Pet Punter

Archive for the ‘The Colors In Pets’ Category

Of the dwarf Russian, one of the first colors to be created was the sapphire. This is a bluish-grey with a stripe along its black and blue markings. The pearl, which is greenish in color, has become popular in recent years. The most distinctive color of the dwarf Campbell’s is the argente, which has a ginger-colored stripe down its back. There is also a true albino form, which is entirely white in color, with the characteristics pink eyes. A satin-coated mutation has also been developed in recent years, and as the name suggests, this variety boasts a noticeably sleek coat. The color of the dwarf Russian hamsters may change through the year. Their dark fur will be replaced by white at the start of the winter.

The catalogue of Persian longhaired cats until this point has been based on a solid color cat modified by the introduction of the tabby pattern, silver or white patching. The pioneers of colorpoint breeding fused the Persian type longhair with the Himalayan (which is why this breed is known in America as Himalayan) pattern of the Siamese cat. The result was a cat of Persian type with long hair and the restricted coat pattern of the Siamese. The points (mask, legs, feet and tail) are evenly colored and there is a good contrast between the points and body color. Light body shading, if present, should be confined to the shoulders and flanks and should complement the points.

The mask covers the entire face. It should not extend over the head, although the mask of a mature male is more extensive than that of a mature female. Kittens are born white and fluffy, the point colors staring to appear in less than a week. Attempts to transfer the Siamese pattern to Persian type were being made before World War II, but the cats were not shown until 1957 in California, and were only officially incorporated into the Persian breed by the Cat Fanciers Association in 1984. Breeding lines have since expanded to develop the full rang of point colors. The colorpoint Persian has now outstripped the Blue in the longhair popularity stakes. The darkened points of the Siamese are blended with all the characteristics of the Persian Longhair. This cat is a Blue Colorpoint.

White Forms: The palest varieties now available are the white forms. The true white is pure white in color, sometimes displaying odd darker patches. It is not a true albino, as it may have some black hairs on the body and has the black ears and eyes. This is in contrast to the pink white where the presence of any pigment is restricted to traces of beige coloring. The ears and paws are both pink and eyes may vary in color from pink to red, emphasizing the lack of dark melanin pigment in the white chinchilla form.

Beige Forms: There are two forms of beige chinchillas and these differ in their genetic make-up and these differ in their genetic make-up and thus, their coloration. The pure homozygous beige is pale in color than its heterozygous counterpart, and is a very pale shade of cream with a slight pink suffusion. The eyes in this case are also a pale shade of pink, with a whitish ring surrounding the pupil at the center at each eye. Heterozygous beige chinchillas vary in color from cream through shades of dark beige, with significantly paler under parts, as in it the standard variety. The eye coloration is often more clearly defined, ranging from pink to red.

While there are now over 700 different varieties of mice, the number of fancy rat mutations is much lower, totaling less than 30. In most cases, the choice of colors available in most pet stores is small, so if you are seeking out some of the more unusual colors, you will usually need to contact a breeder.

Breeds of rat that are furthest removed from the natural agouti form are the most popular. The most widely kept variety of rat is the albino form, sometimes called the white, which is distinguished by its pink eyes. Its lack of color pigment also accounts for its pink ears and tail. Most of the new rat varieties have direct counterparts in the mouse fancy, with the exception of the mink. This at is coffee colored, with a bluish sheen to its coat. Darker colors include the chocolate, which should be an even dark shade, as well as the black, which must also be pure in color with no odd white hairs visible in its coat. In addition, there are other self varieties with pink eyes and a rosy hue – including the champagne, which is beige. The patterned color variants include the hooded, which has a colored area over its head and shoulders, extending down the back to the base of the tail. In the case of the capped form, there is no darker streak running back down the spine, and the remainder of the fur is white. There is no long-coated form, although there is a rex mutation which has distinctive curled fur and whiskers.

There are both shelf and patterned varieties of fancy mice. One of the most striking is the self red, which is a rich shade of chestnut. Its coloration is improved by the addition of a satin mutation, which gives a glossy sheen to the coat. The eyes are black, but some varieties, such as white and cream, exit in both pink-eyed and black-eyed forms. Evenness of color through the coat is an essential attribute for self-colored mice of all varieties. Tan varieties are instantly recognizable by their appearance. Their under parts are tan-colored, while the remainder of the body is a contrasting shade. The feet should match the body color on the outside and be tan-colored on the inside. Nor is it just dark shades such as black and tan that are regularly seen. Lighter variants, too, such as silver and tan, are quite commonly bred. Mice showing various other markings are also widely kept today. These include Himalayans, with dark pints and the Dutch, which has a similar pattern to that of the corresponding guinea pig or rabbit breeds. The feature of the long-coated and rex variants can be combined with any color form or patterning. The scope here is truly enormous and some fascinating specimens can be seen at the larger mice shows.