Q 01/05

Most black cats have eyes of which colour, thanks to their high melanin content?

A) Golden

B) Blue

C) Green

D) Grey

Answer · why

A) Golden

Most black cats have golden or yellow irises: the heavy melanin that blackens the coat also pigments the iris, while blue eyes need a lack of pigment.

Q 02/05

Which is the only cat breed that comes exclusively in black?

A) Chartreux

B) Bombay

C) Korat

D) Havana Brown

Answer · why

B) Bombay

The Bombay, developed in Kentucky in the 1950s, is the one breed whose standard allows no colour but black; its tight, glossy coat is often likened to...

Q 03/05

A black cat's coat can 'rust' to a reddish-brown shade after too much of what?

A) Salt water

B) Cold weather

C) Sunlight

D) Grooming

Answer · why

C) Sunlight

Prolonged sunlight bleaches the black pigment eumelanin, so a black cat that basks outdoors can turn a rusty brown at the tips; the colour returns as ...

Q 04/05

A cat whose dark fur has white roots is known by what name?

A) Ghost coat

B) Silver ash

C) Frost point

D) Black smoke

Answer · why

D) Black smoke

A black smoke cat has hairs that are black along most of their length but white or silver at the root, so the pale undercoat shows when the fur parts.

Q 05/05

Which big cat was Nikki Horner's all-black breed, created in Louisville from 1958, meant to resemble in miniature?

A) A panther

B) A lion

C) A puma

D) A bobcat

Answer · why

A) A panther

Nikki Horner wanted a 'parlor panther', a house cat with the look of a big jungle panther in miniature; her first attempt failed and the breed reached...