Salmiak Cat

[groundsky]

I’ve been following this new type of cat coat color for 2 years. So far, I haven’t seen any footage of the Salmiak cat yet. But I did seen pictures and info from a site which seems legit.

Here is the site: https://web.archive.org/web/20240907073315/http://messybeast.com/roan-finnish-mutation.htm

(For some reason the site’s security is outdated so I managed to find it again)

I’m still a bit skeptical of this new cat color. It seems so similar to the fever coat which is I’m still confused about.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I haven't seen live footage either, only pictures.

First, fever coat only appears in kittens and is an effect of higher internal temperature wiping out some pigment formation. Because it is always temporary, it fades after a few weeks to a few months. Therefore, any similar markings on adult cats are not fever coat, but must be something else.

I have seen examples of grizzling in adult cats that looks even more like fever coat, and there is a reverse-Siamese pattern that causes white ears, muzzle, and tail.

Now, look at Salmiak and compare that to dappling and roaning in horses. A dapple horse starts out solid black or brown and then develops pale spots. A roan horse also starts out dark, develops a sprinkling of white hairs, and this happens on the body first leaving the head and legs dark for years. A Salmiak cat kind of combines both, usually a darker head with a body lightened by dappling and grizzling effects. So it's very similar to known patterns in other types of animals.

I've always been fascinated by cat genetics, that was one of my first deep dives into science when I was little. I've also got a fantasy series that includes a landrace of Vermont Shag Carpet Cats that collect genetic diversity, so I saved a bunch of coat pattern references for that.