Black and White Kitten

Everyone has a favorite kind of kitten. While they are all adorable, some people prefer orange kittens. Not me though, I like a black and white kitten. Something about these little tuxedo cats just gets me every time. Maybe it’s because we used to have a black and white kitten named Winston Churchill. I think we chose that name because he always looked like he was dressed up to go out and he seemed serious for a kitten. Anyway, whenever I’m at a cat show I find that my heart always skips a beat for the black and white kittens.

The good news for black and white kitten fans is that they are pretty common. Shelter owners say that orange kittens go first, and black cats go last, putting black and white kittens firmly in the middle. Plus, since they’re not a pedigree breed, you should be able to easily adopt one come “kitten season” (Spring through Summer.) This is the time of year that most cats give birth, inundating shelters with kittens. But be careful—it can be hard to leave with only one! If you have your heart set on a black and white kitten, look up the address of your local shelter and ask them what color cats they’ve got. Alternatively, there are now many local websites that match adoptable kittens with loving owners, and many of these sites include photos so you can see the kitten in question without taking a drive.

Black and white kittens are technically “bicolor” kittens. While all black and white cats are bicolor, not all bicolor cats are black and white; the cat’s base color is white, and its secondary color is determined genetically. Cat breeders also have specific terminology to refer to the cat’s markings. For example, a “Van” patterned cat has its secondary color on its head and tail only while a “Tuxedo” only has white on its paws and throat. Between those two black and white cat extremes there are the “Magpie” (random, evenly distributed color), the “”Cap-and-saddle” and the “Mask-and-mantle.” Cat breeders also have a 1-10 point grading system for describing bicolor black and white cats. The most common black and white cat breeds are the American Shorthair, the Turkish Angora, the Manx and the British Shorthair.

Black and white kittens have also made their mark on popular culture. Real and imagined black and white bicolor cats include Felix the Cat, Sylvester from Looney Tunes, First Cat Sox while the Clintons were in the white house and the Jellicle Cats from T.S. Eliot’s famous Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats poetry collection (later turned into the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.)