What Breed Is My Black Cat? 8 Breeds and How to Tell
Most black cats are solid-black Domestic Shorthairs and black is the most common solid color, not a breed. But a panther-like cat with copper eyes points to Bombay, and six other pedigree breeds come in black. Here is how to tell them apart.
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The Black Cat Breeds (and the Clue That Gives Each Away)
- Bombay
The only breed that is always solid black: patent-leather coat, copper/gold eyes, medium muscular build.
- Maine Coon
Very large (males 13–18 lb), shaggy coat, ear tufts, rectangular body, and black variants are common.
- British Shorthair
Cobby body, dense plush coat, round face and eyes. Black is a recognized color.
- American Shorthair
Compact working-cat build, round face, dense short black coat.
- Persian
Long flowing coat, flat face, heavy bone. A long-haired black cat with a flat face is usually Persian.
- Scottish Fold
The folded ears are the giveaway; rounded body, dense short coat.
- Oriental Shorthair
Sleek fine-boned body, huge bat-like ears, wedge face, and a black Oriental looks like a small panther.
How to Narrow It Down: 3 Visual Checks
- Eyes first. Copper or gold eyes on a medium muscular cat → Bombay. Green eyes on a fine-boned cat with huge ears → Oriental Shorthair. Any other combination → Domestic Shorthair.
- Coat length and texture. Long and flowing with a flat face → Persian. Dense plush with a round face → British Shorthair. Folded ears → Scottish Fold. Short, sleek, black to the root with no white hairs → Bombay or Domestic Shorthair.
- Size and build. Over 13 lb and rectangular → Maine Coon. Cobby and round → British Shorthair. Svelte and fine-boned → Oriental Shorthair. Compact and ordinary → Domestic Shorthair, the statistically right answer.
Not a Bombay? Then it is almost certainly a black Domestic Shorthair , and that is the statistically right answer. The pattern page covers black cat personality and the UC Davis coat-color study in depth. For orange coats, see what breed is my orange cat.
Frequently Asked Questions
What breed is a black cat most likely to be?
A Domestic Shorthair. Solid black is the most common solid coat color in domestic cats and most black cats are mixed breed. The Bombay is the only breed that is always black, so a truly panther-like short-haired black cat with copper eyes is worth checking against the Bombay standard.
Are black cats a specific breed?
No, black is a color, not a breed. The recessive allele that suppresses tabby striping produces solid black, and it appears across many breeds and in random-bred cats. The personality linked to black cats (calm, tolerant, slow to stress) is a statistical pattern in shelter data, not a breed trait.
How do I tell a Bombay from a regular black cat?
Bombays are medium-sized, muscular, with a distinctive patent-leather shine and copper-to-gold eyes; the coat is black to the root with no white hairs. A random-bred black cat more often has amber or green eyes, and often a few white hairs or a faint ghost tabby marking in sunlight.
Do black cats rust in the sun?
Yes. UV exposure breaks down melanin and can turn a black coat rusty brown or reveal hidden tabby stripes, a sign your black cat carries the tabby gene under the black. Indoor cats stay blacker.
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