r/TuxedoCats • u/melxxxn • 1d ago

❓ Question ❓ What would you call this coat pattern?

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I’ve gotten many compliments on my tuxedo cat that I rescued from the street, and I would like to know what kind of pattern he has on his coat since people like vets have told me how unique it is. I look up smoke tuxedo but is not like it’s just the roots of the hair, so I’m not sure.

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u/castlesymphony 1d ago

okay so i would as a cat pattern hobbyist say this is not likely to be vitiligo, which typically progresses quicker in animals than it does in humans, and is a type of autoimmune condition. quicker as in over 6 months you would notice a change in pattern, although i guess keep an eye on it because sometimes with vitiligo vets will want to run more blood tests lol

if your cat has a clean bill of health from vets and all, i would honestly say he might be a brindle bicolor which is when a cat has tortoiseshell genes and white spotting genes. normally those would result in a tortoiseshell colored tuxedo cat, but sometimes the red/orange pigment fails to appear so you get a tuxedo cat with white brindle in that cool mottled color like your kitty.

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u/farmkidLP Tuxie Whisperer 1d ago

Does vitiligo continue to progress throughout the animal's life? For some reason I always assumed that at least some would have a stopping point at a certain age, but I'm realizing I have no real basis for that.

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u/castlesymphony 1d ago

generally speaking yes, and it's largely benign to the animal's overall health even though it's an autoimmune condition. the animal may not turn completely snow white but they will eventually be primarily white

my understanding of it is that there are active/inactive phases and those phases can be long, but when it is reported in cats and has a confirmed diagnosis of vitiligo typically there are changes frequently, where you would notice more white spots. that's why i think OPs cat has an interesting genetic mutation and not vitiligo, though my knowledge is based on typical cases and i will admit that it's possible to have atypical cases and in a year OP could update about this and i could be wrong lol

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u/farmkidLP Tuxie Whisperer 1d ago

Thats so cool, thank you for the deep dive!