Please choose a pattern at top to learn more about Persian Kitten Patterns. You are currently looking at a calico kitten, a black shaded Persian kitten, another blue-eyed white Persian kitten, a black and red calico Persian kitten, and a Black Himalayan kitten.
Calico: Like torti's, all calico Persians are girls. This is because they are torti's but they have a bi-color gene as well. Calicos always have a red gene, a black gene, and a bi-color gene (which causes white).
Variations on the red and black gene let calicos be blue/cream/white, chocolate/red/white, etc.
Bi-Color: A bi-color cat always has white plus one other color. It is a dominant gene making it appear frequently. The bi-color gene itself causes the white color by blocking half of the cats color genes. You can have Himalayan bi-colors, tabby bi-colors and more.
The bi-color gene can appear alone, which is most common, or in pairs. If a Persian has a pair of bi-color genes, it is called a van rather than bi-color. Vans are much lighter because they will have twice as much white.
Tabby: There are several tabby genes that create different patterns. The
tabby gene in combination with other genes also can create well known
looks such as silvers, goldens, brown patched, etc.
One tabby pattern is the mackerel, easily identified by the M shaped marking on its forehead. Mackerel tabbies have stripes like a tiger with an additional stripe down their backbone. Blotched is another kind of tabby. They also have the backbone stripe, but have swirls of colors on their hind and front quarters. Spotted tabbies have spots like a leopard. There are many other kinds of tabbies as well.
Torti: Also known as parti, torti's are always female. They are red and black or a variation of red
and black
(See Color Variations) and contain no white. This means the bi-color gene cannot be present, although other color altering genes can giving you blue, cream, chocolate, and more colors.
Smoke/Cameo: Smoke and cameo are both shadings. Smoke is a shading of black and cameo is a shading of red.
Similar to shaded silvers, smokes and cameos have white on the bottom part of each hair and color on the top half.
Himalayan: The Himalayan gene is a partial albino gene. It is partial because it removes color from the body of the cat, but the ears, nose, feet, and tail still have color. Eyes are also affected by the gene giving all Himalayans blue eyes, although there are different shades of blue.
When born, Himalayans are all white. As they get larger, the cats body temperature at their skin decreases. This decrease in body temperature allows color to come back, blocking the Himalayan albino gene. This also explains why kittens have color noses, ears, tails, and feet, the extremities of the kitten are the coolest place, so there's color!
The decrease in body temperature has a good deal to do with circulation. Blood circulation decreases as kittens grow up. This is why older Himalayans are darker than younger ones.
Shaded Silver: In shaded silvers and chinchilla silvers, each hair is primarily white. At the tip of each hair there is a little but of color, making them shaded.
When they are born, shaded silvers are dark and have tabby striping patterns. As they get older, the color lightens, which is the opposite of Himalayans. Chinchilla silvers are will be slightly lighter than shaded silvers Persians. Although if you get an exceptionally light shaded silver Persian, it may be lighter colored than a darker chinchilla.
