whiskers

Question
Probably a stupid question but, is it uncommon for cat's to have black whiskers? Have many cat's now and over the years and they've always been white. Cleo is a long haired tortoise shell with black whiskers, had other tortoise shells and their whiskers were white.

Answer
Judy,

Of course it is not a stupid question and no it is not uncommon for certain colors and patterns of domestic cats to have other than white whiskers.  So, yes a tortoiseshell may have white whiskers or black whiskers or a combination of both.  I have seen whiskers that have color at the base and are white the rest of the way.  There is even a breed, the Havana Brown, where any whisker color other than brown is a disqualification!

As far as I know, no one has done much on the genetics of whisker colors, but that could be a fine treatise, indeed.

So, you see the color of whickers is not a simple topic as you have already surmised.

Best regards... Norm.