The pale ginger cats of Sofia

In Sofia, there is three types of common colours with the mostly stray cats you see, pale ginger tabby, black bicolour and standard european tabby.

Bulgarians love these kitties and there is no such thing as a pound or licence for pets.

This beautiful little chap I spotted not far from my home is the palest ginger I have ever seen. When I was in Sofia central prison, waiting for court, there was a similar but darker little female like this, but a lot darker. Standard dark ginger cats are usually male, but I saw also numerous others that were female.

He is owned by someone, as you can see by his collar, and happily approached me for a little pat and so I could photograph him to share.

What I found most interesting was the eye colour. Like his fur, the red melanin is very pale, and so his eyes almost look neutral grey, similar but opposite to how you use a faint touch of blue after bleach to get platinum blonde.