Marble cat: amazing color of a pet

When choosing a purring pet people primarily focus on its appearance. It is understandable: the character of the kitten has not yet developed, the habits, both good and bad, have not been determined, so it remains to rely only on the visual perception of the animal. And if a person chooses a pet among thoroughbred animals, his attention will inevitably attract a marble cat - no other coloring can compare with it in brightness and glossiness.

Marble color

Breeders derived many varieties of coloring of the cat's tribe. In this palette there is a section called "tabby". It combines animals in which the coat is colored in two (rarely three) different colors, and the contrasting hue should be a clearly defined pattern. Among them are spotted, tiger, ticked and marbled cats, which are considered classic. The main and mandatory features of the latter are the following:

• On the forehead of the mark with a second color, reminiscent of the letter M;
• The eyes and nose are circled in the main color;
• Alternating rings on the tail and paws;
• On the chest and abdomen two strips of separated spots, similar to buttons;
• Color stripes on the neck - they are also called necklaces;
• Three pronounced broad striae along the entire back;
• On the shoulders of a drawing, shaped like a butterfly;
• On the sides of circles, semicircles or symmetrical divorces;
• The eyes are deep yellow, closer to orange or a hint of old honey.

Figures should be clear, not blurred, and the contrast between the main and second colors - very sharp.

Shades of color

"Marble" can be of almost any color that is inherent in cat hair. According to the international classification, the marble color of cats includes such varieties:

• Black marble. The main background is copper brown, the figure is black.
• Chocolate marble. Wool is the color of milk chocolate, the pattern is dark, bitter chocolate.
• Cinnamon is marble. It sounds incomprehensible, in fact it means that the first color is honey, and the second color resembles a shade of cinnamon sticks.
• Red marble. A classic red-haired cat with a pattern more saturated, almost brown in color.
• Blue marble. Background - soft beige, pattern - bluish-steel color.
• Purple marble. One of the rarest. Wool - a shade of lavender, drawing - steel.
• Tortie marble. It occurs even rarer than the previous one, and is inherent only in cats - cats with such coloring are extremely few. The third color is added to the two colors, but the picture is clearly expressed. Can be made in any shades, but most often found in the chocolate range.

In what breeds is registered "marble"

Almost all short-haired cats have marble varieties of coloring. In "shaggy" cats it is difficult to achieve a clear picture precisely because of the length of the wool - visually it spreads. However, among the Persians, however, the marble color of cats is recorded. But among the Siberians to get a clear picture did not work because of another structure of wool. There is no such coloring in sphinxes. And this is understandable, since they do not have wool. However, the most famous cat is British marble (thanks to TV commercials "Whiskas"). Many people who want to make themselves an animal of this color, call it "dyeing Whiskas" and do not understand what they say about the marble color. Very touching and popular is also the Scottish marble cat, especially the lop-eared. The maine coons of this color were also removed, and other well-known breeds were also acquired.

How to breed cats with such a pattern

Of all the tabby variants, the marble color of cats is the most recessive. Therefore, in order to get the kittens of the desired coloring, the marbling of both parents is obligatory when crossing - then the kittens will be exactly the right figure. Somewhat less effective is the mating, in which one of the parents is spotty or brindle. When mating only brindle, all kinds of kittens are born - both "tigers", and spotted, and "marbles", if, of course, parents have the desired gene. Crossing the brindle producer and spotted will give the same results, but a pair of spotted will give only marble and the same as they.

"Marble" in the wild

As it is clear from the article, so beautiful coloring of wool in cats man is artificially deduced. However, nature was ahead of people. There is a real, natural marble cat that has received its natural color. In terms of size, the animal corresponds to its home relatives and is very similar to them, only the tail is longer than we are used to, as the beast lives on a tree and uses it as a balancer. Only DNA analysis showed that the marble cat is closer to large relatives like lions and tigers. The beast lives with a strange coloring in the Nepal zone (north of India and Indonesia), it is still poorly known (even the number is known quite approximately), and in captivity is present in a single copy - in the Thai zoo.