COAT TYPES
LONG HAIRED SOMALI (SOL…)
A balanced cat of medium build and foreign type, with a broad head curving to a firm wedge, creating the characteristic “smile”. The essence of the Somali cat is its ticked coat, with the darker colour forming the facial markings, tail tip, heels and ticking. The coat is soft, fine and of medium length, with a ruff and breeches.
SHORT HAIRED SOMALI (SOS…)
As the longhaired variety in terms of colours, but the ticked coat is smooth, fine and dense, and of medium length. The shorthaired Somali has no ruff, breeches or brush.
COAT COLOURS
USUAL (SOL/SOS n) - A rich, golden brown coat, made up of an apricot base coat, ticked with black.
SORREL (SOL/SOS) - A rich copper coat, made up of an apricot base coat, ticked with cinnamon.
CHOCOLATE (SOL/SOS b) - A rich, warm, chestnut brown coat, made up of an apricot base coat, ticked with dark chocolate.
BLUE (SOL/SOS a) - A soft blue coat, made up of a warm oatmeal or mushroom base coat, ticked with blue.
LILAC (SOL/SOS c) - A warm, dove grey, coat made up of an oatmeal or mushroom base coat, ticked with lilac.
FAWN (SOL/SOS p) - A warm, powdery fawn coat, made up of a pale oatmeal or mushroom base coat, ticked with fawn.
RED (SOL/SOS d) - A warm, glowing red coat, made up of a pale red base coat, ticked with a deeper tone of red.
CREAM (SOL/SOS e) - A warm, powdery, pale cream coat, made up of a pale cream base coat ticked with a richer shade of cream.
TORTIE (SOL/SOS t) - The colours are essentially as above, mingled with another colour randomly distributed throughout the coat.
SILVER (SOL/SOS s) - The base hairs of this group are silvery white, giving an overall lustrous silvery sheen. The facial markings, tail tip, heels and ticking are the same colour as the non-silver variety.
USUAL SILVER (SOL/SOSs)
SORREL SILVER (SOLas/SOSas) As for the Sorrel but with a silver undercoat
TORTIE SILVER (SOL/SOS ts) As for the Tortie, but with a silver undercoat as well.
Some of the above colours are still rare and you may have to be prepared to wait to find one. To see a full list of cat colour codes please view this PDF.
Ticking is the essence of the Somali. What is "ticking"?
Look at a hair from a Somali coat and you will find that it has bands of colour all along its length - at least 6 and possibly as many as 14.
These bands are made up of alternate lines of base coat (e.g. apricot in the Sorrel Somali) and ticking colour (e.g. cinnamon in the Sorrel). Ticking is one of the things that helps to give the Somali its unique look.
Ear tips and tufts, eyeliner, top and tip of the tail, toe tufts and heels are all the same colour as the ticking.
Ticking in a Somali is slow to develop. On a 12 week old kitten you may only be able to see a tiny bit on the back of the neck and in some colours it is more difficult to see.
