Our Longhaired Kitten Went Crewcut! Can You Pls Explain?

bunnelina

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Please help me with a mystery: Here's Toffee, a sweet stray kitten we adopted from a rescue in late November, when he was about 4 months old and just neutered. He WAS quite longhaired for a kitten, with a ruff and a fat tail, ear fluff, toe fluff, you name it. Classic Maine Coon looks, and he looked more like a tiny adult cat than a kitten. Check out the two sets of "before" and "after" photos below. He was healthy except for worms; we had to give him 56 doses of a worming antibiotic, over six weeks, per our vet, along with the usual worming meds.

Toffee makes life "exciting." When he was five months old, he jumped on the stove and burned his front paws. We took him to the ER (it was New Year's Eve; luckily we live near a big 24/7 hospital). They gave him pain meds and antibiotics. A few days later, he swallowed some string with a small fabric toy (my fault). Back to the ER; they induced vomiting with xylazine (horse tranquilizer) and he threw up the string and toy. Then they gave him the antidote to xylazine, and it didn't work. It's supposed to wake cats really fast but he stayed heavily sedated for 12 hours (back to the ER....). We think the pain medication for his paws interacted with the antidote. I'm proud to say he hasn't been to the ER since: Constant vigilance!

In mid-January, within days of his troubles, he went from being longhaired to very shorthaired in the space of about a week. He lost his ruff and fluffy fur from his head to his rump. He still does have his fat, bushy tail and his fluffy belly and "knickers." But his fur is very short and he looks like a different cat!

He was at least 5 months old when this happened, so his first kitten coat was long gone. He has no issues with his health or skin, no allergies we know of. He eats a high-protein, grain-free, canned diet only (Nature's Logic and Nature's Variety Instinct). I also give our cats Omega 3 oil. My vet is stumped and she works in an all-cat practice.

Someone told me he looks like he got a mullet since he's shorthaired but with a tail almost as wide as he is. I love him madly, but have to admit he looks weird... Have you ever seen this happen to an older kitten? Do you have any ideas about what caused it? Will he be a longhair again someday? Is it normal for some kittens to change so much, or is it the result of trauma/stress, or just dramatic shedding? Thank you for reading and looking!


Toffee at Christmas


Toffee recently


Toffee at Christmas


Toffee last week.
 
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vball91

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I really have no idea but he is adorable! That last pic of him standing with that inquisitive look on his face is just too cute. Do you remember what he was looking at?
 

mani

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It's extraordinary!  I can see why you're confused.. I am!

I'm wondering whether it's the meds.  I know with humans meds can cause hair issues.. my Mother's kidney treatment turned her hair from really curly to dead straight. 

It's almost as though he's reverted to his tabby DSH genes, except for his tail!

I'd check with your vet, of course.  I have a feeling they won't know either, but hopefully I'm wrong.

Keep us posted!!
 
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bunnelina

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Vball91: He heard one of our other cats rummaging in their toy basket. He's a very loving boy who will lie on his back in our arms, purring, for ages, but he's also the craziest kitten I've ever had. My last two were feral rescues and long before that we had Dollface Persians, and they were all so mellow and sedate compared to him. Toffee climbs curtains, jumps everywhere, gets into everything. He went for walks in our Christmas tree. He inspires our other kitten, Harris, to join him in his projects. Never a dull moment around here.

Mani: I'm glad I'm not the only one who's confused! My vet says it must be something "normal," because he's not sick at all. But she doesn't understand it and admits she's never seen a shorthaired cat with a tail like that.
 
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katluver4life

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What an adorable guy. Looks almost like he's got a tootoo on in that pic.


Anyway, from what I have been able to find out. It IS possible for a kitten who looked to be a long hair when young, to turn into a short hair later. But to me (at this stage) he looks to be a medium hair. They tend to be shorter haired in the front and longer progressively back, ending with a fluffy tail. He is very very handsome.
 
 

Willowy

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I had a cat (a Maine Coon lookalike) who was very fluffy in the winter, but got a "mullet" like that in the summer. I think it's fairly normal for certain longhaired cats. Now, usually they lose their fur in the summer, obviously, but his fur cycle might have gotten confused from being sick.
 

ashyfulz

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It seems he's just switching from his winter to summer coat early. Lucy was short haired with a puffy tail when we caught her, but now she's got a thick fluffy coat. Just waiting for her to go back short once it starts warming up a bit.


 Short with fluffy tail when we caught her in the summer


 her long winter coat
 
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bunnelina

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Oh my goodness, Ashyfulz, I am going to show Lucy's photos to Toffee to inspire him! Thank you so much for your reply and for including those photos. Lucy is just beautiful with her unusual coloring and markings... and it's like you have two cats instead of one. It's so interesting to see how different the same coat patterns and colors look with long vs. short hair. How different their faces look, too. Toffee looks like a younger, more mischievous cat with short hair. And I think Lucy does, too.

A warm thank you to everyone for thinking about this and replying. I emailed a Maine Coon breeder who had a lot of information about purebred kittens' coat development on her website. She looked at Toffee's photos and assured me that lots of her young Maine Coon males looked similar before developing longer adult coats. Toffee won't have his "mullet" forever, it seems, although no one knows when his long fur will start growing in again. I can stop worrying that he lost his fur because of medication or one of his accidents.
 

koruteni

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This happened to my cat I adopted in November. She was super fluffy when I got her all the way up until May. She looks completely shorthaired now except for her tail. Her tail is still just as fluffy.

Before


After
 

denice

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I think with it happening in May and if there were no health issues it's probably just her summer coat.  The difference between the winter and summer coat can be dramatic in some cats.
 
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bunnelina

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Wow, that's a dramatic change! Our Toffee, who went from longhair to shorthair in January, in Boston, has become very fluffy again, beginning in May and June. Since his fur has been growing long while the weather has been hot, I don't think his situation was seasonal, since he's always off by six months. I suspect he lost his fur after one of the very stressful health traumas he experienced as an accident-prone kitten in January.

What I've learned from him is that your cat's long fur will definitely grow back. People kept trying to tell me that my longhaired kitten could grow up to be a permanently shorthaired cat, but those big fat tails and the tufts between their toes don't lie. Toffee looks like his old, luxurious self again and your cat will, too, eventually. 

I used to tell Toffee daily: "Grow your fur, c'mon, get to work...." and that obviously made a huge difference.



After burning his paws on the stove in January, Toffee clearly didn't learn.... 
 
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meascat

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Hello,

I have a "mystery" cat also, "Half-Pint".

She is a wonderful long hair cat in  October through March, than she is

a shorty hair.

She is a tabby.

Now the funny thing is, I have all of her brothers and sisters

who are all the same age, the mother is 12 and the rest of them, are 11. I have 7 cats.

The mother is short haired, and so was the father, but the Grandmother was long

haired.

 But Half-Pints brother is long haired and stays the same all the time.

Don't know what breed got into her, but my friends don't

see her as the same cat season to season.

It's fun to have a cat that changes its coat!
 

meascat

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I just posted about my cat Half-Pint that does the same

She is one of six adult cats out of the same litter.

She is the only one that does the hair thing.

Her mother and father were short haired tabbies.

But the grandmother was a long haired calico.

Half-Pint is long haired now, Oct,

Come Spring, she doesn't even look like the same

cat, my friends are always amused.......
 

pit of pets

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I have a 2 year old cat that does the same thing!! The poor thing gets so hot in summer that I really appreciate her change of coat, as she'd be always looking for cool places to lie in. Her winter coat is starting to get thicker and bigger again, just in time, too, because it's getting rather chilly here!! 
 

purrs123

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I'm so glad I found this website and particularly this thread...I have two newly acquired long haired cats and when I got them they had longer hair than they do now. I'ts the end of April and I've had them for 7 weeks and I definitely noticed that their coats are shorter than when I first got them. Especially around the mane area. I thought I was using the Furminator wrong or something. :) These guys are the first long haired pets I've ever had so I'm learning as I go.
IMG_6587.JPG

IMG_6517.JPG
 

cheesycats

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I used the furminator on my mainecoon mix and it wrecked his coat for months. I don’t like the furminator. In my opinion it just sheers fur off which causes more shedding and bad unhealthy looking fur. Even though this is an old thread I think genetics, the time of the season, how they are groomed, and what a cat is eating that contributes to how their fur grows. I would discontinue the furminator and just get a standard slicker brush. And probably an under coat comb for them as well. My maincoon mix had to be brushed weekly with the endercoat brush becuase he developed matting on his rear. A furminator will not help with matting.
 

Jcatbird

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I can't speak as a vet but I can tell you I have had cats do the same thing. Sometimes it was shedding but to the approach of Spring, sometimes it was hormonal and sometimes it seemed to be the genetics. I have had Maine Coon cats that sort of reverted to their ancestors and had fluffy tailbut short fur. If you are really worried then get a second opinion. I am thinking that it is either, just the new look, or it may change again when the medications are out of the system. It may also change as kitty get older of gets a winter coat. My Blue Smoke did this after she got spayed but the fluffy fur around her face is coming back. Either way, you have a beautiful kitty with a precious personality that shows quite well without the fluff! Lol
 

purrs123

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I used the furminator on my mainecoon mix and it wrecked his coat for months. I don’t like the furminator. In my opinion it just sheers fur off which causes more shedding and bad unhealthy looking fur. Even though this is an old thread I think genetics, the time of the season, how they are groomed, and what a cat is eating that contributes to how their fur grows. I would discontinue the furminator and just get a standard slicker brush. And probably an under coat comb for them as well. My maincoon mix had to be brushed weekly with the endercoat brush becuase he developed matting on his rear. A furminator will not help with matting.
Hmmm. Interesting....you're the 2nd person I've encountered who thinks the furminator cuts the hair. I was under the impression that it worked by building up static cling from the friction of brushing and the hairs just stick to it like magnets. They don't appear to be cut/severed. But, who knows. I actually really like the furminator and my cats' coats look fine, just a bit shorter, which is OK. But I will keep an eye on what happens in case it is the furminator. :) P.S. I think my two are Maine Coon mixes, too, but not sure. What do you think from those 2 pics?
 

cheesycats

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The furminator cuts at least a little, the comb is actually a blade so there’s no way it doesn't. I also have a female short hair. Whom I rarely have to brush. When I do I usually use a slicker brush and it only takes about one go around and she has no more hair for me to brush out. But with the furminator it never ended and just made a huge mountain of fur. Which I was suspicious of as she was my first cat and never was a bad shedder. It was definelty cutting some of her fur.

They could be. I’m not 100% even on mine I just figured because he ended up weighing 13-14 lbs and had the stacked body like a coon. Whatever they are they really are cute. I have such a soft spot for long haired orange anything lol.
 
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