My kitty-cat is pretty.

[xiphias]

So, when we got Nick and Nora, Nick was basically grey and white. And he still mostly is, except, over the past year, some of his medium-grey is starting to get a little bit of an orange-russet tone. It's pretty subtle, but I think it's very becoming on him. (And, no, he's not rolling in something orange or something like that -- we have our cats professionally bathed every few months.)

Anyone else heard of this -- three-year-old cats having subtle color changes? It's pretty.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Sure. Aren't all the leaves changing now to hues of orange & red? Cat camouflage.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I don't think that Nicky is losing his chlorophyll. First, he seems to photosynthesize just as much as he ever did -- it's obvious that cats photosynthesize, right? 'Cause of the sunbeam thing? Second, he eats just as many plants as he ever did, which is obviously where he gets the chlorophyll from.

[tober.livejournal.com]

Yup, it happens. Sputnik became more golden as he got older, I think this is common in tabbies, as the non-black portions of tabby fur are really somewhat orange. The following wikipedia page is just a brief overview of coat genetics, as you can see it's a pretty complex topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_coat_genetics

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

I have a cat now. When I got her at the start of spring, she was tan and black. As the summer went on, the tan fur turned grey/white. Now that it has gotten colder again, that part of her fur has gone back to being tan. I don't think that I have seen a cat that changes fur color with the season before, but apparently I own one now. My cat is four years old, so close to the age of Nick and Nora.

[amberdine.livejournal.com]

Might be part siamese? Their ability to make pigment is based on skin temperature. My neighbor's outdoor siamese turned nearly solid brown every (midwestern) winter.

[amberdine.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I once adopted a gorgeous female cat, who turned out to be pregnant. She was grey and buff and cream and tan, all kinds of pretty, subtle shades.

She had a litter of dirty-white kittens. I mean, really, you'd think kittens could not be ugly, but these were ugly kittens. Cute, but ugly.

They grew into having their mother's pretty colors, but it took a few years.