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Black cats are gorgeous with their stunning, inky, velvet coats and expressive eyes. Because of how dark their fur is, their eyes seem to stand out even more.
Most black cats will have irises with one of three colors: yellow/gold, orange/copper, or green, although yellow is the most common iris color seen in black cats. But why do some black cats have orange eyes? It all comes down to genetics, so buckle in; we’re going to give you a high school biology class refresher to teach you all about cat genetics so you can better understand the “why” and “how” behind a black cat’s fur and eye color.
What Determines a Cat’s Eye & Coat Color?
We all know that genetics play an important role in the color of a cat’s fur, but genetics are also responsible for determining their eye color. Cells known as melanocytes are responsible for the production and storage of melanin, the pigment that determines skin, fur, and eye color. In a cat’s hair shaft, these cells make pigment granules known as pheomelanin (red-yellow) and eumelanin (black-brown). Black cats will naturally produce a high amount of eumelanin, explaining why they have such gorgeous black coats.
Melanocytes are also responsible for determining a cat’s eye color. However, it is important to note that the melanin created by these melanocytes doesn’t affect the color of the eyes quite the same way it does their fur.
What Causes Orange Eyes?
The presence, or absence, of pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes in a cat’s
iris will determine their eye color. The color and its intensity will depend on the amount of melanin present in the two layers of the iris: the stroma and the posterior pigmented epithelium.
Cats with more melanocytes will have a more orange in their eyes. Those with blue eyes have no melanin in the stroma, the thickest layer of the iris. What gives them the blue color is the light that enters the eye and gets scattered back. Black cats with a large number of melanocytes can have eyes that vary from amber to copper.
What Cat Breeds Can Have Orange Eyes?
Though orange is among the rarest eye colors for cats, some breeds will sport orange eyes more often than others.
The Bombay is actually the only cat breed that consists solely of black-colored cats. Their eyes will always be copper or golden-colored.
Turkish Vans are another breed known for their stunning eye colors. They’ll most often have amber or orange eyes, though blue and odd-eyed (one eye of each color) are acceptable as part of the Turkish Van breed standard.
British Shorthairs are also known for their big, gorgeous orange eyes, though this isn’t the only color seen in this breed. The breed standard also includes deep sapphire blue and gold.
Is Coat Color Associated With Eye Color?
Coat and eye color are not always linked in cats. For example, cats that carry the uncommon albino mutation will have a white coat and blue eyes. Other types of mutations, such as those in the Tyrosinase gene, also called the color gene, will result in colorpoint cats, like the Burmese and Siamese. Burmese will have yellow to gold eyes and Siamese will have blue eyes. Most cats with white coats will have blue eyes, and many of these beautiful cats also tend to be born deaf. Scientists have determined that one specific dominant gene called W (for White) is responsible for the snow-white coat coloration, as well as the blue eyes and deafness these cats are sometimes known for.
A cat carrying the W gene will have a white coat with 100% certainty. However, the likelihood of that cat being born deaf will depend on its eye color. Researchers found that 17% to 22% of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf, while upwards of 65% to 85% of all-white cats with two blue eyes will be deaf.
Final Thoughts
Cat genetics are fascinating, especially in the case of black cats. All cats’ eye colors are determined by genetics. Cats with orange eyes will have more pigment-producing cells (AKA melanocytes) in their irises. How active these melanocytes are will determine how intense of an orange color their eyes are.
Sources
- https://cfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/turkish-van-standard.pdf
- https://cfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/british-shorthair-standard.pdf
- https://basepaws.com/blog/the-peculiar-case-of-cat-eye-colors
- https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/ask-elizabeth-white-cats-and-blindnessdeafness
- https://coloradofelinefosterrescue.org/cat-coloring-where-do-eye-and-coat-colors-come-from/
- https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/albino-cat
- https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/colorpoint-restriction
Featured Image Credit: Anna Krivitskaya, Shutterstock
Contents
- What Causes Orange Eyes?
- What Cat Breeds Can Have Orange Eyes?
- Is Coat Color Associated With Eye Color?
- Final Thoughts
