base color is diluted
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2017
- Messages
- 8,674
- Purraise
- 34,617
Exactly; "Minks" aren't quite selfs, but the points are sometimes almost indistinguishable from the body colour:
"The mink pattern also exhibits darker points: the ears, tips of tail, feet and nose. However, whereas the pointed pattern is entirely colorless everywhere else on the body, the mink coloration has some color throughout the body and just slightly darker points in adulthood."
Sphynx breeders seem to have their own ideas about colouration:
https://www.google.com/search?q=sph...800&bih=444#tbm=isch&q="sphynx"+"seal"+"mink"
The cat pictured here seems (on my monitor) almost a warm cinnamon - in fact, nearly the point colour of a Cinnamon Point Siamese, but in both images, the nose seems almost the grey-black of a Seal Point. In the Cinnamon Point, as in the Seal and Chocolate Points, the coat colour is "D" - a dense colour; in Blue Points, it's "d" - a dilution of Seal, just as Fawn is the dilution of Cinnamon, Lilac (or Frost) is a dilution of Chocolate, and cetera.
.
Sounds very advanced "way above my paygrade". Also, unusual nuances... But as we do obviously have here a purebred, so also, it opens a totally new scale of possibilities. Breeders do breed for colors whom are unusual or even non existing among the broad population of moggies...
Its just to see if such is done among breeders of sphynx. I dont know, I dont have this knowledge... Although I may go to the chart mentioned earlier....
The sphynx is allowed to be bred in literally every possible coat color or pattern. I didn't look at the chart, most of those do not include modifier or inhibitor genes because most people don't know about them let alone know how to identify them by just looking, even breeders. The the sphynx is probably the most miss labeled or like described the wrong color out of any cat. So many possibilities on an animal with almost no hair can be very hard to label if someone isn't well versed in colors and patterns and genetics. Not just buyer's, breeders as well lol You would be surprised how many breeders in any breed have no frickin clue what they have, even with pedigrees, they don't how to use them. I've seen people describing a kitten for sale and its not a genetic possibility for it to be what they are saying it is. I believe most pedigree breeders breed for looks before health almost all of them or they wouldnt be so anal about using cross matings to improve genetic diversity, or they wouldnt allow a cat with a mutation that could have long term health problems become a registered pedigree cat...... Some of the best breeds are actually considered some of the most inbred in the world. Siamese, Burmese, Sphynx...etc those three are in the top 10..... I am actually super against a lot of cat fancy practices. You can have a cat that keeps its same look, while adding cool colors/prints, and genetic diversity, if you understand the genetics of all cats not just your specific breed if they even know that much. They dont consider that type of breeding ethical though ... oh not registered you must be a backyard breeder that has no clue... its insane and this has been drilled into buyers as well.. they spend thousands on their cat then they are left with a cat that has chronic health issues or worse a cat thats dead by 2 ..not understanding how it works how to get these "purebred" cats... sorry rant over !!!!!.. For this cat - mom and dad one or both carry chocolate or are chocolate, one or both are either lilac or carry for dilution - lilac being the diluted chocolate. The modifier for caramelizing is dominant- mom or dad could also be the same color if lilac if chocolate then it would be a carried gene it only works on diluted cats. There is a blue caramel lilac caramel fawn caramel and apricot. Blue diluted black lilac diluted chocolate fan diluted cinnamon apricot diluted red. Then also all the diluted tortie colors can be caramelized as well. The mink gene is a coat pattern and similar to the color point and sepia gene, it is the pattern in between the two - siamese/burmese gene- a cat needs 1 cs allele 1 cb- = cscb co dominant gene. The Mink Tonkinese is going to be the most comparable. At some point your cat was either directly from a Tonkinese breeding the hairless gene into a line and creating it that way, or the parents were, or the parents came from siamese and burmese whatever the case may be. Like I had mentioned a sphynx can legit have any color or pattern possible out of alllllll the possibilities. It only need be hairless and its considered a purebred.... you can even register one if its not already. Youd have to look up specifics but its possible. Hope that helps... oh and btw I bred Tonkinese and sphynx's and one of my queens was a lilac based caramel mink.. Light can always throw off tone but I am almost posotive.... its a lilac with a carmelly metallicy cast to it. The ears and face and tail darker -"points" due to the mink gene the contrast is very mild, almost not there but its there. This cat look almost identical to mine, and I have been studying feline genetics for a while, dont know it all lol but I am pretty posotive about this. Even searching for one online is nearly impossible. Ill attach a photo of my girl also. I am going to bed now though lol its wayyy too late !!
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2022
- Messages
- 93
- Purraise
- 154
I know I’m late to this thread, but is there any chance of updated photos? This baby doesn’t look fully adult to me and pointed colors can develop over the course of months or years, especially with unusual colors. Another thing to remember when trying to determine if colorpoint cats are mink or sepia is that all pointed cats develop color based on the temperature of that area of the body; in sphynx cats, they don’t have body fur to regulate their temperature in the same way that fully furred cats do, so they may develop with less contrast in general.
You also have to take into account the amount of fur each specific Sphynx has. They aren't actually hairless; they don't all have the same amount of fur either. The ears and nose seem to be the most prominent, fur wise, overall. So even with higher body temperatures it gives the illusion there is more of a contrast going down from the head/muzzle into the body. Then there are those who have more fur all over the body, as well as the head region, and then some who have less body fur but have a good bit near the tail tip. Out of my three, 2 purebred and 1 hairless kitten from my F1 X F2 cross, (all Mink pattern) they each have different amount of fur distribution. They all have different textures as well. The contrast is very obvious at the ear/muzzle area, the most noticeable being my Tortie ( blue based caramel cream)- who is also growing a nice little tail fluff its almost all cream. She has the least amount of body hair so that contrast is very noticeable at the head, her ears and body have a very distinct torti pattern along with her mink pattern more so than one that would have fur. At least any that I have ever been able to find online. She will most likely give me a torti mink with fur at some point so I'll have a coat to physically compare to. My next girl is a lilac based caramel, she has more of a coat all over then her half-sister. It took me a bit to figure out her color, same with her mother (a blue based caramel cream torti-) but i figured it out eventually which is how I figured out my other girl color. She is very close to being almost solid, her ears/muzzle with obvious contrast again though, even more so than a platinum mink tonk, I couldn't find any caramels. Her tail tip is also growing a good amount of fur the contrast is definitely more noticeable than the feet. Figuring out their Mink pattern was easy for me, my entire breeding plan was based on my stud a natural mink furred f1. Thats what I had been studying for a year or so prior, my torti has darker eyes more on the greenish yellow side vs aqua side but it's not possible for her to be a sepia. My lilac girl the perfect mink aqua. The kitten born to my furred hybrid is natural mink her coat most fur almost peterbald velvety, her ears/muzzle again had great contrast her feet were getting darker as well. She was pretty much the same as her mink brother but with the finest velvety layer of fur The closest comparison would be a Natural Mink Peterbald the ones ith the least amount of fur almost not there but just enough i guess it's hard to describe if you're unsure of that coat length lol... I'm sure there is a point there somewhere lol basically you wouldn't expect more contrast at all due to their higher body temperatures, but because of their lack of fur the appear to have almost more of a contrast minus the legs/paws I have seen lynx minks with high contrast at the legs as well you really don't know sometimes. It's important to know the parents' heritages if these are things that are important.
body temperature
