When describing a color coat pattern on some cats, you may hear these cats as being “mitted” or “having mittens”.
Mitted or mittens refers to a cat with paws that are a different color than their legs. Also referred to as having “socks”.
Mitted cats are also often referred as having “gloves” on the front two paws and “booties” on the back two paws.
Black mitted cat
A black mitted cat is a cat who is all black except for white on their paws. This means that the only white color on the cat is found on their paws. The rest of the cat is solid black.
Other mitted cat patterns
Mitted cats are more obvious with black and white, or piebald, cats. This is because of the high color contrast between having black legs and white paws.
The visibility of a cat having mittens depends on the color contrast. In this female orange tabby, the bright white mittens are visible in contrast with the dark orange and light orange tabby coat pattern.
Mitted purebred cats
Of the cat breeds, ragdoll cats have several color variations that are mitted. The ragdoll cat seems to be the only purebred cat described by the Cat Fancier’s Association that is allowed to have mitted feet.
According to the Cat Fancier’s Association mitted ragdoll cats must have: “Front feet: white mittens present on both feet, evenly matched, preferably going up to and around the wrist joint. Back legs: white must go up to and around the hocks entirely, extending no higher than mid-thigh.”
Ragdolls mitted coat fur patterns include:
- Blue Mitted Ragdoll Cat
- Chocolate Mitted Ragdoll
- Lilac Mitted Ragdoll Cat
- Seal Mitted Ragdoll Cat