Cataloging the cats June 9, 2013 6:49 PM   Subscribe

I'd swear that a few years ago there was a post on the Blue that linked to a huge chart of cats, grouped by traits. I don't recall the purpose of the chart but I think it was more about inherited traits than, say, how cat shows group cats. Can anyone help track this down, or am I misremembering where I saw it? Thanks!
posted by Room 641-A to MetaFilter-Related at 6:49 PM (31 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite

This? I remembered the poster and backsolved it to that post.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:51 PM on June 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


The link in the thread is 404, though. . .
posted by Curious Artificer at 6:53 PM on June 9, 2013


Ah sorry, this is the poster. That artist has done a number of other similar ones.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:54 PM on June 9, 2013 [4 favorites]


That's it, thanks!

The other charts are great, too. I'm going to poke around and see if there's new FPP material there.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:07 PM on June 9, 2013


This may also be relevent to your interests.
posted by maryr at 8:18 PM on June 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


When I met a fellow MeFite's 8yo daughter in the game Glitch she told me she had a cat. When I asked her what kind of cat it was she replied "I DON'T KNOW!!! CAT TYPE!!!!!!!!!!!"

It just melted my heart, so even though it looks like Torgo is (mainly) a Bicolor Mackerel Tabby with Mask and Mantle spotting, CAT TYPE!!!!!!! is still the best kind of cat.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:54 PM on June 9, 2013 [14 favorites]




This chart is really awesome. I missed it the first time, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

When I was a child I had pet mice and we also had several accidental litters of more mice. I was super interested in the coat colours that came out to the point I even got a book from the library and tried to read about it. Given I was 10 and had no clue about how genetics worked looking at the complicated punnet squares was a waste of time, but I also remember deciding I was going to know how to do it when I was older. Now I'm a scientist, do this kind of stuff for a living, and even have experience running a breeding colony of transgenic mice (which is actually just spreadsheet wrangling but still). I'm still super interested in coat colours 27 years later because it's such an easily tracked, obvious trait to follow but the genetics are surprisingly complicated (and melanin signalling pathways lead into all kinds of other cool biochemistry), except now I'm a crazy cat lady as well. So this is perfect. I wish I had somewhere to hang a poster like this.

Also, people sometimes call Macrophage a tuxeo cat but I see he's really a general Low Grade Spotted #4. I specifically wanted a cat with a black nose and asymmetrical colourings so this is right and proper.
posted by shelleycat at 2:36 AM on June 10, 2013 [5 favorites]


Related, though it sounds like it wasn't what you were thinking of: The Standard Linney Formations [original], by Lucy Knisley
posted by dhartung at 3:03 AM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


I remember that chart very well. I studied it for hours. It's super-cool.

But at the time I didn't notice that it doesn't seem to account for my cat, Muncie (photo taken six years ago when she was two). The chart seems to say that a true calico will only have copper or orange eyes, but Muncie has the strong, solid black of an unqualified calico but with notably yellow eyes.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:22 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Ooh, Macrophage is gorgeous and adorable! And a great name.

I'm trying to guess what's going through Torgo's head. Also a great name.

I didn't name Muncie, the shelter did, and for some weird reason I felt weird about changing it. So, kinda stupid name but she's a great cat.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:29 AM on June 10, 2013


The paragraph at the top left points out that not all colour combinations are present and also that colours will be more intense and clearly defined in purebred cats due to selection. For example, my grey cat is pretty clearly a lilac with caramel overtones but she also has a black nose and faint phantom stripe shadows due to her mixed heritage. This is why coat colour is interesting, there are a number of modifier genes which dilute or modify the basic colours so it's not a straight black/white distinction in many cases.
posted by shelleycat at 3:30 AM on June 10, 2013


(grey cat Juniper)
posted by shelleycat at 3:32 AM on June 10, 2013


Hmm, although actually maybe she's a Blue-Based Caramel. Still. Stripes. White patches. Mottled paw pads. All ruining her show cat potential (which is something we like to tease them about in a hilarious way not something to be lamented).
posted by shelleycat at 3:38 AM on June 10, 2013


Thanks for the explanation, shelleycat.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:44 AM on June 10, 2013


I've always liked this bicolor cat chart, just for the way the pelts are stretched out.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:12 AM on June 10, 2013


Ever since I saw that chart and learned about the embryonic color layer "cracking" in bicolor cats, I've been teasing Bonus Cat about his embryo being too fat for his fur color. Who's got a fat little embryo? Is it you?
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:57 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


We have an atypical tuxedo cat. She looks black and white, but she has secret stripes. They're usually only visible in full sun, so I like to think of them as some sort of indicator that she's fully charged. Kind of like those cans that turn blue to tell you your beer is cold.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:23 AM on June 10, 2013 [4 favorites]


My favourite feature of the Spotted Bi-Colour, as seen on both my cat and Metroid Baby's beauty (oh and hey, Muncie has one too), is the white hair tufts inside the black ears.

Mac further ruined his chances of show cat glory by getting an aural haematoma a year or two back leaving one ear notably smaller than the other, thus ruining his best feature. We find the show cat thing funny because he hates strangers and being held and pisses all over himself every time we put him in the carrier, fine ears be damned.
posted by shelleycat at 8:43 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


This is Pico, who has the best mustache in the world. Here is her sister Wilshire. #tuxedocatsbestcats
posted by avocet at 9:06 AM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


Pico's face is lovely.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:40 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


She looks black and white, but she has secret stripes.

We always called those "pseudopstripes."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:45 AM on June 10, 2013


This is Lincoln wearing a bowtie. As long as we're talking about tuxedos.
posted by stennieville at 12:06 PM on June 10, 2013 [4 favorites]


Hmm, my Trilby is white with blue eyes, and is deaf. I had decided he wasn't albino because I read deafness isn't associated with albinoism, but this chart says that albino blue eyes will gleam red at night while blue eyes in other white-coated cats will gleam green. Trilby definitely gets the satanic red eye in low light. Does this mean he's albino or is the chart incorrect?
posted by orange swan at 1:05 PM on June 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


dhartung: "Related, though it sounds like it wasn't what you were thinking of: The Standard Linney Formations [original], by Lucy Knisley"

Cute! Torgo is very familiar with Catnip Time.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:05 PM on June 10, 2013


My more or less standard model default cat (brown tabby, ~40% white, nearly tuxedo) does the Silent Meow. So cute and sad.
posted by maryr at 2:22 PM on June 10, 2013


(brown tabby, ~40% white, nearly tuxedo)

We always called those "armadillo cats."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:40 PM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


That's sort of wonderful. I will have to pass that one along.
posted by maryr at 5:46 PM on June 10, 2013


jamaro: "Here's her DeviantArt page with embiggenable versions."

I've always wished someone would take that chart and make an interactive cat builder out of it. Something like the Catoonizer but with more detail. I mean the Catoonizer's fun, but I look at that chart, and I see how it could be so much more.

Even so, I was able to use it to make a pretty good approximation of my crew (though I did have to break out photoshop to make the one into a Force Ghost). Don't trust the squinty orange one, he's full of mischief.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:43 PM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


interactive cat builder

They breed quite well on their own, or so I've heard. I, for one...
posted by dhartung at 3:51 AM on June 11, 2013


The Island of Doctor Meowreau
posted by Room 641-A at 9:00 AM on June 11, 2013


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