Our British Cat Coat Colour Codes Explained
We specialise in Breeding British Shorthair, British Longhair and Maine Coon cats. We breed the delightful shimmer of Shaded, Chinchilla Tipping and Ticked kittens in a beautiful range of specialised colours.
Within our silver, golden and colour point lines there are beautiful specialised colours; our colours are chocolate, lilac, black, blue and cinnamon.
This article provides a simple overview of cat coat markings and colours and how they relate to the EMS coding system.
Dilutions
Blue is the dilution colour of Black.
Lilac and cinnamon are the dilution colours of Chocolate.
Types of Markings
Ticked (Ta) and Spotted (T) coat markings are the Tabby banding of colours on a cat’s fur.
In the Silver & Golden Cats, the type is also characterised by colour at the tips of the hair. There are three types which include chinchilla, shaded and smoke, each distinguished by the extent of the shading on individual hairs.
In Chinchillas only the very tip of the outer coat is coloured, which gives a delightful shimmer to the coat. With the shaded pattern a quarter of the guard hair farthest from the cat’s body exhibits the colour. In the smoke pattern half of the guard hair farthest from the cat’s body displays the colour.
Easy Mind System (EMS)
We are affiliated through FIFe and they use the Easy Mind System (EMS) to identify cats by codes.
The code for a specific colour, pattern or other trait is always the same, no matter the breed. The EMS system is not a genetically based system. Within FIFe Chinchilla is described as Shaded.
Types of Markings
EMS uses numbers to represent the marking types:
Shaded = 11
Spotted = 24
Ticked = 25
Colour Codes
Golden Lines
Black & Dilution colours:
Black Golden tipped (ticked) = ny 11 (25)
Blue Golden tipped (ticked) = ay 11 (25)
Black Golden tipped/ticked Colour Point = ny 11 (25) 33
Blue Golden tipped/ticked Colour Point = ay 11 (25) 33
Chocolate & Dilution colours:
Chocolate golden tipped (ticked) = by 11 (25)
Lilac Golden tipped (ticked) = cy 11 (25)
Cinnamon golden tipped (ticked) = oy 11 (25)
Chocolate golden tipped/ticked Colour Point = by 11 (25) 33
Lilac Golden tipped/ticked Colour Point = cy 11 (25) 33
Silver Lines
Black & Dilution colours:
Black Silver tipped (ticked) = ns 11 (25)
Blue Silver tipped (ticked) = as 11 (25)
Chocolate & Dilution colours:
Chocolate Silver tipped (ticked) = bs 11 (25)
Lilac Silver tipped (ticked) = cs 11 (25)
Cinnamon Silver tipped (ticked) = os 11 (25)
What about EMS code 12?
Lately, we have seen an increase of Tipped Golden & Silver cats with less visible tipping markings. The tipping is restricted to just the tip of the tail and ears and MUST be visible. The paw pads, top of the coat is clear of any markings and the underbelly, chin, nose and paws are lighter near white in tone.
They are rare and thus are twice the price - commonly valued at $2,500 and more. A good stud will be on average $5,000.
Fife does not recognise this code - it is described as 11 on the Pedigrees.
Golden Cat that is ny12 - on FiFe pedigree ny11
Silver Cat ns12 - on FiFe pedigree ns11
Our article about Colour & Markings Genetics covers more detailed information on the genetics behind the coats and how they are inherited.
Interested in obtaining a Belle Ayr Kitten, or breeding from our lines?
All our currently available kittens / cats are shown on our home page.
If you’re a registered breeder and are interested in introducing our colours into your lines, then please see our breeder information and contact us.
