ABOUT THE COLOURS OF NORWEGIAN FOREST CAT
- the mystery of tortie harlequin
During the period I've been breeding cats, the terms that have caused wonderment and amusement the most
are always been somehow linked to the colours of the cats.
What kind of is a blue cat, what does a silver blotched or cream spotted tabby mean? In the following I have
tried to clarify the subject from the uninitiated point of few.
|
NFO f 03 24, black tortie spotted tabby bicolour
|
Colours
|
| Black |
The fur is completely black. |
| Blue |
The shade of the fur can vary from light grey to a deep and dark blue. |
| Red |
The shade of the fur can vary from light orange to a dark reddish orange. |
| Cream |
The shade of the fur can vary from light beige to a warm cream fudge. |
| Black tortie |
There is both black and red colour in the fur. The colours can be mixed or appear in large spots. |
| Blue tortie |
There is both blue and creme colour in the fur. The colours can be mixed or appear in large spots. |
| Silver |
The root of the fur is white. There is colour only on the tips of the hairs. All the colours mentioned above are accepted. |
| White |
The fur is completely white. |
|
|
Patterns
|
Blotched/Classic
|
Mackarel
|
Spotted
|
Ticked
|
| Blotched/Classic Tabby |
Blotched tabby is the darkest pattern. Typical for this pattern is a figure 'M' on a cat's forhead,
a broad stripe starting from the head and ending to the tip of the tail and large round figure
'ox-eye' on both sides of a cat.
Other signs are broad stripes on hindlegs and on tail. The belly is spotted.
|
|
| Mackarel Tabby |
|
Characteristic for a typical mackarel tabby pattern is striped sides and tail. Also densely striped hindlegs.
The belly is spotted.
|
|
| Spotted Tabby |
|
Pattern where a cat's sides, legs and belly are spotted. The tail is densely striped.
A good spotted tabby is such, where all the spots are clearly separate.
|
|
| Ticked Tabby |
|
In a ticked tabby all the hairs in the fur are evenly striped and they don't form any specific pattern.
The back of the feet can be darker than the rest of the fur and also there can be markings on cat's face and
head. There can be a slightly darker stripe from the cat's head to the tip of it's tail but it's
not as distinct as with blotched tabby.
|
|
| Agouti |
|
If there is so much white in a cat's fur, that it's impossible to say what tabby pattern the cat has,
one can mark the pattern as agouti (non-specific tabby pattern).
|
|
EMS
|
| Letter |
Colour |
| n |
black |
| a |
blue |
| d |
red |
| e |
creme |
| f |
black tortie |
| g |
blue tortie |
| y |
golden |
| s |
silver |
| w |
white |
|
EMS aka Easy Mind System is intended to be both easy and logical way to mark down the colours of the cats.
It is not a genetically based system.
The first part of the EMS code, written in capital letters, denotes the breed.
The second part of the EMS code, written in small letters, identifies a cat's colour.
The third part, written in numbers, identifies a cat's patterns and possibly the amount
of white in the fur.
The last part of the code, written in numbers, identifies a cat's eye colour.
Norwegian forest cat's breed code is NFO.
Examples
blue mackarel tabby mitted: NFO a 04 23
red silver blotched tabby: NFO ds 09 22
black tortie: NFO f
white blue eyed NFO w 61
NFO n 03 23, black mackarel tabby bicolour
|
| Number |
Amount of white |
| 01 |
van |
| 02 |
harlequin |
| 03 |
bicolour |
| 04 |
mitted |
| 09 |
with white |
| |
| Number |
Pattern |
| 21 |
agouti |
| 22 |
blotched |
| 23 |
mackarel |
| 24 |
spotted |
| 25 |
ticked |
| |
| Number |
Eye colour |
| 61 |
blue |
| 62 |
orange |
| 63 |
odd eyed |
| 64 |
green |
|
|
Colour groups
In a cat show the Norwegian Forest Cats are devided in nine (9) colour groups.
The groups are marked with Roman numbers I-IX.
NFO w 61, white blue eyed
|
| Group |
Colours |
| I |
black/blue |
| II |
black/blue with white |
| III |
black/blue agouti
black/blue golden |
| IV |
black/blue agouti with white
black/blue golden with white |
| V |
red/cream/tortie
red/cream/tortie agouti
red/cream/tortiegolden |
| VI |
red/cream/tortie with white
red/cream/tortie agouti with white
red/cream/tortiegolden with white |
| VII |
silver colours |
| VIII |
silver colours with white |
| IX |
white |
|
|
