Today our featured cat is the Tuxedo Cat. Tuxedo cat is a name we give to cats that are predominantly black with white fur on the face chest and paws. I have four Tuxedo cats. Along with Lacy there is Soxs, Ariel and Roxanne.
Tuxedo Cats
A Tuxedo cat is a bi color cat with a black and white coat. When you see a Tuxedo cat they appear to be wearing a formal black tie suit. Most tuxedo cats also sport a black mask. A true Tuxedo cat should have a coat coloring consisting of a solid black coat with white fur on the paws, belly throat, chest and on the chin. Two of my Tuxedos have a common black teardrop at the right eye.
The Tuxedo cat is not a breed of a cat. The tuxedo pattern can appear in many breeds of cats. The Tuxedo pattern is caused by a white spotting gene. Wikipedia states that the basic colors and patterns of cat fur are defined by fewer that 10 genes.
Cats with a white coat are believed to have a mutant white spotting gene that suppresses the formation of coat color in patches. There are three genotypes possible with the “S” or white spotting gene with the capital S representing a wild-type copy and a lower case “s” representing the mutant gene. One is the “SS” this grouping has two dominant Alleles(one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome) resulting in a white cat. The second paring is “Ss”(one dominant, one recessive allele) pairing results in medium grades of white spotting. The third is “ss” paring( two recessive alleles) produces a solid color or low grades of white spotting.
I love my Tuxedo cats. Are they my favorite cats? That’s like asking which is your favorite child.
Soxs
Soxs is my first Tuxedo cat. I found him in the wood pile in the back yard. When I found him he must of been only a couple months old. What a find! He is five years old now and is my official office cat. I take him outside on the leash, but his favorite place is in the office being alone with me.
Roxanne
Roxy is my second office cat. She must have been dumped in the country because she adapted so well to the house and really does not like cold weather. She is my adventure cat.
Lacy
This girl is turning six during this second week of April 2018. She was adopted from a single person that could not give her enough time. It must of taken her a year to finally be comfortable with us and her six other brothers and sisters plus two dogs. She escaped once for two weeks and it was stressful for every body. When she got back in the house she had a total personality change. She loves to cuddle now and comes for brushing.
Ariel
Is Ariel a Tuxedo cat? Please comment. I found him in the back yard when he was 4 weeks old. Now he is a handsome medium haired cat.
Adopting Tuxedo Cats
I have read that Tuxedo cats stay in the shelters as long as Black cats. I do not understand the thinking sometimes. When you go to the shelter consider the cats that are slow to be adopted. My Tenzin was in the shelter for months. He is now a very handsome Ginger boy and loves his home. Please don’t overlook the senior cats as they need to retire gracefully too. I have seven cats two dogs and two horses. Lots of these family members are young and can easily out live me. We have provided for them in our will. It is so sad when owners pass away and the cats end up at the shelter.
If you can’t adopt, foster, or volunteer at the shelter. When these are not possible please consider financially supporting your local shelter. Some shelters are registered charities and will provide tax receipts.
Hint Of The Day
It was a nice day yesterday with light jacket weather and melting snow. I put the harnesses on Roxy and Soxs and out we went. Soxs didn’t like his feet getting wet. When I picked Soxs up he kind of panicked. If I didn’t have a jacket on there would have been some scratches.
Because cats are fast and skittish when you take your cats on the leash a person must be ready for any surprise. A firm hold on the leash plus the proper clothing so if you need to pick up your cat you will not get injured. A loose cat on a long leash is disastrous for the cat. Don’t let them get away.
Please click the link to my Cat Care products page for cat harnesses.
That’s my story for today. Tuxedo cats are great. Please consider adopting one. Now hug a kitty and do something green for the environment. Adopting a kitty saves a life and helps the community.
Don’t forget to check my Cat Care products page to help with tour pet needs.
Trevor