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]
We have a largish group (12-15) semi ferals living around our property (rural) and we keep them well fed. One of the younger (8-12 months) black girls gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens with black extremities, silver grey tips on the fur, black undercoat and white skin. We’re assuming this is fever coat and they will turn black eventually. One of the kittens has white spots (chin, toes and tummy), so we assume the father is a black and white tom we have. We collected all these kittens up at 4 weeks old around weaning time and will domesticate and get them into a pet shop. We have been fosters for the local rescue for a few years. We’ll also trap the Mum and get her and hopefully the remaining entire Toms TNRed so we can start reducing the population round here.
My friend handles abandined kitten and found one in a wet ahoebox in a storm. Her name is now Stormie. We have had her since 2013 when she was 5 weeks old…she was silver-white…and is now a very dark chocolate with white paws. Vet says she is a siamese/ragdoll. A loving kitty!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7Lp92ha3oaBJQ8wj9
That is a picture of my precious baby Bellisima at 5 1/2 weeks. The litter had been found starving and cold in an unused camper, when it was brought to a mechanic, the mother nowhere to be found. They were hand-raised by a very kind man, who let Bella adopt me.
The usually looks like a black cat, but she has the white guard hairs, gray undercoat that’s like the softest bunny fur. White bib and some on her belly. She’s about 9 weeks now, and no change… besides the wobbly toddler now being more of a miniature cat.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TPgfrxzNgBZEHnte8
That is a picture at about 7 weeks… in that lighting she looks like a normal black cat with a white bib… a tuxedo cat, if you will.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JFkcw1x46arCBzrS9
This is her now, looking much less babyish. Still has the long white guard hairs and gray undercoat, I’m pretty sure she’s at least a medium longhair kitty. She does have a lot of Maine Coon characteristics, the tufts on the tips of the ears, the big paws with thick tufts of fur sticking out between her adorable little jellybean toes. And an amazing personality! She’s been in my lap or near me since day one, always my shadow. If she can’t sit in my lap she will sit touching my foot, and she is a talker, she has a LOT to say! Super intelligent, she learns fast and you can see her processing reactions.
I really can’t wait to see how her fur develops! So very precious to me, after my son moved out and got married, and took our shelter cat with him, I didn’t have a cat for a few years. I am SO happy to have someone to take care of again. :)
I found four orphaned kittens several months ago – their mother had been hit by a car. They were 2 weeks old; the smallest one only weighed 4 ounces and the largest weighed eight ounces. The smallest one, Jasper was diagnosed with fading kitten syndrome at 4 weeks old, but I worked extremely hard to keep her alive and we made it through.
Her fur has changed over the last few months from gray, which I now know was a fever coat to an unusual coloring. Her fur is white at the base and black on top. She was clearly malnourished and sick, is that why her fur is changing now that she is healthy?
What color will she actually be? Her siblings are: Blue Point Siamese, Flame Point Siamese, and a white kitten with orange and gray color blocks.
She’s a sweet kitty and I kept all four siblings as I couldn’t split them up after bottle feeding them every three hours for weeks! We are a happy family. I’m just curious about my little Jasper. Thanks!
I’m going to preface this with the fact that I am not a cat person. Im not some heartless monster , I’m just really allergic. It’s lessened in severity as I’ve aged and been exposed to roommates with cats and such but I still can’t really have them in close spaces or touch them and then my face. There was a ferral cat outside my house with two small kittens. Shortly after, I only saw one kitten and the mom. I couldn’t get them to let me approach them. They would just hang out in this little shaded corned of my yard. Get a little closer. I looked out and saw the kitten bouncing around and the mom lying motionless in the yard. It was odd. She usually moved her tail or something ..always on alert for potential dangers. I got a little closer and she didn’t run off. It was then I could see how skinny she was. I ran inside and got some plain chicken, salmon and veggies together. Water. I walked it over to the edge of the property. The kitten darted behind the shed and the mom walked over and ate before I even walked completely away. She seemed to perk up. It had been hot so I thought it was dehydration and hunger. I planned to get real food and try to work on the trust so I could take them to the vet but I never saw them again. I had reduced my time outside a bit but still….I would have seen if they were still around. I got over 3 weeks of sickness more or less yesterday and I walked outside around midnight. I saw a shadow dart out from under my porch.
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