One of the intriguing colours in cats is the smoke and the silver colour. Actually, they are really not coat colours, not genetically speaking. The picture below is of black smoke kittens that are currently in Foster.
How can you tell if you have a smoke-coloured cat?
To tell if a cat has a smoke colour, just part the fur and follow the fur to the base, the colour should drain away to a pale colour. (See picture below)
How did this kitten get this colour? Technically smoke is not a colour, it is a gene that inhibits colour. That’s why it looks pale at the base.
The coat colour happens properly when the cat received two versions of the recessive gene from both parents. If cats get on of the dominant I genes from their parent, then their full coat colour will be inhibited (washed out in parts).
Let’s look at the example below. Let’s assume Mum is a black and Dad is a Black Smoke to keep it very simple. All the kittens will be black but because Dad has the dominant colour inhibitor gene, half the kittens in the litter will be the smoke variation.
What about Silver?
This same colour inhibitor gene I that causes the smoke colour, causes silver in a tabby coat pattern. This same dominant gene inhibits some colour here too. Instead of that lovely warm yellow/light brown colour between the tabby bits on the hair, it changes it to a silver colour.
Regular tabby example Foster Mila who is a tabby and while girl