Available Colors and Patterns

Color genetics in cats is both simple and complex.   The basics - tabby vs. solid,  colorpoint vs tabby/solid, white spotting, full color vs dilute and/or inhibitor, is fairly easy to understand.  Some of the variants of those colors - the golden tabby variant of brown tabbies, bi-metallics, and the various tabby patterns can be quite complex.    A good reason to have a basic understanding of feline color genetics is it can help you spot a scammer quickly if you understand what colors and patterns are "dominant" and which are "recessive" and simply ask the seller to see pictures of the parents.  For example, two blue parents will never produce anything but a blue kitten because the blue color is recessive (requires a copy of the gene from both parents), though they could produce a blue-golden.  For a kitten to be silver, brown or red, one of the parents must have those colors in their coat.   Tabby kittens must have one tabby parent, though a solid kitten can have two tabby parents.   Rather than reinvent the wheel, I will refer you to the "Messy Beast" website, which provides detailed articles on feline color/pattern genetics yet avoids most of the "tech speak" that only a geneticist can understand. http://messybeast.com/genetics-index.htm.