Tortoiseshell cats

Color and distribution

Tortoiseshell cats have particolored coats; either bicolored with parts of various shades of orange and non-orange pigments, or tricolor in which tortoiseshell is combined with white spotting. The size of the patches can vary from a fine brindled pattern to large patched areas of color. Typically, the higher degree of white spotting a cat has, the more distinct the different colored patches are. In general, the markings on tortoiseshell cats are asymmetrically distributed. Dilution genes modify the coloring, lightening the coat coloration from red with either black, chocolate or cinnamon to a mix of cream with either blue, lilac or fawn. These three dilute tortoiseshell colors can be affected by a dilute modifier resulting in apricot mixed with their three caramel variants. Furthermore, the all tortoiseshell colors can occur in combination with the silver inhibitor gene, resulting in their respective silver tabby or smoke versions.