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All the archives Cat glossary Active Term describing an animal in action, moving, always alert. Cat glossary Accepted Said of a characteristic accepted in a breed standard, although not necessarily sought in breeding. Cat glossary Prefix The cattery name preceding the cat's name, indicating the breeder's cattery. Cat glossary Suffix The cattery name following the cat's name, indicating the cattery in which the cat resides. Cat glossary Agouti Said of a hair exhibiting alternate light and dark areas. Agouti gene A produces striping in the fur. Cat glossary Full Cheeks Term describing the cheeks, particularly in the standard of the Chartreux. Cat glossary Jowls Cheek folds prominent in unaltered, adult male cats. Cat glossary Barring Stripes associated with tabby markings. Cat glossary Bicolor Cat with a coat consisting of white and another color. Cat glossary White White cats with blue irises are almost always deaf (Létard, 1925). Cat glossary Blue Coat color ranging from blue-gray to slate gray. Chartreux cats are blue. Cat glossary Blue-cream The colors blue and cream must be present in equal proportions and perfectly mixed, as in the Blue Tortie, a variety with even patches of blue and cream. Blue Torties are almost always female. Cat glossary Blotched (Classic Tabby) A term indicating the classic, marbled tabby coat. Cat glossary Blue Point In the Siamese, Colorpoint, and Birman, a term indicating the slate blue-gray color of the points (mask, ears, legs, and tail). Cat glossary Break The sharp angle formed where the bridge of the nose meets the lower forehead. Cat glossary Brindling White, lighter, or depigmented hairs in a color, design, or pattern. Traces of color that contrast with the base color of the coat. Cat glossary Calico An American term indicating the tortoiseshell and white variety (white coloring on the underparts). Cat glossary Cameo - Silvery cats in which the tips of the hairs are reddish-brown or cream (tipping). - Silvery reddish-brown or cream ticked variety. Cat glossary Break or Stop The well-pronounced angle between the nose and forehead (see Break, Stop). Cat glossary Champagne The American term for the Chocolate Burmese and Lilac Tonkinese (see Honey Mink in breed section). Cat glossary Chinchilla A coat in which the tip of the hair is black, with the rest being silvery white. This is the lightest degree of tipping. - Original Persian, with black markings, surely the result of a cross between ... Cat glossary Chocolate A fairly light chestnut-brown color common in Oriental breeds. Chocolate Tortie Colorpoint. Cat glossary Cinnamon A honey or reddish-brown coat color. Cat glossary Classic Tabby or Blotched Tabby The rings on the tail and legs are wide and well-spaced. The "M" on the forehead, the parallel stripes on the skull, and the stripes on the neck are wide. The shoulders have bull's eye or oyster-shape... Cat glossary Cobby A massive, stocky, short, muscular body with a wide chest and hips (Persian). Cat glossary Ruff or Frill A mass of longer, thicker hair around the neck. Cat glossary Necklace Continuous or broken stripes on the upper part of the chest in tabby varieties. Cat glossary Colorpoint A cat with a light-colored body and darker "points" (markings) of color on the mask (face), ears, legs, and tail. All Siamese varieties are colorpoints. Cat glossary Inbreeding The mating of related individuals (from the same family). A cross between a brother and sister can reveal defects carried by the parents but can also help to rapidly establish the characteristics of a... Cat glossary Rexing A term describing a curly coat like that of the Rex. Cat glossary Cream A very pale shade of buff, fairly common in the Persian. Cat glossary Nose Leather The hairless tip of the nose and nostrils. Cat glossary Britches or Breeches In longhaired or semilonghaired cats, the longer, denser hair on the back of the thighs. Cat glossary Wedge-shaped Said of a head characterized by a straight line running from the outer base of the ear to the side of the muzzle. Flat skull, straight nose. Narrow face with angular features. Cat glossary Curly-coated A term describing the hair found in the American Wirehair and the Rex. Cat glossary Fault Any significant imperfection with relation to the breed standard and its specific features. Cat glossary Dilution A paler version of a basic color: lilac, cream, etc. Cat glossary Disqualification Elimination for a fault serious enough to deny a cat a title in a show (for example, if the animal has a dyed or shaved coat or an abnormal number of toes, is aggressive, unclean, overweight, underwei... Cat glossary Convex Term describing a domed forehead. Cat glossary Tortoiseshell or Tortie A coat with a combination of red and black or cream and blue. In principle, this combination exists only in females. Black and orange coat color. Also exists in dilute versions. A term describing a co... Cat glossary Tortoiseshell and White A cat with tortoiseshell coloring and white markings. Cat glossary Point Score A numbered rating of the various elements involved in evaluating a cat. A perfect score is one hundred. Each region of the body is assigned a number of points based on significance, in order to achie... Cat glossary Whole A queen or tom, that is, a cat that has not been spayed or neutered. Cat glossary Gloves Pure white areas of fur on the back of the feet in the Birman and Ragdoll. Cat glossary Gauntlets White markings on the hind paws of a colored or bicolored cat, ending below or above the hock. Also called "boots." Cat glossary Ghost Markings Tabby markings visible in young cats that are genetically self-colored. These markings fade as the cat reaches adulthood and sheds. Cat glossary Fawn A buff color in the black range. Delicate, pale color. Dilution of cinnamon, pale buff, light sand, slightly pinkish-gray. - Fawn Point: pinkish-buff extremities. - Fawn Tortie: ranging from cinnam... Cat glossary Blaze A marking, often white in color, running from the middle of the forehead to the nose. Cat glossary Foreign A term describing a fine-boned, long-limbed, elegant cat, such as the Abyssinian, Siamese, and Somali. Oriental shorthair, self-colored coat. Cat glossary Whip Tail A long, thin, flexible tail tapering from the base to the tip, as in the Siamese, Sphynx, and Oriental. Cat glossary Smoke A coat in which most of each hair is colored, with the base being white or light-colored. 50 to 80% of the length of each hair is colored, the rest being silver, as seen mainly in the Persian. Cat glossary Guard Hair One of the three types of hair in a cat's coat. Guard hairs provide insulation of a certain thickness (see Hair). Cat glossary Gold or Golden A golden apricot color. Among rare colors: - Golden Shaded: a dark apricot background with no trace of gray and with black tipping. - Golden Chinchilla: a very warm apricot background with no trace ... Cat glossary Feral A term describing a domestic cat that has reverted to a wild state and subsists on game. Cat glossary Havana A warm chestnut color. Cat glossary Himalayan Another name for the Colorpoint Persian. A Persian with Siamese markings. The Himalayan is a lovely cat with large blue eyes and a coat with a distinctive contrast between the points and the body. ... Cat glossary Heterochromatic Said of eyes of two different colors, for example, one blue eye and one gold eye in white Persians (see Odd-eyed). Cat glossary Frill or Ruff A mass of long, dense hair around the neck. Cat glossary Laces A white area running from the foot to the hocks, particularly in Birmans and Snowshoes ("boots" on the back of the leg, to the hock) (see Gauntlets, Gloves). Cat glossary Wooly Said of a thick undercoat on the belly, britches, or tail in Persians. The coat has the wooly appearance of the Chartreux. Cat glossary Lavender or Lilac A light pinkish-buff coat color with no markings. Cat glossary Mascara Lines Dark lines connecting to the eyes. Cat glossary Lilac A light pinkish-buff color (see Lavender). Rare color. Taupe gray or even, extremely light pinkish-buff with no ghost markings. Platinum (Burmese and Tonkinese). Lilac Persians are very light in color... Cat glossary Spectacles A lighter area encircling the eyes in a colored mask (Siamese, Birman, Himalayan). Cat glossary Lynx Point or Tabby Point Said of a cat with a colored coat in which the extremities (or points: mask, tail, legs, and ears) have tabby markings (Siamese, Himalayan, etc.). Cat glossary Lynx Tip A tuft of hair at the tip of the ear, a characteristic sought in the Maine Coon, Norwegian Forest Cat, and Himalayan, and retracted for the Persian and Exotic. Cat glossary Mackerel Markings A tiger tabby design. Mackerel tabby: the legs and tail have thin, tight rings, as does the necklace. The "M" on the forehead and the lines on the skull, neck, and spine are continuous, tight, and par... Cat glossary Maltesing A dilution of pigment in the hair follicle. Cat glossary Marble A term used exclusively for the Bengal, a breed exhibiting a classic tabby pattern with rosettes on the flanks, markings typical of wild cats. The marbled cat, a wild cat from Asia, has marbling on th... Cat glossary Marking A tabby design or striping, called "ghost markings" when it fades with age or when the cat exhibits tabby markings but is genetically self-colored. A clearly outlined pattern on a more or less even b... Cat glossary Scarab Marking A marking in the form of an "M" on the forehead of many foreign-type spotted tabbies. This marking is complex enough in design to evoke an ancient Egyptian scarab beetle. Also called "frown lines." ... Cat glossary Striping On the tabby, distinct markings resembling fish bones. Cat glossary Mask The darker area of the face which stops between the ears and covers the nose, whisker pads, chin, and area around the eyes. Darker parts of the face in the Siamese and Birman. Cat glossary Mi-ke Tortoiseshell and white (calico) variety of the Japanese Bobtail. Tortoiseshell, light reddish-brown, dark reddish brown, and black on a white background. Cat glossary Mink The result of the influence of point and sepia genes on the self gene. The cat has darker coloring on the points and back and lighter coloring on the body, especially the underparts, while Colorpoints... Cat glossary Mittens White fur on the forepaws, as in the Ragdoll. Cat glossary Spotted "Found only in the European Shorthair, this pattern corresponds to clear, non-overlapping spots that are oval, round, or rosette-shaped and vary in color or said to be ‘in keeping with the background ... Cat glossary Non-agouti A solid-colored coat. (agouti gene A is what produces stripes in the coat, always accompanied by a design called a tabby pattern). Non-agouti gene aa produces self colors (uniform over the entire len... Cat glossary Hairless (Cat) Hereditary alopecia is rare in cats. Mexican hairless cats, a breed created by the Aztecs, were described in 1924 as follows: skin slightly wrinkled, bluish on the back, and lighter on the belly. Well... Cat glossary Odd-eyed A cat with one blue eye and one copper eye, for example. Only possible in cats with a white coat or with a colored coat with white markings (see Heterochromatic). Cat glossary Shading, Shaded A "shaded" coat falls between chinchilla and smoke (in which most of the hair is colored), with tipping covering approximately 1/3 the length of the hair and the rest white or light-colored. Shading ... Cat glossary Ears Medium-sized, erect (European Shorthair, etc.); Very large (Devon Rex); Folded back (American Curl); Set in a caplike fashion, flat against the head (Scottish Fold). Cat glossary Brush or Plume A thick covering of hair on the tail typical of longhaired, Persian-type cats. Cat glossary Particolored A coat consisting of two or more colors, such as tortoiseshell and white. A coat consisting of several colors, for example, reddish-brown, white, and black. Cat glossary Patched Tabby A tabby coat with superimposed tortoiseshell coloring. Also called tortie tabby (see Torbie). Cat glossary Whisker Pad The area of the upper lip on which whiskers grow; the fairly fleshy part of the muzzle on either side of the tip of the nose. Cat glossary Pattern A design characterizing the coat. Cat glossary Coat All the hair of a mammal, considered in its external aspect (color, smoothness, softness to the touch, thickness, length, etc.). Felids usually have a thick, soft, supple coat. It is either solid yel... Cat glossary Pewter The coat color of the Silver Shaded cat with orange or copper-colored eyes. Cat glossary Whisker Pinch The distinct demarcation between the cheeks and the muzzle. Cat glossary Bib The part of the body including the lower chin and the chest (said of the frill of Persians). Cat glossary Lynx Tip A tuft of hair on the ear tip. Cat glossary Hair There are several categories of hair (grouped according to the author): - Outer coat or guard hairs (primary hairs): long, thick, straight, pigmented, spatulate at the distal end. Protective element ... Cat glossary Points Colored extremities that are darker than the body, including the mask, ears, legs, and tail. A characteristic of the Siamese. - Colorpoint: colored at the extremities. The contrast is variable in den... Cat glossary Tail The domestic cat has a long tail (slightly shorter in the Persian, may be totally absent in the Manx) which is often abundantly furnished and naturally curves backward. Several Asian breeds have short... Cat glossary Breed A subdivision of the species consisting of individuals with common hereditary characteristics. These characteristics can be morphological and physiological. Individuals are said to be purebred if they... Cat glossary Stocky Having a compact body shape, as the British Shorthair. Cat glossary Rex A term describing animals with a wavy, curly coat and usually curly whiskers. Actually, this term encompasses several different mutations, both in terms of genotype and phenotype. The rex trait is alw... Cat glossary Coat The characteristics of the coat include the hair (texture, length, etc.), the color of the hair, and the placement of colored and colorless areas. Cat glossary Roman Said of a slightly rounded profile, especially in the Birman; the profile is arched in the Cornish Rex. Cat glossary Rustiness Traces of reddish hairs in the coat of a black cat. Cat glossary Ruddy Term used in the United States to describe the original color of Abyssinians and Somalis. "Usual" is the British equivalent. Cat glossary Rumpy A Manx with no tail. The "rumpy riser" has one to three coccygeal vertebrae covered by a tuft of hair. Cat glossary Sable A term used in the United States to describe the brown Burmese, the darkest form of the breed. Cat glossary Seal A dark brown coat color in the black range. Cat glossary Seal Point A coat in which the extremities are the darkest brown possible. The body ranges from eggshell white to golden. This is the best known and most appreciated Siamese color.