Balinese & Siamese whose body fur has gotten dark
Genie Shayne
However, I would like to know why my Bali's fur (on her back, stomach and
most of her body) is coming in so dark. (Her temp is normal).I spoke to a
breeder in NY state and she told me that it wasn't uncommon, but she
didn't explain why it happens. (Folly's body used to be a very light
cream, now it's nearly as dark as her points- she's a seal point) My blue
point Siamese is also getting darker. They are 5 & 6 years old,
respectively. Anyone know why???? Please e-mail me. Thanks in advance.
-Genie
--
Genie Shayne
a010...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us
Susanne Smorra
>
> I understand about the temperature factor with the cat's points.
>However, I would like to know why my Bali's fur (on her back, stomach
and
>most of her body) is coming in so dark. (Her temp is normal).I spoke to
a
>breeder in NY state and she told me that it wasn't uncommon, but she
>didn't explain why it happens. (Folly's body used to be a very light
>cream, now it's nearly as dark as her points- she's a seal point) My
blue
>point Siamese is also getting darker. They are 5 & 6 years old,
>respectively
I cannot say this as gospel for I have never owned one of these
magnificent breeds. But, one day at the vets office, a gentlman brought
in a Siamese for boarding. I remarked to him how beautiful his cat was
and inquired as to the darkness of the fur. He told me that as these
breeds get older, their coats darken. He had always owned Siamese,
Himalayan and Ragdolls, so I guess he would know. Sounds to me that this
is just part of the aging process for these breeds. I'm sure they are
just as devoted even though their coats are darker.
Sue
Edward Whipple
: 102...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us (Genie Shayne) wrote:
: >
: > I understand about the temperature factor with the cat's points.
: >However, I would like to know why my Bali's fur (on her back, stomach
: and
I can't answer your question, but I'd like to weigh in on the topic.
A few months ago, I was given a very handsome foundling who, when I got
him, reasonably resembled a chocolate point Siamese. Since then, his
body fur has been getting darker, some light fur is showing up on his
front paws and he's developing some stripes on his forhead. The vet
suggests he's about two years old. So add me to the list of folks who
want to know when the color on this sort of cat stabilizes. Is he going
to morph into a brown tabby?
Ed
Perri E. Mongan
Cats showing the pointed gene are born white (or a subtle variation
thereof). As they get older, the point areas darken. And as they continue
to get older, the rest of the body darkens. In other words, what
stabilization? :-) If you attend a cat show, you'll see Siamese ranging
from 4 months of age to about 2 years of age... after that, their bodies
are often too dark to properly fit the written color standards. However,
I do see older Birmans in the rings, and they do not seem to be penalized so
much for the darkened bodies. Go figure.
The gene is heat-sensitive, but unless you keep your Siamese in a sauna,
that body is likely to darken over time. I had a pointed mixed-breed who
was barely pointed by the time she died at age 16!
--
Perri
bp...@freenet.Buffalo.edu
"Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people
who want to feel important." -- T.S. Eliot
Ginger Edighoffer
a brown tabby. I'm partial to blue points and my experience is with them
+ watching neighbors' cats.
A newborne Siamese kitten is white or cream. Then the points darken.
The contrast isn't as stark as a black & white cat but very marked. As
the cat ages, the body darkens but not uniformly. A saddle on the back
darkens most. The dark saddle shades very elegantly into a light chest,
a light band just behind the front legs, and a light tummy. I'm not
quite sure whether the points really silver a little or whether they just
seem lighter compared to the body. The head overall darkens on top
(shading to lighter colors under the chin). The cats I've seen darken
most rapidly the first few years, then very gradually over the rest of
their lives. I've never seen an older Siamese that became so uniform in
color that I could possibly fail to notice the Siamese heritage.
Personally, I think the elegant, graduated shading of older Siamese to be
even more beautiful than the high-contrast kitten coloring.
Ginger Edighoffer
gin...@netcom.com
Barb
Ginger Edighoffer <Ginger_E...@genmagic.com> writes:
> Personally, I think the elegant, graduated shading of older Siamese to be
> even more beautiful than the high-contrast kitten coloring.
I agree. I spent the first fifteen years of my life sharing a
house with a magnificent seal point, and you can see the progression
of his color change in our old family photo albums. Since then,
I've had Balinese and an animal-shelter-rescued "flame-point"
mixed breed, and they all changed color as they aged. I
know have two black cats, but I'd love to find another Siamese
type, and watch him/her go through the cycle of color changes.
I hope the original poster doesn't think there's something "wrong"
with the dark color--it's perfectly natural and quite lovely to see.
Barb
Nimu...@aol.com
with Sheila and Midge -- queens of the jungle
James W. (Jim) Grimes
> I understand about the temperature factor with the cat's points.
>However, I would like to know why my Bali's fur (on her back, stomach and
>most of her body) is coming in so dark. (Her temp is normal).I spoke to a
>breeder in NY state and she told me that it wasn't uncommon, but she
>didn't explain why it happens. (Folly's body used to be a very light
>cream, now it's nearly as dark as her points- she's a seal point) My blue
>point Siamese is also getting darker. They are 5 & 6 years old,
>respectively. Anyone know why???? Please e-mail me. Thanks in advance.
> -Genie
>--
>Genie Shayne
>a010...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us
I have no proof but my siamese mix's fur has darkened and I was told
(I forget by who) that it was due to exposure to sunlight.
--
WARNING! Opinions, views, & random statements of truth expressed by me
are mine, and not neccesarily those held by SOIS or the
University of Alaska, BUT THEY SHOULD BE.
*************************************************************************
James W. (Jim) Grimes - sx...@chinook.uacn.alaska.edu
Statewide Office of Information Services, University of Alaska--Fairbanks
Compuserve: 73504,3427 Imaginet: jgr...@imagi.net
Check out: http://www.imagi.net/~jgrimes/
*************************************************************************
Paul Darquin
102...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us (Genie Shayne) wrote:
> I understand about the temperature factor with the cat's points.
>However, I would like to know why my Bali's fur (on her back, stomach and
>most of her body) is coming in so dark. (Her temp is normal).I spoke to a
>breeder in NY state and she told me that it wasn't uncommon, but she
>didn't explain why it happens. (Folly's body used to be a very light
>cream, now it's nearly as dark as her points- she's a seal point) My blue
>point Siamese is also getting darker.
To make things more confusing, figure this out; we have bred both
Himalayans and Birmans, and found that the breeders, both male and female,
get much darker than their offspring who are spayed/neutered by the new
owners, but when they are spayed/neutered themselves, get remarkably
lighter, lighter even than some of their kittens.
In fact the last two Birman females we spayed were both Seal points,
with their back getting very dark, but when spayed became almost pure
white again. The difference was like night and day.
(Jojo, our male, is again making typing difficult by resting in my
lap and keeping his chin on my wrist. Does he know this is a cat group?)
Paul
--
/\
/ \ A house
| | without a cat
|__| is not a home! (New & improved sig. is coming soon!(?)
Lady Kate
>102...@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us (Genie Shayne) wrote:
>>
>> I understand about the temperature factor with the cat's points.
>>However, I would like to know why my Bali's fur (on her back, stomach
>and
>>most of her body) is coming in so dark. (Her temp is normal).I spoke to
>a
>>breeder in NY state and she told me that it wasn't uncommon, but she
>>didn't explain why it happens. (Folly's body used to be a very light
>>cream, now it's nearly as dark as her points- she's a seal point) My
>blue
>>point Siamese is also getting darker. They are 5 & 6 years old,
>>respectively
The Siamese pointing factor is an incomplete albinoism. The
temperature does affect the color. If a patch of fur is shaved the
hair will grow in darker because the skin was able to cool more where
the fur was shaven. If a bandage is placed over an area for a long
enough period of time the fur will turn white. Also, when a siamese
runs a fever they will often get "fever" hairs around their eyes and
throughout their points. The darkening of an older pointed cat
reflects the skin temperature being lower. This can be because of an
excessive amount of fat (which keeps the skin at a cooler level by
insulating the skin from the circulatory system), a natural tendancy
in older creatures (humans included) for the circulation not to be as
"hot" as when we were young or as is the case when you have extremes
of temperature, the colder winters can frequently cause the darkening
of the body.
LadyKate...
Scott Panzer
writes:
>The Siamese pointing factor is an incomplete albinoism. The
>temperature does affect the color. If a patch of fur is shaved the
>hair will grow in darker because the skin was able to cool more where
>the fur was shaven. If a bandage is placed over an area for a long
>enough period of time the fur will turn white. Also, when a siamese
>runs a fever they will often get "fever" hairs around their eyes and
>throughout their points.
This is very interesting. It (to me) suggests that the pointed pattern
is not the result of some underlying gene expression pattern, but is
really the result of body temperature differences, since the dark
points seem to occur at bodily extremities that lose heat more easily.
Is that true?
Scott
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Sheryl Angeloni
writes:
>In article <40ftrv$2...@smooth.asgo.net> Lady Kate, lady...@asgo.net
>writes:
>>The Siamese pointing factor is an incomplete albinoism. The
>>temperature does affect the color. If a patch of fur is shaved the
>>hair will grow in darker because the skin was able to cool more where
>>the fur was shaven. If a bandage is placed over an area for a long
>>enough period of time the fur will turn white. Also, when a siamese
>>runs a fever they will often get "fever" hairs around their eyes and
>>throughout their points.
>
>This is very interesting. It (to me) suggests that the pointed
pattern
>is not the result of some underlying gene expression pattern, but is
>really the result of body temperature differences, since the dark
>points seem to occur at bodily extremities that lose heat more easily.
>Is that true?
>
>Scott
>
of color is effected by heat/light exposure.
Sheryl - LeSher Cattery/ Himalayans,Persians