248
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
Albinism: Lack of the pigment that gives
color to skin, hair, and eyes. In cats, true
albinism is very rare, but partial albinism
gives rise to pointed coat patterns, as in
the Siamese, and color variations, such
as silver tabby.
Allele: Variant form of a gene. Cats have
two alleles of each gene—one inherited
from each parent.
Almond-shaped eyes: Oval eyes with
flattened corners, seen in breeds such
as the Abyssinian and Siamese.
Awn hairs: Slightly longer bristly hairs
that, together with the soft down hairs,
constitute the undercoat.
Bicolor: Coat pattern combining white
with another color.
Blotched tabby: Alternative term for
Classic Tabby.
Blue: Light- to medium-gray coat color,
a diluted form of black. Blue-only cat
breeds include the Russian Blue, Korat,
and Chartreux.
Bracelets: Dark horizontal bands on
the legs of a tabby cat.
Break: see Stop
Breeches: In longhaired cats,
extra-long hair on the upper back
part of the hindlegs.
Breed standard: Detailed description
produced by a cat registry that defines
the required standards for a pedigree
cat’s conformation, coat, and color.
Calico: Tortie and white patterning.
Cameo: Red, or its diluted form cream,
where white covers two-thirds of the
hair shaft.
Carnivore: Meat-eating animal.
Cat fancier: Enthusiast for breeding
and showing purebred cats.
Cat registry: Organization that sets
breed standards and registers the
pedigrees of cats.
CFA: The Cat Fanciers’ Association, the
world’s largest registry of pedigree cats,
based in the US.
Chocolate: Pale- to medium-brown
coat color.
Chromosome: Threadlike structure
within a cell nucleus containing genes
arranged along a strand of DNA. Cats
have 38 chromosomes arranged in 19
corresponding pairs. (Humans have 46,
arranged in 23 pairs.)
Classic tabby: see Tabby
Cobby: Compact, muscular, heavy-
boned body type, seen in breeds such
as the Persian.
Colorpoint: see Pointed
Crossbreed: see Random-bred
Curled ears: Ears that curve backward, as
in the American Curl.
Diluted/dilution: Paler version of a color
caused when the dilution gene comprises
two recessive alleles—for example, black
becomes blue and red becomes cream.
Domestic cat: Any member of
Felis catus, pedigree or mixed breed.
Also commonly known as a house cat.
Dominant: Describes an allele inherited
from one parent that overrides the effect
of a paired recessive allele inherited from
the other parent. For example, the allele
for a tabby coat is dominant.
Double coat: Fur consisting of a thick, soft
undercoat covered by a protective topcoat
of longer guard hairs.
Down: Short, soft, fine hairs that form
an undercoat in some breeds.
Feathering: Longer hair on areas such
as legs, feet, and tail.
Feral: Describing a domesticated species
that has reverted to a wild state.
FIFe: Fédération Internationale Féline,
the leading European federation of
cat registries.
Folded ears: Ears that fold forward
and down, seen in breeds such as the
Scottish Fold.
GCCF: The Governing Council of the Cat
Fancy, the leading organization for the
registration of cats in the UK.
Gene pool: The complete collection of
genes within an interbreeding population.
Ghost markings: Faint tabby markings on
the coat of a solid-colored cat that show
up in certain lights.
Ground color: Background color in tabbies.
There are many variants: brown, red, and
silver are among the most common.
Guard hairs: Longer, tapering hairs
that form a cat’s topcoat and provide
weatherproofing.
Hybrid: Offspring of two different species—
for example, the Bengal, which is a cross
between the domestic cat (Felis catus) and
the Asian leopard (Felis bengalensis).
Leather: Hairless area at the end of
the nose. Color varies according to coat
color and is defined in the breed standards
for pedigree cats.
Lilac: Warm pink-gray color, a diluted form
of brown.
“M” mark: Typical “M”-shaped mark on
the forehead of tabby cats; also known as
a frown mark.
Mackerel tabby: see Tabby
Marbled: Variation of the Classic Tabby,
mostly seen in wildcat hybrids such as
the Bengal.
Mascara lines: Dark lines running from
the outer corners of the eyes or encircling
the eyes.
Mask: Dark coloration on the face, usually
around the muzzle and eyes.
Mitted: Color pattern in which the paws
are white. Also called mittens or socks.
Moggie: Informal term for a non-
pedigree cat.
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GLOSSARY
Mutation: Change in a cell’s DNA, often
arising by chance; effects of genetic
mutations in cats include hairlessness,
folded or curled ears, curly coats, and
short tails.
Particolor: General term for a coat
pattern that has two or more colors,
often one being white.
Patched tabby: Tortoiseshell with
tabby markings.
Pedigree: Purebred.
Pointed: Coat pattern in which a cat
has pale body fur with darker extremities
(head, tail, and legs); typically seen in
the Siamese.
Polydactyly: Extra toes produced by
a genetic mutation; polydactyly, or
polydactylism, is common in certain
breeds, but only in the Pixiebob is the
trait accepted in the breed standard.
Random-bred: Cat of mixed parentage.
Recessive: An allele that can produce
an effect only when inherited from both
parents. If a recessive allele from one
parent is paired with a dominant allele
from the other parent, its effect will be
overridden. The alleles for certain eye
colors and long fur in cats are recessive.
Red: Reddish-brown, used to describe
certain coat colors in Abyssinian and
Somali cats; known as sorrel in the UK.
Rex coat: Curly or wavy coat, as seen in
Devon and Cornish Rex cats.
Roan: Coat with an evenly distributed
mixture of colored and white hairs.
Ruddy: A color of Abyssinian cats; known
as usual in the UK.
Ruff: Frill of longer hair around the neck
and chest.
Selective breeding: Mating of animals
that possess desired traits, such as a
particular coat color or pattern.
Semi-longhair: Medium-long coat, usually
with a minimal undercoat.
Sepia: Dark-brown ticking on a paler
ground color.
Shaded: Coat pattern in which the final
quarter of each hair is colored.
Single coat: Coat with just one layer,
usually the topcoat of guard hairs,
seen in such cats as the Balinese and
Turkish Angora.
Smoke: Coat pattern in which each hair
shaft is pale at the base and colored for
about half of its length.
Solid: Coat in which a single color is
distributed evenly along the hair shaft;
known as self in the UK.
Spotted tabby: see Tabby
Stop: Indentation between the muzzle
and the top of the head; also known
as a break.
Tabby: Genetically dominant coat pattern
that comes in four types: Classic Tabby has
a blotched or whorled pattern; Mackerel
Tabby has fishbone stripes; Spotted Tabby
has spots or rosettes; Ticked Tabbies have
a faint pattern on a ticked coat.
Temperament: The character of a cat.
TICA: The International Cat Association,
a genetic registry for pedigree cats
worldwide.
Ticked: Coat pattern in which each hair
shaft has alternate bands of pale and
darker colors; also known as agouti.
See also Tabby.
.
Tipped: Coat pattern in which just the
tip of each hair is strongly colored.
Topcoat: Outer coat of guard hairs.
Tortie: Common abbreviation
for tortoiseshell.
Tortoiseshell: Coat pattern in which
black and red hairs, or their diluted
forms, are mixed in patches.
Tricolor: Term sometimes used
to describe a coat of two colors
plus white.
Tufts: Clusters of longer hairs that are
seen, for example, between the toes or
on the ears.
Undercoat: Layer of hair beneath the
topcoat, usually short and often woolly.
Van pattern: Pointed coat pattern in which
the color is restricted to the ears and tail
only, as in the Turkish Van.
Wedge: Triangular facial conformation
seen in most cats except the flat-faced
Persian; the shape is elongated in breeds
such as the Siamese and Orientals.
Whippy: Of a tail, thin and elastic.
Whisker pads: Fleshy pads on either side
of a cat’s muzzle where the whiskers are
placed in rows.
Wirehair: Rare coat type caused by a
genetic mutation in which the hairs are
twisted or bent at the tips, giving a coarse,
springy texture; seen in the American
Wirehair cat.
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