And...
After testing 181 cats to make sure they knew what they were seeing...
Cat-eyes glasses. Don't leave home without them!!!
Posted on 09/17/2025 6:13:31 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
You’ve probably heard of spooky black cats, chaotic orange cats, and distinguished-looking tuxedo cats. If you’re really into cats, you might have even lesser-known color variants like seal point and ticked tabby. But there’s officially a new cat color in town— salmiak, or ‘salty liquorice.’ You can see one here.
The pretty black, white, and grey shade—named for a popular snack food in Finland, where this coat color has been making itself known—is thanks to a fur strand that starts off black near the root, but grows whiter and whiter out towards the tip. The coat was first spotted in 2007, and in 2019, it was brought to the attention of a group of cat experts lead by feline geneticist Heidi Anderson. Since then, the group has been trying to figure out exactly what causes this shade to express itself, and recently, they finally figured it out. A paper on the discovery has been published in the journal Animal Genetics.
When you’re digging into cat colors—or expressions of genetic traits in general, honestly—you start with the obvious and work your way out. So, the researchers naturally started by assuming that this new variant was just a fun way for the white-making ‘dilution’ gene to make itself known.
See, technically speaking, cats only come in two colors—black and orange. Any other color is either a combination of those two colors, a faded version of one of those colors (which is caused by the dilution gene) or both. So, when experts started seeing salt-and-pepper kitties running around, the natural assumption was that these were an interesting new expression of the dilution gene coming into play. Add a little more white than usual to your standard black cat, and you get salty liquorice.
But after digging through all the known genetic variations that control the expression of that dilution gene in coat color, the team came up empty. So, they took the next step—sequencing the entire genome of two of these special felines and digging through the whole mess of genetic data to find what was causing these new coats to appear.
It turns out that the answer was in what wasn’t there. “There was a huge chunk of sequence missing downstream from the KIT gene,” Anderson told New Scientist, referencing a gene known to affect white patterns in the coats of animals. And these cats were just… missing a piece of DNA right nearby.
After testing 181 cats to make sure they knew what they were seeing, the team was able to confirm that the missing sequence was in fact responsible for the salmiak coat color. And the mutation was recessive—the cat would only express this color if it inherited the mutation from both parents, which explains why this coloration isn’t a common one.
Now that they’ve solved the mystery, the team is happy to sit back and admire their pretty kitties along with the rest of the world. “These coats have aroused a lot of admiration for years,” Anderson told New Scientist. “It’s really exciting that we now have some genetic explanation for it.”
But they’re not just putting their feet up. According to a blog post written by Anderson, the solving of this puzzle both “enriches our understanding of feline coat color genetics” and could be “valuable for breeding efforts, potentially contributing to the preservation of this trait in our feline companions.”
Hopefully, we’ll continue to see these fancy felines for years to come.
A couple weeks ago I was dreaming of the cats we’ve had over the last 30 years. They were playing with a bunch of other cats, and one was tabby with a lot of pink mixed in.
When I saw the title of this thread I figured I’d be freaked out if the new color is pink!
Maybe it’s the salt & pepper pattern I’m supposed to see as unique, but I can recognize colors just fine, and I don’t see any besides black and white.
Most importantly though, does it still taste like chicken?
General Tso wants to know.
And...
After testing 181 cats to make sure they knew what they were seeing...
Cat-eyes glasses. Don't leave home without them!!!
LOL It is mostly black and white. It is the pattern that is unusual.
I was expecting a blue or purple cat based on the article’s title. Think of all the trouble a Leftist cat could get into.
My head is looking more like that every day.
Sounds like it’s a “ticked” coat.
https://ifunny.co/picture/you-have-enough-but-i-don-t-cats-have-these-du9r1B2zA
My hubby thinks I’m joking.
I thought a group of cats was a ‘clowder?’
LOL!
Mr. Mistoffelees
T. S. Eliot 1888 –1965
You ought to know Mr. Mistoffelees!
The Original Conjuring Cat—
(There can be no doubt about that).
Please listen to me and don’t scoff. All his
Inventions are off his own bat.
There’s no such Cat in the metropolis;
He holds all the patent monopolies
For performing surprising illusions
And creating eccentric confusions.
At prestidigitation
And at legerdemain
He’ll defy examination
And deceive you again.
The greatest magicians have something to learn
From Mr. Mistoffelees’ Conjuring Turn.
Presto!
Away we go!
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!
He is quiet and small, he is black
From his ears to the tip of his tail;
He can creep through the tiniest crack
He can walk on the narrowest rail.
He can pick any card from a pack,
He is equally cunning with dice;
He is always deceiving you into believing
That he’s only hunting for mice.
He can play any trick with a cork
Or a spoon and a bit of fish-paste;
If you look for a knife or a fork
And you think it is merely misplaced—
You have seen it one moment, and then it is gawn!
But you’ll find it next week lying out on the lawn.
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!
His manner is vague and aloof,
You would think there was nobody shyer—
But his voice has been heard on the roof
When he was curled up the fire.
And he’s sometimes been heard by the fire
When he was about on the roof—
(At least we all heard somebody who purred)
Which is incontestable proof
Of his singular magical powers:
And I have known the family to call
Him in from the garden for hours,
While he was asleep in the hall.
And not long ago this phenomenal Cat
Produced seven kittens right out of a hat!
And we all say: OH!
Well I never!
Was there ever
A Cat so clever
As Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!
The important question is: Are they good mousers or are they freeloaders?
That would be BOTH my hubby and me. 😸
Groups of cats, clowder — that’s when they get lowder.
There’s a new cat in town (I don’t wanna hear it)
There’s a new cat in town (I don’t wanna hear it, ah-ooh)
There’s a new cat in town
There’s a new cat in town
Groups of cats, clowder - that’s when they get lowder ... making cat chowder ...
Mehitabel says wotthehell wotthehell. Also toujours gai.
My niece paid $3000 for a stupid fashion statement cat. I about fell out my chair when she told me that. I would have given her one of the barn cat mousers for half that.
>> My niece paid $3000 for a stupid fashion statement cat.
Our vet frequently goes on rants regarding “designer animals”. Pay megabucks for an animal (often on their charge card at 18% interest). Then they bring it in to be euthanized because they can’t afford it when the animal gets sick or is hurt in an accident.
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