Developing coat color with age

Just curious, what breeds of cats have pale dilute coats as kittens that develop or darken over the first 2 years?

Most of the "siamese/burmese" gene type of cats will darken over time. Also the ticked tabby (aby/somila/oci) will darken with age.

We've always assumed that Ramsay was a Siamese X because of his icy blue eyes and his boisterous personality, but I just came across a picture from when he was 12 weeks and I can't believe how much his color has changed!

Most cats will have deepening of colour to some extent as their adult coats come in, this is because kittens do not usually produce as much pigment as adults. My Sonic, who is a blue Oriental shorthair is now 18 months old and his coat is a good 2 shades darker than it was when he was 3 months old.

The most dramatic change is in colourpoint cats (Siamese etc) as they can only produce pigment in the cooler areas of their body - legs, tail, face, and as they get older that colour will spread along the back and darken, this is due to the metabolism slowing down when they reach adulthood so that the body temperature is slightly cooler than it was as a kitten. Environmental factors can also affect colourpoint coats, a cat that goes outdoors or lives in a cool house will become darker than if it were to live in a house that is always warm. Burmese are similar, but produce more pigment, they are pigmented over most of their body but will have paler coat colour on the warmer abdomen.

That's facinating to see.

Bengals also often change quite a bit, I think it's the same mechanism as in the Ocis/Abys/Somali. Basically it seems to often take a while to have the red undertone in the coat really come out.

Comparison photos of my girl:


(I started a thread in the cat photo forum with this topic actually because I was pulling together old photos of her and noticed the change)

Anyway it's facinating to see the difference in your cat. That's really striking.

Wow she did darken more then a little bit! Charlie has gotten darker - with more ticking on the spine/sides. I haven't pulled out his baby pictures lately. Maybe will have to do that after he's grand and has new pictures.

I think she's finished darkening now, I'm so used to what she looks like now that I always get a bit of, really? she was *that* pale? when I look at her kitten photos.

Here's her kitten face:


Just compare that to my avatar with her in. Her eyes were sort of brownish and green and are just green now, is that a common change as well?

I'm not sure if darkening as much as Nikita has is considered good or not, it does diminish the contrast between the undercoat and the spots since the coat is now much darker but at the same time I find the rich, deep colour very attractive and it's not as if the spots are disappearing into the base colour.

I do think though that they're trying to breed cats that have a paler more golden undercoat but still with dark spots.

Originally Posted by Siggav

I think she's finished darkening now, I'm so used to what she looks like now that I always get a bit of, really? she was *that* pale? when I look at her kitten photos.

Here's her kitten face:

Just compare that to my avatar with her in. Her eyes were sort of brownish and green and are just green now, is that a common change as well?

I'm not sure if darkening as much as Nikita has is considered good or not, it does diminish the contrast between the undercoat and the spots since the coat is now much darker but at the same time I find the rich, deep colour very attractive and it's not as if the spots are disappearing into the base colour.

I do think though that they're trying to breed cats that have a paler more golden undercoat but still with dark spots.

Click to expand...

My Bengal Zoey has darkened alot too since she was a baby to present! It is amazing how much darker she has got! I find her color now much richer too and I think it's beautiful!!!!