So It Seems the Internet Is All Obsessed With Brown Cats Now—'Need'

Cats come in all shapes, sizes and colors, but not often brown.

Move over gray cats, brown cats, with their chocolate colored fur, are fast becoming popular due to viral videos doing the rounds on social media, but with any pet trend, it's essential to always value wellbeing over appearance.

Are Brown Cats Rare?

The hashtag "browncat" has over 1.1 billion searches on TikTok, and the social media platform has recently been flooded with videos of the unusual looking cats, as well as comments from users saying they "need" and "want" a brown cat.

Various shades of brown are commonly occurring colors in animals in the wild, and everyone loves a chocolate Labrador, but why is this color unusual in cats?

"The perception of rarity might come from the fact that certain breeds with brown coat colors are less common or less widely known," Dr. Beth Waisburd, principal veterinarian at Small Door Veterinary in Brookline, Massachusetts, told Newsweek.

The Havana Brown is a specific breed known for its solid brown coat, and is rare, "however, brown coloration can be found in various breeds, and is down to genetics and not limited to a single one," said Waisburd.

"The genetics of cat coat color are complex," said Waisburd. "Brown is often associated with the presence of a pigment called eumelanin. The specific genes involved can vary, and the interaction between them determines the shade and pattern of brown."

Cat Genetics

Understanding the complexities of cat color genetics can help us unravel the mystery of the elusive brown cat.

Like all living things, cats inherit their genetic traits from their parents, by a complex set of genetic codes that determine everything from coat color to eye shape.

Cats inherit one chromosome from their mother and one from their father, which make a set of two, each set containing two copies of each gene, one from each parent, that can either be the same, known as homozygous, or different, heterozygous. The combination of genes a cat inherits decides what they look like.

Genes can either be recessive or dominant. For example, the gene for black fur, known as "B," is dominant, while the gene for white fur, known as "w," is recessive. This means that a cat with one copy of the black gene and one of the white, will turn out black, as it's dominant.

Just to complicate things further, there are two types of "B" gene, the dominant "B" which produces black fur, and the recessive "b" which produces brown fur. A cat that inherits one of each, "Bb," will be black, because the black gene is dominant, and the brown is recessive.

Just like in humans, melanin is the substance in cats' bodies that produces fur and eye pigmentation. In cats there are two types of melanin; pheomelanin, which produces orange and red hues, and eumelanin, which creates brown and black hues.

Brown Is Just a Color

When Finding Nemo was released in 2003, clown fish native to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific ocean became a popular pet, and more than a million were harvested from the tropical reefs for human use.

This was a devastating blow for the clown fish population, with many people desiring the pets with little or no thought to their care, or conservation status. It's a pattern seen over and over again when a type of pet spikes in popularity.

Similarly, due to a variety of reasons such as superstition and a perceived lack of photogenic potential, black cats can be overlooked due to the color of their coats.

"Social media can certainly influence trends in pet popularity, including brown cats," said Waisburd.

Due to the brown cat genes being recessive, to achieve the color in vast numbers intensive inbreeding is required, which can lead to serious health problems in animals.

"It's important for prospective cat owners to prioritize responsible breeding, proper care, and understanding the specific needs of any cat," warned Waisburd. "Regardless of coat color. The focus should be on the well-being of the animals rather than trends in color preferences."

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