Question For the Pets Group: Cat Fur Changing Color

[distantearlywarning]

I have a question that I hope one of you might be able to help me with.

I have two beautiful kittens (brothers) who I adopted last summer from a local shelter. They are just about 10 months old and the apples of my eye.

One of the brothers is a handsome longish-haired tuxedo kitty, all black with a white front and four white paws. In the last few months, his hair on his belly and under his tail, which used to be a silky black, has started turning grayish-white, almost a "ghostly" color. This hair is also different in texture than his other hair - it is finer, less silky, and seems almost wavy or frizzy. In a period of a couple of months, it's progressed to almost all of his belly and underneath his tail.

Other than the hair color change, he seems to be in very good health. They've had regular vet visits, during which the vet has been impressed with their overall health and size. He's still on a good weight track for his age (even a little big), he eats well, and plays vigorously with us and his brother every day and seems happy. His fur that isn't turning white is very shiny and silky and attractive. So overall, in all other respects besides the fur changing color on his underside, he seems like a normal healthy kitten.

So, my question is: what is this? What could be causing this pigment/texture change and should I be worried enough about it to take him to the vet? Has anyone else ever had this happen with their black cat?

I tried to Google it, but had no luck finding anything about this subject except for one study that said that black cats who turn rust-colored have a vitamin deficiency. He's not rusty anywhere, so I don't know if that applies.

[China_cat]

1. My Larry's fur is like that on his underside and along the edges.

Makes him look like he has a full body halo when he sits in the sun. Nothing to worry about. It's just like a human baby who loses the infant fuzz and starts to get real hair.

[Grateful for Hope]

2. My Spidey is a long-haired tuxedo

He is largely black-and-white, but, his fur on the sides of his face and chin is very long and grayish. His underbelly hair is also very long, and, a lighter color than the rest of his black fur. I think this is undercoat fur. The fur tends to be finer and tends to tangle easily.

Spidey is admittedly a very strange looking dude, but, I don't think that the color change is anything to worry about. It may well be undercoat as it is in Spidey's case.

[yellerpup]

3. When I adopted Dusty he had long blackish fur

and his belly fur looked like he had been wallowing in ashes. When he grew up (he especially adored being brushed) his coat turned a soft, glossy black. He didn't look dusty at all.

[Lorien]

4. It's a rare color called "black smoke"

which is actually gaining a lot of popularity in the catfancy. Kittens don't develop their full coats until age three. By age 1 the coat color should be emerging to something close to the final color. Here's a couple of versions of a black smoke coat:







The last kitten in the lineup could end up nearly as light as the adult Maine Coon in the center. A lot depends on the climate you live in and how much undercoat your cat develops.

[demnan]

5. Scorpio is a black smoke as Lorien said

I posted a similar thread when I first noticed his white growing out. She immediately recognized his type. He is a beautiful smoke cat - probably mixed Persian blood. Because he was starved and rescued I thought at first the white was because of that.

So here is Scorpio now:



and here is Scorpio when he was rescued:



Beautiful!

[distantearlywarning]

6. Thanks for all the responses.

I'm glad to know that it's just a normal coat color change, and nothing to be worried about.

Now that I'm looking at him more closely, it seems to me that his fur is getting longer too, especially around the face and belly. So I think he might just be finally growing into his adult looks. He actually looks a lot like Scorpio, except he has a little white tux shirt and spats.

[Grateful for Hope]

7. Found a couple of pics of Spidey

He doesn't like to have his pic taken, so it is difficult to get him in the proper light so that you can see the color of the fur around his face.

Anyway, here are two:

[distantearlywarning]

9. Wow! Your cat looks a lot like mine.

He has a bit more white on his face, but other than that they look a lot alike. My kitty is even starting to get the smoke color around his ruff like the kitty in these pics.

[Grateful for Hope]

12. Would love to see some pics of your kitty! n/t

[japple]

10. Love the picture of Spidey, Hope. I think as animals age,

their fur changes colors. Also, when a long-haired cat grows its winter coat, sometimes it is a different shade than the rest of the coat. My dear Maine Coon, Pooh (RIP), had a very different coat in the winter than in the summer. The ruff around his neck got huge in winter and was a greyish, beige color, while he usually wore a tabby tuxedo.

[Grateful for Hope]

11. Awww, thanks, japple!

Spidey's ruff does get longer in the winter, although, when he and Jake "fight", I find bits of it all over the carpet. Jake keeps Spidey groomed this way, I think (LOL!).

Do you have any pics of Pooh? I LOVE Maine Coons...they are such beautiful cats. I think that Spidey has at least some of that breed in him as his fur distribution is a lot like that of a Maine Coon.

[okasha]

8. Sometimes when a black cat loses a patch of fur

it will come back in light. That doesn't seem to be what's happening here, though. Sounds more like undercoat coming in and the black smoke coloration developing as per other posts.