Pure grey cat with a few long white hairs on the back of the neck

[lissalouie]

This is going to sound quite silly, but hear me out.

I adopted Maisie about 2.5 months ago. Her age is unknown; she was listed as 4 by the shelter, plays and acts like a very young cat, but her teeth are that of a much older feline (8-10+).

She has a pure grey coat... with the exception of these few white hairs on the back of her neck. There is a tiny cluster with a few longer hairs, and then a few stray hairs nearby. These white hairs have a slightly different texture than the rest of her fur and can grow much longer, as you can see. There are no other areas of white fur on her body.

My tuxedo cat has long white hairs that dot his black coat, but they are a very similar consistency than the rest of his fur and are spread out. These are all concentrated in this one area.

In your experience/opinion, are these most likely:

1. Age hairs
2. A sign of a possible medical issue (she has a full blood panel scheduled in two weeks)
3. A sign of possible old injury
4. Just a natural blotch of odd white
5. Other?

It's a very low-stakes question, but I am curious what you all think. Photo is below.

 

[amethyst]

I'm just taking a guess here so I could be wrong, but if she was a stray or with other cats before you got her it could be damage from males biting the back of her neck when mating or attempting to. Males bite the back of the female's neck to keep them in place and that can cause nerve and tissue damage if the female struggles or the male bites too hard which could cause the fur to grow in differently (loss of pigment, change in texture, etc) then the rest in that area.

 

[lissalouie]

I'm just taking a guess here so I could be wrong, but if she was a stray or with other cats before you got her it could be damage from males biting the back of her neck when mating or attempting to. Males bite the back of the female's neck to keep them in place and that can cause nerve and tissue damage if the female struggles or the male bites too hard which could cause the fur to grow in differently (loss of pigment, change in texture, etc) then the rest in that area.

She was a stray and had at least one litter out on the streets! That makes sense. People keep trying to tell me they are whiskers, and while I know cats have whiskers all over their body, it seems odd that they would be all clustered like this in one spot on the back of her neck.

 

[fionasmom]

I agree that it may be from some kind of injury. I have known humans who suffered some injury to the scalp which resulted in a slight change in hair texture and color.

 

[lissalouie]

I agree that it may be from some kind of injury. I have known humans who suffered some injury to the scalp which resulted in a slight change in hair texture and color.

This makes sense. She also has a few spots along her back where the fur isn't growing quite right, so I had assumed that was also due to injury--and I just peeked and the roots of one of those spots is growing in white. So no wonder my poor girl is so happy to be indoors now!

 

[stephanietx]

My gray kitty that I've had since she was 6 months old also has a few white hairs on her back. I think it's normal and not because of any trauma or anything. Even my tabby boy has a few white hairs along his back.

 

[Alldara]

Stress can also result in a few grey hairs. Calcifer was so stressed from his move from foster home to here that he developed a few, poor little guy. Just on his neck like that.

He was born in that foster home and had a good easy life there. So of course a move and all by himself was a big stress.