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My black cat is turning white. What's going on?

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Teresias

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Apr 29, 2002, 12:28:51 PM4/29/02
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Several months ago I took in a stray black cat with 3 feral kittens.
The mother cat was jet-black from head to toe, and the kittens were
all white, rather Siamese-looking. When I took them all in to the vet,
he estimated that the mother was about 1 year old, and he said that he
thought she was a black Siamese. I think he was right. She certainly
acts like a Siamese - she talks CONSTANTLY. And the kittens are
obviously half-Siamese and half some brown striped cat - not one of
them looks a thing like thier mother.

The weird thing is, the mother cat (who I have named Tasha) is
gradually turning white now. It started as a little "dandruff" on the
top of her head. But as time goes by the white hairs are growing more
numerous and brighter, and now they have spread to her neck and body.
She used to be a really beautiful all-black cat, and now she's
starting to look, well, kind of silly.

I've thought of taking her to the vet over this, but she seems
perfectly healthy in all respects. I'm guessing that maybe this is a
Siamese thing? I have read that Siamese cats have fur that changes
color according to body temperature. So maybe Tasha's lighter fur has
something to do with the higher temperatures now that the weather is
getting warmer? That's the only explanation I can think of, though it
doesn't seem terribly plausible to me.

Does anybody out there have a clue why this is happening? Should I
take her to the vet? Will this keep going on until she is all white?
Will she ever change back to an all black cat? Any advice that anyone
out there can offer would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks for
reading.

~Teresias

FreedomToSpeak

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Apr 29, 2002, 2:08:15 PM4/29/02
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Teresias,
I have a part siamese cat with the same thing. He came to me all black from
head to toe. Slowly he started changing when he was about 6 months old (he's
11 mos now). It started with these white spots of rouge on his cheeks, to
white hairs all over his face, now its even going down his back, on his
legs. He's a long haired cat too. He looks very odd. But it doesn't seem to
affect him in anyway. Maybe its kitty progeria or something.

Free

"Teresias" <lillyd...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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J Rogow

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Apr 29, 2002, 3:29:50 PM4/29/02
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Our neighbours have a cat who looked like a long-haired Siamese
as a kitten. His face is getting white, too.

"FreedomToSpeak" <tastyli...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Teresias

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Apr 29, 2002, 10:31:42 PM4/29/02
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Thanks to both of you for the replies. I guess it's just some weird
Siamese thing. Maybe she was even younger than the vet thought, and
she's just growing into her adult fur color. It's a pity, though. She
was so beautiful when she was all-black, and now she looks a little
goofy. But as long as she's healthy and happy, that's all that really
matters.

Thanks again.


"J Rogow" <JRo...@ridgenet.net> wrote in message news:<aak6l...@enews1.newsguy.com>...

J Rogow

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Apr 30, 2002, 12:01:40 PM4/30/02
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For some reason, the cross-bred Siamese seem to be friendlier to
everyone, not just *their* person. As you said, happy and healthy
is the thing that really matters.

Onetime

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May 6, 2002, 1:21:50 PM5/6/02
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The way it was explained to me is that during the cooler months a Simeese
color will get darker, presumably to absorb more heat. The opposite occures
during the warmer months, lighter fur to reflect warmth.

I had a dozen or so pictures of my Siamese mix, I started in the winter and
ended after summer. The color change was dramatic.

If I can find them, I'll post them somewhere. I even included the average
tempature for that month.

Yea, I was board with a new digital camera...

-Mark

"Teresias" <lillyd...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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spam princess

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May 6, 2002, 8:15:06 PM5/6/02
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siamese cats have dark extremities because the tempurature on said tail,
ears, legs, nose are at a cooler temp than the main body. if she was outside
& it was colder months, she probably got all "dark" from the climate &
perhaps maybe now that she's got a warm home and the weather is turning into
spring, she's fading back :)

(keep in mind i'm not a vet so this could be complete rubbish)>^.,.^<


Ishah

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May 6, 2002, 8:46:31 PM5/6/02
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how old is your cat???
i didn't catch the original post, so i don't know if you answered this...
but black cats especially as they age turn grey or white...
my David is almost 7, and he is getting white hairs...
i told him we would get grey together...:)

Saul Levy

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May 7, 2002, 7:24:30 PM5/7/02
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My old (18) black cat who used to have all black whiskers nows has a
lot of white whiskers.

Saul Levy

Teresias

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May 7, 2002, 9:05:34 PM5/7/02
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isha...@aol.communique (Ishah) wrote in message news:<20020506204631...@mb-fn.aol.com>...

Again, thanks to all who replied. I don't know how old this cat
is because I found her as a stray. The vet guessed her age to be about
1 year, and I think she must be pretty young. She just had a litter of
kittens 7 months ago, and she is very healthy and strong and
energetic. We're just guessing that she is a black Siamese, but I
think it's correct.

I don't know anything really about black Siamese, only that they
exist sometimes. I thought it must me some kind of mutation from
regular Siamese, and so I didn't think her coloring would change the
same way. But I guess it does. She is still getting whiter. She looks
very silly, but she's healthy and sweet, if a bit talkative.

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