Cats can assume an array of eye colors (and even eye color combinations)! Some of them are more common than others because of factors that affect how they’re going to turn out after a kitten grows out of that “blue eye phase.”
Therefore, here’s a rundown on rare cat eye colors (ranked from most to least common). Throw a glance and choose your favorite – or, try to find a purrfect match for your cat’s rare eye color.
1. Blue eyes
Oh, blue eyes are some of the most popular among humans (need we mention Billie Eilish’s Ocean Eyes or Eric Clapton’s Blue Eyes Blue). Of course, they weren’t talking about our fluffy friends.
But, they wouldn’t have made a mistake even if they decided to write songs and songs about how beautiful (and rare) blue cat eyes are.
That said, blue eyes aren’t that rare. Firstly, cats with blue eyes don’t possess melanin. They’re clear, but they appear blue because of the light reflecting off of them. More times than not, blue eyes are fashioned by cats with white (or light) coats.
Siamese, Ragdoll, American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Balinese, Persian, Maine Coon, and Devon Rex are the most common breeds that have the pawsibility of retaining those blue kitty eyes once grown up.
2. Green eyes
Green-eyed goddesses decided to grace our world many, many moons ago, and boy are we happy they did. But, we have to agree that green-colored eyes aren’t that rare among our feline friends. And, we’re pretty sure you can spot a green-eyed beauty the moment that you step out of the house.
Now that we have that out of the way, why don’t we talk about that green color a little bit? Cats with green eyes are often enhanced with yellow or blue undertones (or even specks of gold scattered across the iris).
The Egyptian Mau, Norwegian Forest cat, Havana Brown, and Russian Blue seem to be the few lucky ones with this relatively rare eye color.
3. Amber eyes
Amber always looks stunning. And, when you combine amber with your favorite four-legged friend’s eyes, you get what seems to be the visual representation of the words “autumn,” “warm,” and “cozy.” And, who wouldn’t want that!?
Amber eyes might be one of the most common eye colors we’re touching upon today. Burmese, Cornish Rex, Scottish Fold, Somali, Chausie, and Turkish Van are some of the breeds to grace us with their amber eyes. But, even your regular tabbies and moggies with darker coats can have amber eyes.
4. Hazel eyes
Kelly Clarkson’s Behind These Hazel Eyes attests to the fact that singers love singing about rare and no-so-rare eye colors (cat or otherwise). Right off the bat, hazel eyes are pretty rare among the feline population because they’re a cross between amber and green.
Oddly enough, hazel eyes are more common among wild cats rather than domesticated ones. But, Abyssinian, Bengal, Singapura, Cornish Rex, Scottish Fold, and Lynx do have the honor of sporting such a mesmerizing color.
And, as you might have guessed, hazel is relatively popular among feral cats, too.
5. Brown eyes
While brown eyes seem to take the cake among humans, they’re not that popular among felines. But, we shouldn’t overlook the fact that none of them have “truly brown” eyes. They’re commonly a darker shade of amber, yellow, or hazel.
Brown eyes can be seen on American and British Shorthair, Bombay, Sphynx, and Manx cats. But regular tabbies and moggies could sport brown eyes, too (not the darker shade, though). While you might find it strange, a cat’s brown eyes are never as dark as a human’s. That’s thanks to those melanocytes we mentioned earlier.
6. Orange eyes
Oh, now we’re getting to rare cat eye colors! Orange eye color was developed by British breeders who were looking for a color that would stand out against any color of the coat. And, they certainly hit the jackpot with this one.
Orange eye color appears among cats with black, orange, and white coats (but mainly Devon Rex, Japanese Bobtail, and Maine Coon breeds).
Whether that’s because of the origin or the intensity of the color, orange doesn’t come with those specks of yellow and green like some of the other ones. While orange does “pop” against every coat color, orange eyes seem to be more prominent among cats with darker coats.
7. Copper eyes
Copper and orange are super similar, yet not quite the same. As it so happens, copper eyes are typically darker than orange ones and contain flecks of yellow, green, and orange.
Japanese Bobtail, Maine Coon, Persian, Cornish Rex, and Chartreux are some of the breeds that can come with copper eyes (oh, to be that lucky!?)
Here’s a fun fact! Dark cats with copper eyes used to be associated with witches, witchcraft, and even shape-shifting. Now, that might be why these rare eye colors never became as popular among cats as some of the others!
8. Albino eyes
Now we’re getting somewhere because Albino eyes are extremely rare! Albino eyes appear lilac or lavender because they lack pigment. And, the light gets reflected off of the eye thus creating the purple hue.
Albino cats lack pigment everywhere – they have light coats and light eyes with pink noses, mouths, and pads.
Burmese, Siamese, Bengal, and Tonkinese seem to have a lack of pigmentation more often than other breeds. Therefore, these breeds are more likely to have albino kittens you can adopt and love to the moon and back.
9. Odd-colored eyes
Prepare to have your mind blown – cats can have different-colored eyes! That’s right, you can have a fluffy friend that has the warmth of copper and the beauty of blue. Odd-colored eyes, or heterochromia iridium, is a condition that causes each of the irises to assume a different color.
Color combinations that typically occur are pretty straightforward. One eye’s blue, and the other can be green, hazel, yellow, or orange. Breeds with the possibility of odd-colored eyes are British Shorthair, Japanese Bobtails, Munchkins, Persians, and Siamese.
10. Dichroic eyes
Now we come to the rarest cat eye color – two colors in one eye! Though that might be a tough concept to process, dichroic eyes appear among white cats and look as strange as you might think.
More times than not, dichroic eyes have a green (or yellow) circle around the pupil and a different color in the center. Mutations like this one can happen regardless of breed, which means you have a (slight, but there) chance of getting your hands on one. Good luck!