Free breeder tool
Cat color calculator
Choose what you know about the sire’s and dam’s color genes and see the odds of each kitten color and pattern, with males and females shown separately because red is sex-linked.
- O:
- Sex-linked. Males carry one copy.
- B:
- B black, b chocolate, bl cinnamon.
- D:
- d/d turns black to blue, red to cream.
- A:
- a/a is solid. Red and cream always show tabby markings.
- S:
- Bicolour, harlequin and van patterns.
- C:
- cs Siamese point, cb Burmese sepia; cb/cs is mink.
- W:
- W masks every other color.
- L:
- l/l is longhair.
How cat color genetics works
A cat’s color comes from a handful of genes, each with a dominant and one or more recessive versions (alleles). Every kitten gets one allele of each gene from each parent, chosen at random, so a carrier passes on its hidden recessive half the time. The calculator crosses every gene separately and then combines the results, which is the same Punnett-square method you would do on paper, just across eight genes at once.
The genes covered
B sets the base pigment: black, chocolate or cinnamon. D dilutes it, so black becomes blue, chocolate becomes lilac, cinnamon becomes fawn and red becomes cream. O (red) is on the X chromosome, which is why the results are split by sex: a male shows whatever his mother gave him, while a female with one red and one non-red X is tortoiseshell. A decides whether tabby markings show; a/a cats are solid. C covers the temperature-sensitive point (Siamese), sepia (Burmese) and mink (Tonkinese) patterns. S adds white spotting, W makes a cat entirely white over any color, and L controls coat length.
Limits to keep in mind
Tabby pattern (mackerel, classic, spotted, ticked), silver and smoke, golden, and breed- specific genes such as Russet or Amber are not modelled yet. Red and cream cats show tabby markings even when they are a/a, so check the agouti gene before reading a red kitten’s pattern too literally. Results are probabilities across many litters. A single litter of four can easily differ from the odds.
Predict colors from your own records
BreederPro stores each cat’s DNA results on its profile, can read them straight from a lab report, and predicts kitten colors for any pairing in your cattery using this same genetics engine, so you never have to re-enter genotypes. Color prediction is included from the Basic plan.
Frequently asked questions
Can a male cat be tortoiseshell?
Almost never. Red (O) sits on the X chromosome, and a tortoiseshell needs one X carrying red and one without it. Males have a single X, so they are red or non-red. Rare tortie males are XXY and usually sterile.
What color kittens will a red male and a black female have?
The sons take their only X from the mother, so they are all black-based (black, or blue if both parents carry dilute). The daughters get red from the father and black from the mother, so they are all tortoiseshell.
How can two black cats have a blue or chocolate kitten?
Dilute (d) and chocolate (b) are recessive. Two black cats that each carry d can have blue kittens, and two that each carry b can have chocolate ones. On average one kitten in four shows the recessive color.
Does the calculator handle tabby patterns and silver?
Not yet. It models whether a kitten shows tabby (agouti) but not which pattern (mackerel, classic, spotted, ticked), and it does not cover silver, smoke or golden. Color, dilution, red, white spotting, pointing and coat length are covered.
What if I do not know a parent’s genotype?
Leave the locus as Unknown. If one parent is unknown, every allele is treated as equally likely for that parent, which is a rough guess. A DNA test or the colors of the parent’s own parents and past kittens give much better odds.
Last reviewed October 8, 2026. For information only. Not veterinary advice.
Let BreederPro do this for you
BreederPro keeps every cat’s DNA results with its record, reads them straight from lab reports, and predicts kitten colors for any pairing in your cattery in one click, with no retyping. Color prediction and lab-report import come with the Basic plan and up; start free, no card needed.