# My Cat is Fading (fur, not life) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190 "2010-04-24T08:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/1 "2010-04-24T08:18:31Z")
I have a black cat. He’s 11 years old. His black color is starting to fade, and it looks like he got a bad highlight job done at a hair salon. He’s starting to look patchily [holy shit, that actually showed up as a word in my spell-check] brown. I know cat genetics, and this phenomenon is thoroughly explainable by that, but he’s starting to look funny. Let’s all make fun of my cat’s bad highlight job. Or complain about people making fun of a poor middle-aged cat’s color fading. Or ignore this thread entirely. This is mundane, and pointless, and I want to share it, but if Mods think it belongs somewhere else, including the trash, feel free to move it. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/2 "2010-04-24T10:54:13Z")
Serious question- have you tried washing the cat? I have an old Siamese and I thought she was fading but a wash bought all her points back. It was just dust or something. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/3 "2010-04-24T11:12:35Z")
(Growl) We have rules about cat threads round here, you know… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/4 "2010-04-24T12:02:01Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Serious question- have you tried washing the cat? I have an old Siamese and I thought she was fading but a wash bought all her points back. It was just dust or something. He’s a _black_ cat, fading to _brown_, and a rather light shade, at that. And he’d kill me if I tried washing out his color (peroxide, perhaps?). I could try the _ **pressure washer** _ on him, but that would just strip off fur. He’s fading to a lighter color. Dirty fur usually makes it darker. He’s not my first cat. Or my third. Or my sixth. I’ve had at least one (and usually more), since I was a kid. I love cats, they taste like rabbit, only better. But they get tough and stringy when they get too old. Misha’s probably at that “too old” stage. Murph (the old one of the other two) isn’t fading, even though he’s 15. He just stinks. Bad breath, smelly shit, but his fur is still shiny and clean. Katie keeps him that way by getting into “licking contests” with him. Katie wins (she’s young, only 4). ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/5 "2010-04-24T12:04:56Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > (Growl) We have rules about cat threads round here, you know… 🙂 REALLY? They aren’t in the “stickies” on any board. Where can I read them? 😕 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/6 "2010-04-24T12:13:08Z")
Obviously he’s sitting in the sun too much, probably favoring one side. You should encourage him to rotate the facing side each day to even out the bleaching effect. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/7 "2010-04-24T16:20:48Z")
Our newest member was a stray left behind when the neighbors moved out. I think he’s pretty old too, and he’s like this. I see a lot of reddish brown in the black. It’s different with my dog, who is getting a lot of white hair peppered in the black as he ages. ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/8 "2010-04-24T18:11:18Z")
My black cat started to brown in her later years, but I think that was due to medical issues, not genetics. My friend, who’s a veterinarian, saw her and I remember her mentioning something about organ failure–kidney failure maybe? I can’t remember exactly what the interpretation was. Anyway, the cat passed away a few years after turning color. She was almost 19 years old when she died. I miss her ☹ Not that it has anything to do with your cat–my cat’s color-change was more uniform, not “highlights.” ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/9 "2010-04-24T18:51:18Z")
> [@QuarkChild](#): > > My black cat started to brown in her later years, but I think that was due to medical issues, not genetics. My friend, who’s a veterinarian, saw her and I remember her mentioning something about organ failure–kidney failure maybe? I can’t remember exactly what the interpretation was. Anyway, the cat passed away a few years after turning color. She was almost 19 years old when she died. I miss her ☹ > > Not that it has anything to do with your cat–my cat’s color-change was more uniform, not “highlights.” My black cat started fading to brown and then he was diagnosed with kidney failure too. I don’t know if both events are connected, however. At this site, [My Cat has this problem - Symptoms](http://www.vetinfo.com/csymptom.html), scroll down to “Color changes in fur” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/10 "2010-04-24T20:22:16Z")
The color change is probably due to the patchily oil. Everyone I’ve ever seen who smelled of that stuff had bad hair… ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/11 "2010-04-24T20:23:43Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > REALLY? They aren’t in the “stickies” on any board. Where can I read them? 😕 > > 😃 **THE** RULE: Threads about cats MUST have pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/12 "2010-04-25T03:57:43Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > **THE** RULE: Threads about cats MUST have pictures. Can’t post pictures on SDMB, and I’ll be damned if I will open an account w/ some dumbass picture board, just to post “highlight” pix, although Misha IS on “Icanhazcheezburger”. Can’t see his fading, because he wasn’t when I took the picture, but here’s Misha’s “Cheezburger” links: [http://cheezburger.com/View/1553085184](http://cheezburger.com/View/1553085184) [http://cheezburger.com/View/1553112832](http://cheezburger.com/View/1553112832) Katie (the #3 kitty, at only 4 yrs old) has a “Cheezburger” pic, too: [http://cheezburger.com/View/1553059072](http://cheezburger.com/View/1553059072) That’s her “Grandma Ogre”'s finger. Grandma says she was purring when I took the picture. BTW, the basket Misha was sleeping in is Katie’s bed, and bwankie. Katie kicks him out when she wants it. He doesn’t “try” to fit very often, w/o her objecting (and winning). That was a “damn, you actually had the camera on the table to take that shot?” once-in-a-lifetime shot. Is that good enough, **pudytat72**? If not, I will try to get a shot of his fading fur, and come up w/ a LOL, just to post the picture. Gotta get back later on the rest of the comments, Busy, busy. Maybe I can make a thread on “almost getting your arm ripped off”, or “why you _ **DON’T** _ wrap the rope around your arm while cutting trees” (didn’t involve hospitalization, fortunately)☹ ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/13 "2010-04-25T04:58:47Z")
My mother had a dark tortie whose black bits faded to grey. After a visit to the vet, who diagnosed her with a minor food allergy which her elderly (12-ish years) system was no longer able to compensate for, my mother changed her food, her grey bits turned black again within 8 months, and she lived quite happily for another 5 years or so. Talk to your vet about possible food issues. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/14 "2010-04-25T06:02:58Z")
Yeah, my cat (who looks remarkably like yours, actually) is fading a little bit too…though he has always looked a bit reddish-brown when he’s lying in the sun. He’s around 14 or so. His fur’s also not looking as silky and fluffy as it used to when he was younger. We comb him pretty regularly, but it still looks a bit scraggly. He’s also a bit less coordinated, so maybe he’s not able to lick himself as well as he used to. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/15 "2010-04-25T17:35:41Z")
Is that good enough, pudytat72? Perfect! Even better than just a photo, a cute caption too! Hmmmmm. . . should I post a photo of myself since my name is pudytat? Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/16 "2010-04-25T19:08:30Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > Perfect! Even better than just a photo, a cute caption too! Ya shoulda said “purrfect” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/17 "2010-04-25T22:20:37Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Ya shoulda said “purrfect” 😉 ya shoulda used this smiley 😃 (or is that too obvious) ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-is-fading-fur-not-life/537190/18 "2010-04-26T13:11:43Z")
OK, (temporary) end of “busy, busy”. My nephew’s big chainsaw needs a new chain, and we can’t get one 'til tomorrow, so we’re done cutting the trees for the day. Back to all the other comments I put off. **Ferret Herder:** > [@](#): > > Obviously he’s sitting in the sun too much… Actually, he doesn’t sit in the sun at all. They all live in the back porch, “porch” being a rather _loose_ name for the “room”. It’s an addition on the house, as a single room, that replaced the (very small, closet sized) back porch, hence still gets called “porch”. It’s a single room about the internal size of a 10 x 60 trailer home. It’s on the north side of the house. They don’t get any sun in any of the windows. They don’t get to sit in the sun unless they are getting “Special Privileges” and get let into the main house. Then they frequently go for south-facing windows if it’s sunny, but not nearly often enough to “sun-fade”. **Rushgeekgirl:** > [@](#): > > …he’s pretty old too, and he’s like this. I see a lot of reddish brown in the black. What I said about cat genetics. The black is usually a separate color, overlaid on the primary, by a separate gene. Most (but not all) black cats are something else, with the black overlaid on top. My previous black cat (Puddin) was a “tabby”. In bright sun, you could see the tabby markings under the black. Misha is “orange, with no tabby markings” under the black. You could always see that in bright sun. Now the “black” gene’s work is starting to fade, so the “other color genes” are starting to “fade through”. Sorta like humans going grey (IF they had “tiger-stripe” hair, under a darker color). **QuarkChild:** > [@](#): > > My black cat started to brown in her later years, but I think that was due to medical issues, not genetics. My friend, who’s a veterinarian, saw her and I remember her mentioning something about organ failure–kidney failure maybe? Puddin, previously mentioned, died of kidney failure (just shy of 17 years old, so “old age”, essentially). No fading at all. He got thin and scrawny a year or two before his kidneys failed (they may have been starting to go, then), but his “black” never faded. **Daerlyn:** > [@](#): > > Talk to your vet about possible food issues. I will do that, he’s got an appointment for his shots next month. Thanks. **Maiira:** > [@](#): > > Yeah, my cat (who looks remarkably like yours, actually) is fading a little bit too…though he has always looked a bit reddish-brown when he’s lying in the sun. He always looked slightly brownish in the sun, too, so it’s probably just that both of them are doing the black cat equivalent of “going grey” with age. **pudytat72:** > [@](#): > > ya shoulda used this smiley:D > > (or is that too obvious) Yeah, too obvious. :D:D:D