Unusual kitten

[gmm80]

My friend, who also fosters, recently got a litter of kittens with their mother. The mother is a tortie, two of the kittens are DMH black, one is DMH gray, and then there's this unusual little guy:

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

He has a very light layer of hair, and also appears to have a fever coat. The vet doesn't seem to think there's any medical issues going on with him. Has anyone seen this before? What do you think @Stefanz?

 

[red top rescue]

Hi.  I'm not StefanZ but do know baby colorpoints when I see them.  I don't think that's a fever coat at all but a very dark colorpoint who was born pure white and is now getting color in his cooler areas as they all do.  To have that much color showing at this young age, and very distinct stripes, I think he will end up being very dark, a seal point tabby, or lynx point.  My daughter had one like that as a kitten and by the time he was adult, he was incredibly dark and striped but still the points were darker than the body.  He too came from a mixed litter mothered by a tortie.  Since colorpoint is recessive, it will not manifest visibly unless it is coming from both the female side and the male side, and that is very possible even if neither parent shows it. 

Here is a photo of my daughter's cat as a young adult.  He got much darker with age.

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• red top rescue
• Apr 23, 2016

 

[Willowy]

I'm going to have to disagree with Red Top (sorry!) and say that I think it's a fever coat. I've never seen a colorpoint with that much color on the face at that age. And I've never seen a colorpoint with gray/silver instead of white/cream on the body. So I think he'll end up being pure black when all the gray grows out. He looks really cool now! Take lots of pics! :lol3:

Now, he might have something unusual going on with the length/texture of his fur. He may have a rex coat. It's a gene that sometimes pops up in the general cat population. Rex kittens are born naked and don't have undercoats, and his fur does look a little curly. That could be why he has such a thin coat. . .but it could also be a result of a poor start in life. Hard to say at this age. It'll be interesting to see how he turns out!

 

[red top rescue]

Rex coat, now that's an interesting thought.  What looks like stripes to me could well be waves instead!  I still think he's a colorpoint, but time will tell for sure.  Ive never seen a fever coat that was limited to the body and didn't include the face, feet and tail.

 

[gmm80]

He's definitely silver/black and not cream, white or even gray and black. He's not my foster, but I had a kitten with a fever coat last year and aside from the hair length, the coloring is similar. I've kept in touch with his adopter and once the fever coat grew out, he ended up being black and white.

This is the guy I had last year. 

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

 

[StefanZ]

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

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• gmm80
• Apr 23, 2016

He has a very light layer of hair, and also appears to have a fever coat. The vet doesn't seem to think there's any medical issues going on with him. Has anyone seen this before? What do you think @Stefanz?

There is yet another option.   I dont think its a regular point - they dont darken up so fast already on small kittens. Nor its a typical fever coat - the points and masque are very neat and clear cut here, not "as if" but for real.

My guess he is mixed point, one point gene of the siamese type, one point gene of the burmanese type.  Such pointed kittens do darken up very quickly, and usually they dont have very blue eyes.

This is not that common, but not unique either, when you have learned such animals exists.  

@gmm80     your calling didnt work.  You wrote out yourself the nick. Its safer to use the automato, you write the @ and immediately begin to write the first letters. The automato is suggesting suitable alternatives.  You continue with next letters, and in the end its just my name left to pick.   The name will appear in blue instead of the usaul blackish.

 

[gmm80]

@StefanZ   

There we go - got it right this time! 

Thanks to all for you input - very interesting looking kitten. Wish he were my foster so I could see how he turns out later!

 

[tallyollyopia]

Okay, will someone take pity on the (relatively) new cat owner and explain to her what a fever coat is? I've never heard of it before...

 

[StefanZ]

 
Okay, will someone take pity on the (relatively) new cat owner and explain to her what a fever coat is? I've never heard of it before...

If momma had a fever, the kitten may be born with a fever coat.  It looks typically as a very dark point, black head and gray body on the kitten. The kitten is otherwise healthy.

Its not dangerous, and usually disappears with time without negative consequences.

And that fever (or even stress) may be anything.  Usually harmless. Some people are afraid it was some horrible contagion. Usually its not. If mom had a horrible contagion, they would be dead.   Or at least, visibly sick in some other way too.

 

[tallyollyopia]

 
If momma had a fever, the kitten may be born with a fever coat.  It looks typically as a very dark point, black head and gray body on the kitten. The kitten is otherwise healthy.

Its not dangerous, and usually disappears with time without negative consequences.

And that fever (or even stress) may be anything.  Usually harmless. Some people are afraid it was some horrible contagion. Usually its not. If mom had a horrible contagion, they would be dead.   Or at least, visibly sick in some other way too.

Thank you. I admit, when Rose was pregnant (and they're all fixed now--whew!) I did a lot of research and the subject of a fever coat never even came up.

 

[gmm80]

@Tallyollyopia  - don't feel bad, I've had cats for the last 20 years and never heard of it. I probably still wouldn't if I hadn't started fostering and ended up with a kitten that had it, and StefanZ explained it to me after I posted a pic of the kitten.

 

[Norachan]

He's such a sweet little guy. I hope you can get a few pictures of him as he grows up. It would be nice to see what his coat looks like when he's older.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Huh...60 years of cats, and I learned something brand new today!  Fever coats.  I won't forget that.

@StefanZ And there is another new thing for me, a mixed gene color point.  That would explain much.  I do have to say, though, that coat looks very "rex-y" to me.  Mixed color point Rex, maybe?

 

[StefanZ]

 
Huh...60 years of cats, and I learned something brand new today!  Fever coats.  I won't forget that.

@StefanZ And there is another new thing for me, a mixed gene color point.  That would explain much.  I do have to say, though, that coat looks very "rex-y" to me.  Mixed color point Rex, maybe?

That is certainly fully possible.  Its different genes, so they arent excluding each other.  The only But is, its a combination of rather rare genes, so all them meeting at once isnt not the most high statistics.  But impossible its not.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
That is certainly fully possible.  Its different genes, so they arent excluding each other.  The only But is, its a combination of rather rare genes, so all them meeting at once isnt not the most high statistics.  But impossible its not.

I'm going to cross my fingers and hope for it.  That is one unusual looking kitten!  If I didn't have my Hekitty (I'm only allowed one animal where I live), I'd be screaming to adopt that little guy.  I have a feeling he's going to be a beauty.  I know it's hard to tell at that age, but I just...have a feeling.

 

[kittylove53]

What an adorable baby. I also think he has some Rex in him, please post some more pics of him. It will be interesting to see how he turns out.He is so cute!

 

[DreamerRose]

I thought he was a rex, too, until I took a closer look at the first picture. He has a very, very short coat, and the wrinkles in his skin show, like a sphynx. I don't think now he's a rex, but he certainly is unusual.

 

[red top rescue]

@Mamanyt1953, that's what I LOVE about TCS.  I am ALWAYS learning new things and I've had cats for 60 years also!  Used to be a small but successful Himalayan breeder** back when Himmies were first being developed and were their own breed, not just a color division of the Persian.  An yes, although I am familiar with the fever coat phenomenon, this kitten didnt look like that.  He clearly looks point patterned to me, and yes, the points look too dark for the age compared with modern Siamese and Himalayans, but some of the early Himmies looked like this -- and their body color was very dark too in those early generations.  It took time to get the light coats in the seals.  However, now that Burmese come in colors other than seal brown, I'm not surprised they have their own color gene for pointedness, although I didn't know that was possible (something I learned tonight, thanks @StefanZ, so yes, this could be a combo, or a throwback to the dark Siamese/Himalayan seals of the past.  It would be interesting to see a genome on this kitten, and are all drooling to see how he develops and what he looks like.  Keep those photos coming, @gmm80!

**Definition of "successful" was having one of my homebred kittens take 2nd Best of the Best Kitten in Madison Square Garden back when Himmies hardly ever made the finals!  Her name was Chalimar Surprise, and she was a blue point female, sweet as can be, and I have always kicked myself that I had sold her before she made that win, and was being picked up at the show by her new owner.  Obviously he was thrilled!  Anyhow, once I got into rescue, I could not breed in good conscience so my lovelies were all spayed or neutered and placed in good forever homes.  I have a clear conscience!

 

[catwoman707]

@gmm80  so glad to see you have some answers!

He sure is adorable with his little dark face and wavy fur.

What a little gem SO unique!

 

[kntrygrl256]

 
Okay, will someone take pity on the (relatively) new cat owner and explain to her what a fever coat is? I've never heard of it before...

Don't feel bad. I never heard of it before either so I used my friend Google and found out what it was.