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.
Blue 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. They may not be a true white cat but appear white or
may look like seal points when they are born. The few I’ve seen were born white and from what I was
told, their spotting comes in as they mature.
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.
Pictures of ticked tabby, Buns, Hock, Brawn are from Baylynx Pixie-Bobs. Picture of Shadow-Alpine
Legends. Pictures of blue black spotted tabby, melanistics and white Pixie-Bob kitten-Wild Touch Pixie-Bobs.
Picture of Richard, the White Pixie-Bob Adult - Infinity Pixie-Bobs.
Picture of Creme Pixie-Bob kitten -Pinewoods Pixie-Bobs
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.
Blue 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. They may not be a true white cat but appear white or
may look like seal points when they are born. The few I’ve seen were born white and from what I was
told, their spotting comes in as they mature.
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.
Pictures of ticked tabby, Buns, Hock, Brawn are from Baylynx Pixie-Bobs. Picture of Shadow-Alpine
Legends. Pictures of blue black spotted tabby, melanistics and white Pixie-Bob kitten-Wild Touch Pixie-Bobs.
Picture of Richard, the White Pixie-Bob Adult - Infinity Pixie-Bobs.
Picture of Creme Pixie-Bob kitten -Pinewoods Pixie-Bobs
| Brown spotted tabby with good ticking. See how it mutes the spotted pattern like a Bobcats? You can already see the rufusing coming through on certain parts of the body. |
| A close up of the ticking |
| A close up of rufusing |
| Brown spotted tabby with good ticking. See how it mutes the spotted pattern like a Bobcats? You can already see the rufusing coming through on certain parts of the body. |
| Here is Buns, a black spotted tabby with a "warmer" coat color almost like a warm mahogany color. You can really see the rufusing around the neck and other parts of the body. |
| Here is Hock, a brown spotted tabby with more of a sandy rufused coat color. Some can be a bit lighter. |
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Here you can see Shadow, a
"blue" brown spotted
Pixie-Bob (on the left).
"blue" brown spotted
Pixie-Bob (on the left).
| Here is a black spotted "blue" Pixie-Bob. |
| Pixie-Bob Colors |
| Black Pixie-Bobs often look like these three melanistic Pixies. However, when you look at melanisitics a certain way you can see the spots. |
| Here are examples of "white" Pixie-Bobs, sometimes referred to as "snow bobs". Many times they look like seal points as kittens, their spotting usually comes in as they mature. Shades and patterns may vary. |
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| Here is a Pixie-Bob kitten that was born almost a cream color. As they mature the spotting and coat color darken. |
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| Here is Brawn, a cooler colored Pixie-Bob. Cooler cats have little to no rufusing. |
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| This page may take a while to download due to all of the pictures. For a faster download click here. |
| © Wild At Heart: The International Journal of the Pixie-Bob. All Rights Reserved |
Kitten
| Adult, "Richard" |