[Rayona]

I have had my two baby girls for almost two months now. They are now almost 4 months(!) and in the past week have had a lot of coat growth. They are black cats, but the new fur on their legs is coming in white.

Do you think this is their natural adult coloring, or is it something to be concerned about? I'm probably worrying about nothing, but I've never seen such drastic color change in such a short amount of time.

 

[Jeanie]

Of course, Siamese kittens are born white and start to get their points in a few weeks, and all kittens change a bit in the first year, but black to white is new to me! I found this site about "fever coat" (caused by stress) that shows black cats who have had a temporary color change on part of their bodies--to white. Interesting.

http://www.showcatsonline.com/fever_coat.htm

Other causes mentioned:
... medicine use, sudden climate changes due to moving, vaccinating with too cold vaccines from the fridge, teething - the list of possible causes is endless.

Even if the nursing mom has a disturbance this can result in a coat change in her kittens. If a mother cat has a fever herself, or eclampsia, or mastitis, or a sniffle, her kittens could develop a fever coat in response to the changes in their mother's milk.

 

[Sol]

I think it's normal. Kittens can change colour and fur lenght until they're fully grown. My kittens changed colours constantly during the 12-14 weeks they lived with me. My adult black female was black with a few white hairs on the belly but they disappered when she grew older.