By Shauna Toller of Baylynx Pixie-Bobs
This article is written to introduce you to the different shades and colors you may see within
the Pixie-Bob breed. I’m going to save the more technical aspects of coat color, such as
dominant/recessive colors, heritability, genetics, spotting patterns etc., for a different article.
Most often Pixie-Bobs are brown/black spotted tabbies or, “BST’s”; the type our breeders
selectively work for. The look is reminiscent of most coat patterns found in the North
American Coastal Red Bobcat (Coastal Reds), the bobcat subspecies our breed is developed
to resemble.
Generally our BST’s, have a brown background color. The shades of brown vary from a sandy
tan color to a deep mahogany. Breeders also breed for rufusing within this color. Rufusing is
that reddish tinge to the coat. Some individuals have more of it than others. The more rufusing
your Pixie-Bob has the warmer the brown pigmentation will appear, giving them a warmer coat
color. If your Pixie-Bob has little to no rufusing, it is referred to as a cool coat.
Fanciers also breed for a heavily ticked coat. Ticking is a result of the Agouti gene which
causes the individual hairs to have dark and light banding. Instead of the tips of the hairs
alternating from a dark to light, starting at the tip, Pixie-Bobs have reversed ticking. It first
starts with a mouse gray base then graduates in to light cream to more rufus tones, then black
or brown tones. Some actually have 5 different bands of color on each hair with silver band on
the very tip. This accounts for a more heavily ticked coat. This reverse ticking gives their coat
more of a wild look that resembles the Coastal Reds.
Every once in a while, depending on genetics, breeders will get a blue, white, black or even
melanistic Pixie-Bob. As I stated earlier, I will go over the genetic background of these colors
in a future article.
Blues Pixie-Bobs? Every once in a while a “Blue” may pop up. It doesn’t necessarily mean the
breeder crossed their BST to a non-Pixie. These genes can be passed down for quite a while
before ever popping up, and this doesn’t make them any less Pixie. There can be several
shades of blue Pixie-Bob. Some lighter or darker than others with heavy or muted spotting and
ticked coats. The lighter looking more silvery while the darker looking more like a blue grey.
The ones with the heavier ticking have a frosted appearance to them due to all the light
colored tips due to the agouti gene.
Black Pixie-Bobs. With out getting in to genetic details, for all intensive purposes, these cats
appear black in color but lack the spotting.
Melanistics. These cats are black but have spotting as well, like a panther. In the light or
when walking away, you can see their spots.
White Pixie-Bobs occur the least in our breed. The few I’ve seen were born white and from
what I was told, their spotting comes in as they mature. Some look like seal points when they
are born.
On occasion, some breeders will have kittens born that are light crème, some almost white in
color. These kittens will usually darken up and resemble the standard BST coloration as they
mature.
Blues, blacks, melanistics and white Pixie-Bobs are gorgeous cats. While they can’t be shown
in Alter or Championship classes due to their non-standard colors, they can be shown in House
Hold Pet classes in TICA.
People showing in the House Hold Pet category have tons of fun and are a great crowd to be
around. One of the more famous House Hold Pet Pixie-Bob being shown is “BJ” a huge,
gorgeous melanistic Pixie-Bob boy owned by Laura and Richard Stephens. He is frequently
seen attending the Arcadia California TICA cat shows.
the Pixie-Bob breed. I’m going to save the more technical aspects of coat color, such as
dominant/recessive colors, heritability, genetics, spotting patterns etc., for a different article.
Most often Pixie-Bobs are brown/black spotted tabbies or, “BST’s”; the type our breeders
selectively work for. The look is reminiscent of most coat patterns found in the North
American Coastal Red Bobcat (Coastal Reds), the bobcat subspecies our breed is developed
to resemble.
Generally our BST’s, have a brown background color. The shades of brown vary from a sandy
tan color to a deep mahogany. Breeders also breed for rufusing within this color. Rufusing is
that reddish tinge to the coat. Some individuals have more of it than others. The more rufusing
your Pixie-Bob has the warmer the brown pigmentation will appear, giving them a warmer coat
color. If your Pixie-Bob has little to no rufusing, it is referred to as a cool coat.
Fanciers also breed for a heavily ticked coat. Ticking is a result of the Agouti gene which
causes the individual hairs to have dark and light banding. Instead of the tips of the hairs
alternating from a dark to light, starting at the tip, Pixie-Bobs have reversed ticking. It first
starts with a mouse gray base then graduates in to light cream to more rufus tones, then black
or brown tones. Some actually have 5 different bands of color on each hair with silver band on
the very tip. This accounts for a more heavily ticked coat. This reverse ticking gives their coat
more of a wild look that resembles the Coastal Reds.
Every once in a while, depending on genetics, breeders will get a blue, white, black or even
melanistic Pixie-Bob. As I stated earlier, I will go over the genetic background of these colors
in a future article.
Blues Pixie-Bobs? Every once in a while a “Blue” may pop up. It doesn’t necessarily mean the
breeder crossed their BST to a non-Pixie. These genes can be passed down for quite a while
before ever popping up, and this doesn’t make them any less Pixie. There can be several
shades of blue Pixie-Bob. Some lighter or darker than others with heavy or muted spotting and
ticked coats. The lighter looking more silvery while the darker looking more like a blue grey.
The ones with the heavier ticking have a frosted appearance to them due to all the light
colored tips due to the agouti gene.
Black Pixie-Bobs. With out getting in to genetic details, for all intensive purposes, these cats
appear black in color but lack the spotting.
Melanistics. These cats are black but have spotting as well, like a panther. In the light or
when walking away, you can see their spots.
White Pixie-Bobs occur the least in our breed. The few I’ve seen were born white and from
what I was told, their spotting comes in as they mature. Some look like seal points when they
are born.
On occasion, some breeders will have kittens born that are light crème, some almost white in
color. These kittens will usually darken up and resemble the standard BST coloration as they
mature.
Blues, blacks, melanistics and white Pixie-Bobs are gorgeous cats. While they can’t be shown
in Alter or Championship classes due to their non-standard colors, they can be shown in House
Hold Pet classes in TICA.
People showing in the House Hold Pet category have tons of fun and are a great crowd to be
around. One of the more famous House Hold Pet Pixie-Bob being shown is “BJ” a huge,
gorgeous melanistic Pixie-Bob boy owned by Laura and Richard Stephens. He is frequently
seen attending the Arcadia California TICA cat shows.
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| Pixie-Bob Colors |
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