Kitten Coat Question

Hello,

I wasn't sure where to post this question, but hopefully this is the right section. I was just curious about my kittens coat color on her back. At first I thought she had gray fur mixed in with white. But I noticed while I was washing her off (she had a poop bum lol) that the hair is actually white with grey tips. Is this called a certain coat type or is her fur growing in white? I posted a picture which you can kinda see the difference. Its dry right now so its not as obvious. When its wet you can see the drastic change on the actual single hair piece from white to grey.

Wow beautiful kitten :heart3:

She has a pointed pattern

All pointed patterned cats have a creamy base coat with colored points on their muzzles, ears, paws and lower legs, tails. The pointed pattern is a form of partial albinism, resulting from a mutation in tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in melanin production. The mutated enzyme is heat-sensitive, it fails to work at normal body temperatures, but becomes active in cooler areas of the skin.

This results in dark coloration in the coolest parts of the cat's body, including the extremities and the face, which is cooled by the passage of air through the sinuses. All Pointed patterned kittens, although pure cream or white at birth, develop visible points in the first few months of life in colder parts of their body. By the time a kitten is four weeks old the points should be clear enough to recognize which color they are going to be. Pointed cats tend to darken with age, and generally adults living in warm climates have lighter coats than those in cool climates.

The hair is whiter closer to her skin due to it being warmer from her body heat. The tips of the hair are darker due to being further away from the heat of her skin

GemsGem said:

The hair is whiter closer to her skin due to it being warmer from her body heat. The tips of the hair are darker due to being further away from the heat of her skin

Click to expand...

Wow! I never knew that. I knew she was a pointed color, but I didn't know it possible for the actual fur strand to change color. That is super cool. Its like the effect of a mood ring. lol Hot vs cold. Thanks so much.