Could your cat's personality be linked to their coat colour?

When it comes to coat colours, the basic palette consists of black, white, grey, brown and red (which is often referred to as orange, ginger or marmalade).

You might think all cats have the same temperament, or you may believe that all cats have their own distinct personalities. But can a cat’s coat colour really be responsible for their quirky behaviour?

Nicky Trevorrow, Petplan expert and behaviour manager at Cats Protection, says: “While there is some emerging research in this area, there is still a great deal that is not understood, so further research is certainly needed. In particular, looking at causation rather than simply collation – for example, do particular genes for a coat colour also affect the temperament?”

Yes, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley believe so. They surveyed a sample of cat lovers in an attempt to prove a suspected link between coat colour and temperament. They asked owners to assign a range of personality traits, such as active, aloof, bold, calm, friendly, intolerant, shy, stubborn and trainable to different coloured cats.

The survey results revealed that lighter-coloured cats were perceived to be aloof, lazy and calm, while owners assigned more subtle character traits to darker cats, calling them mysterious. The study also showed that people generally thought that tri-coloured cats were less tolerant, while owners viewed ginger cats as the friendliest.

Though conducted in 2012, this research into perceptions about cats matters, because it may lead to different behaviour when it comes to adopting cats from a shelter. For instance, black cats are supposedly the hardest to rehome, as people believe they don’t photograph well or are associated with sinister things like witches and Halloween. Nicky adds: “This could also perhaps just be simply due to the fact that both black cats – and black and white cats – are a common colour and that’s why they are more likely to be overlooked. It doesn’t evoke the scarcity factor to make us more interested.”

While previous research may suggest there are potential personality trends when it comes to coat colour, other experts believe that personality could be due to a relationship between a cat's coat colouring pigments (melanin) and their levels of dopamine, a substance that plays an important role in mood. For example, some believe that cats with lots of pigment may be more tolerant of crowding, and so better suited to city life.

Dr Gary Weitzman, veterinarian and author of the children’s book How to Speak Cat, had similar beliefs. He explained that the typical tortoiseshell cat, whose coat has lots of pigment, is mostly independent and can be pushy about what they want. According to Weitzman, they are also often a one-person-only cat, much to the dismay of other human family members, who are repeatedly shunned.

Tabbies are distinguished by characteristic striped markings and come in a variety of brown, grey or ginger coats.

Some think the brown tabby personality is feisty, perhaps because their camouflage is similar to their wild ancestors.

Grey tabbies are thought to be calmer and more amicable.

Ginger cats are said to have a distinctive personality, with owners saying they are gregarious, extroverted and unreserved.

Most ginger cats are male, with only one in three being female – and those females have a reputation for being particular and demanding.

Although the survey results claimed that white cats were thought to be aloof and not as friendly, many people claim that a white coat evokes a perceived personality of calmness and shyness.

“However, many white cats with blue eyes are actually deaf or deaf in one ear – for example, if they have one blue eye and one yellow eye. So, this perceived ‘aloofness’ could simply be explained by the cat not being able to hear,” explains Nicky.

Black and white felines – also known as tuxedo cats – were thought to be antisocial and standoffish, according to the study.

However, these cats are often said to be smart, affectionate and playful.

The study concluded that this coat colour was said to be easy to train, yet intolerant.

However, it’s not uncommon for tortoiseshell cats to be credited with having a hot-tempered, feisty personality due to the unique pattern of their fiery coats.

Is your cat’s coat not listed here? If you’re not sure which breed your cat is, you can find out in our article.

Despite owners believing their cats have a different personality according to their colour, Mikel Delgado, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, said that there was “little evidence that these perceived differences between differently coloured cats actually exist”.

So, is it wishful thinking or do cats’ colours really correspond to their personalities?

“The main factors that really affect your cat’s personality are genetics from their parents. For example, their ‘bold’ trait would come from their father, and from the influence of kitten socialisation between two to seven weeks – kitten socialisation doesn’t get enough attention!” concludes Nicky.

“Other factors such as environment, previous experience, breed and medical conditions etc, will also play a role in their behaviour. It’s precisely all of these factors contributing, which means that some people will find a particular-coloured cat standoffish, whereas others will have experienced the same-coloured coat to be very friendly. Ultimately, all cats are individuals. That’s what makes them special – and why we love their unique personalities so much.”