The Tuxedo Cat: Dressed Up, But Where To Go?by Marjorie Dorfman | More from this Blogger 01 Jul 2006 07:51 AM
Technically, a tuxedo cat is a bi-colored feline with a white and black coat. Most are also known as "black mask cats" because of the black patch that is usually found over the eyes and often covers the entire head. The true tuxedo cat has a solid black coat with white fur limited to the paws, belly, chest, throat and chin. Sometimes, these cats give the illusion of sporting goatees, which occurs when the black coloration surrounding the lower jaw is prominent. The belly is usually largely white and if the neck and chin are white, generally the front paws are also white. Do YOU own such a cat? Please share your experiences Related Articles: "Sylvester: The Tuxedo Cat" http://blogs.families.com/admin/b2browse.php?blog=28&p=8169 Learn more about Marjorie Dorfman  Marjorie Dorfman is a freelance writer and former teacher originally from Brooklyn, New York. Relevantpets tags User Comments bel_gazou (10) 21 Jan 2008 11:00 PMI've had two "Tuxedo Cats" within the last 40 years. They are without a doubt, my favorites of all the cats that I've had. The first one, a male, who came into my life in the late 60's, had followed a friend home from a bar. He walked up the stairs and in the door with him. The friend took the cat back to the bar when he left. The next day when I came home from work, the same cat was waiting at my front door. I took him in and he stayed for the rest of his life, the next 15 years. He was very intelligent, funny, extremely affectionate, talkative and a superb mouser (leave a glass of wine on the table and he'd drink the whole thing - training, no doubt, from his stint at the bar). I've had several tabby cats and a black cat since and and now have a female Tuxedo Cat. She was born on the grounds of a hospital where I once worked. The administration had a trap set out to catch the family of felines to take them off the grounds. My girl carefully watched as each of her sibs were caught in the trap and let go several blocks away. She would go into the trap, take the food and run out. After she did this several times, the grounds crew gave up. Everyone wanted "little Blackie" as the nurses called her. Six of us cornered her under a staircase one winter's day and I was the lucky one to catch her. She's been with me for over 16 years. She's smart (at times I could swear that she can read my mind), sweet, also a good mouser and acts as my "nurse" whenever I'm sick, licking a fevered brow and snuggling close to keep me warm. She's incredibly patient and non-demanding. Both of these cats, some 21 years apart and in no way related, are my absolute favorite cats of all time. Both were gentle, personable and smart. Community Tags black and white cats, black mask cats, felines, pets, tuxedo cats Discuss this article
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According to some, the tuxedo cat's markings of black and white symbolize harmony and peace of spirit. In the case of the two tuxedo felines that lived in my house over the years, I would say that sometimes that's true and sometimes it's not! (I had one male and one female and they were as different in personality and temperament as night is to day.) Still, the tuxedo cat is quite distinct from others of its ilk and its markings are as diverse as any that could ever be mixed from an artist's fine palette.
The derivation of the word seems obvious, as like penguins, these creatures appear to be formally garbed for some special occasion to which they may or may not have been invited. It may be a place where humans are never expected to go, and that would include Fred Astaire despite his charming his top hat and dancing tails! Sometimes referred to as the "Jellicle cat," this term derives from a fictional tribe of black and white felines created by T.S. Elliot in "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," which was first published in 1939. 
