Paw Pad Colors

Question
Okay, this has been bugging me. Some cats paw pads are black. Some are pink. Some are a mix. Some are a whole other color; what is with this? What are the least common paw pad colors?

Answer
Hi Alee.  Color genetics in cats are among the most complicated things to tackle!  The color of a cat's paw pads is determined by cells called melanocytes.  These are also responsible for fur color.  Melanocytes produce melanin, a pigment you have probably heard of.  Melanin comes in different forms, including eumelanin (the black and brown shades) and phaeomelanin (orange and cream).  When melanocytes produce large amounts of eumelanin, you will have a cat with black or brown skin or fur.  When they produce smaller amounts of eumelanin, the cat will have gray skin or fur.  When no pigment is produced, the fur will be white and the skin will be pink.  

Genetics will tell certain melanocytes to produce certain pigments in certain areas on the body.  MOST of the time, if the foot is one color, the paw pads will be the same color, since the general area is full of melanocytes that have been instructed to produce that pigment.  But cats with white and other colors on the body have what's called the piebald, or "white spotting" gene.  So white may break through the colors in any area.  If the foot is colored, the paw pads may be pink, or if the foot is white, the paw pads may be pigmented.  The paw pads themselves can be bi-colored because of the white spotting gene (or in tortoiseshell cats, because of the tortie gene).

The most uncommon paw pad colors are those associated with dilute cats - gray.  These cats must receive a recessive gene from each parent in order to display the gray color.  If either parent passes on a dominant gene, the cat will not be gray, so there are fewer of these cats than others.  Even in cats who have SOME gray, most also have white, and their paws tend to be pink.  So gray and mauve paw pads (seen on some solid gray cats), tend to be the least common.  This would be with the exception of purebreds, such as the Havana Brown, some Siamese and certain others, which have chocolate or cinnamon-colored paw pads.