Fur Colour Change on my Cat?

Question

I have a 10-month old cat, previously pure black, down to the very last hair. But in the last three months, his fur has been changing. First, the fur around his neck went reddish-brown. Then he started turning grey in certain areas. Now most of his underbelly is a stark, almost unhealthy shade of grey, and the texture of the fur has changed as well.

Is this just fur colour genes kicking in late? Or could something be wrong? Any ideas?

Answer 1

I doubt there's anything wrong with him. I have two cats. The oldest is almost 5. I got him when he was 9 weeks. He was a dark charcoal color, almost black. He's now lighter and white fur is mixed in with the dark. My youngest is 2. We got him when he was 14 weeks. He was as black as the ace of spades. He now has some white patches and a lot of gray hairs on his feet. Kind of a salt & pepper look. I'm sure your cat is just going through some color changes.

Answer 2

It can happen. The colored "points" on Siamese cats (the legs, head, and tail) usually get darker with age. On the other hand, dark markings on mostly white cats often disappear as they grow older. It would be less usual on an orange cat, but I can't think of any reason it would be harmful or a symptom of anything bad. This may be a silly question, but are you sure you are seeing the same cat? I once fed what I thought was one cat for weeks, which turned out to be two almost-identical cats when they both showed up together one day.

Answer 3

It'd just a change of fur color. It happens around when a kitten turns near the age of 1 year old. It's nothing to worry about.

Answer 4

He should be seen by a vet. It's not unusual for black cats to become dark brown over time, but it's usally when they become senior citizens, not 10 months. I also don't like that the texture has changed, that should not happen. It could be a lot of thngs, hormone disorders, bad case of parasites robbing him of nutrents, or some sort of skin infection, just to name a few. This just don't seem right to me.

Answer 5

Number of reasons
- if the fur feels dry, look at the cat's diet. Is he getting a good balance?
- does he lay out in the sun? Cats fur can fade
- is he medium to long hair? there may be a lot of dead hair. Use a pair of rubber gloves and stroke him - this will pull out dead hair without damaging the healthy hair. Will work on short hair as well. You could also give initial groom with a damp cloth to get covering dust and scurf off. The hair around his neck, if he is medium to long hair - dust with baby powder, rub it in and then brush out. This will get excess oils and dirt out. Cats cant clean themselves there.
- has he been wormed and flea'd regularly (wormed every three months. flee'd every month.) with good meds

Answer 6

There may be nothing wrong with him and his fur is just changing colors or I know you may not want to think of this-

Your old Mr. Fluffy could have gotten hit by a car or died or disappeared somehow. You may have a super nice mom who is trying her best to replace your feline with a look a like so you don't get upset.

Answer 7

its just a change of color. I have a 7 month old kitten he use to be black and white not he is all black and no white. Animals are a lot like us more then you will ever know and a babys eyes color can change for up to one year of their life.

Answer 8

That does seem strange, in a way! I know as they get older the colour can change. At 10 months though, that is worth investigating. Please do check it out, if You do not know! (P.S. Are you Canadian)? (COLOR)

Answer 9

never heard of that b4...it sounds interesting...you must be Canadian of British the way you spell colour, eh?

Brock
Vancouver, Canada.