Amazing Color-Changing Kittens: What Is Fever Coat?
Kittens are pretty magical. They can bring even the most jaded people to their knees with a single, tiny mew. They can instantly brighten any day and make the sun feel like it's shining even if it's storming. But they can't change colors, right? Funny story: It turns out they can.
While the above photo would satisfy all my Lisa Frank-fueled childhood dreams of a hot pink kitten, the "color-changing" kittens we're talking about are born with bright silver. As they age, their fur changes until they are a completely different color than the fluff they were born with, a phenomenon known as "fever coat."
Fever (or stress) coat occurs when the mother cat is ill with a high fever or stress during pregnancy and doesn't usually have any negative effects on the kitten's overall health.
A stray moggy from the UK, Georgie, gave birth to a litter of six kittens born with this unusual coloration. Maggie Roberts, head vet at Cats Protection HQ in Sussex, was contacted in regards to Georgie's strange brood. Four of the kittens only had the silver patches on their legs, but two were completely covered in the silver fur.
After a bit of research, it was determined that the kittens most likely have fever coat. As they aged, the kittens shed their silvery outer coats and showed their true colors: two black kittens, three torties, and one tabby.
More recently, a tiny, premature kitten was brought to the National Kitten Coalition, discovered hours after he was born. Co-founder Susan Spaulding worked 'round the clock to save this fantastically colored preemie, whom they named Rizzo.
The silver portion of Rizzo's fur will eventually turn black, like other cats with fever coat. "Just as with Siamese points, which are due to a temperature-sensitive gene, the coloring shows darker on his extremities because their temperature is cooler," says Spaulding, who has had a dozen or so cases of fever coat over her years working in cat rescue.
Rizzo in action (still a bit wobbly!):
Rizzo's changing coat:
Bruce the cat is another example of a rescued kitty that grew out of his silvery fever coat into a handsome black cat.
Have you ever had a color-changing kitten?
[h/t LoveMeow, The Ross Gazette]
The pic of the colored cats are what ppl who use them in dog fights do. They dye the kittens hair and which ever color is alive when the fight is over wins. Well of course none of the kittens win. But the ppl that own them do. It’s horrible and the pic should not be used in any kitten pic as any example.
Hey, all!
I’m hoping someone could help answer a question. I have brought in a stray kitten. An all black male. When we first brought him home, about 2 weeks ago, he was all black with a white spot on his chest. Now he is developing white/grey hair all over his body. Is it normal for the little guy to have color changing happen like this? He’s about 11/12 weeks old.
Adopted all white kitten who had just bit of gray
on head, brother was a flame point… now she is 9 mos old and has splotches of pinkish orange on thigh areas. Very interesting..coat changing? Temperature sensative?
Hopefully not something more serious, she is her usual loving self 😊
I work at petsmart and one day a customer came in with 3 3wk old kittens 2 long haired tabbys (one silver one black) and a black and silver Siamese looking kitten (they had been found in a bonfire, no one was injured, we took the siamese) turns out the siamese had a fever coat and was actually an all black cat and that’s how we got our Lupin :) our color changing werewolf cat (now he is mostly black but when the sun touches where his fever coat was it has a rusty bloody red tint)
We recently (4 mo. ago) got two 10wk old kittens from our SPCA. One had a gray/silver mange just like a lion would have. Within weeks being with us, it has all gone black, which is her natural color. Both kittens were from the same mother but one short hair, one long hair. Both have white fur bellies and white chest markings. Both are doing just fine and have come to be our new family. We recently became catless after 27yrs and my wife said it was time to bring more to our home. Gotta’ love these furry feline friends.
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