Amazing Color-Irresolute Kittens: What Is Fever Glaze? July twenty 2017, 51 Comments

Kittens are pretty magical. They tin bring fifty-fifty the most jaded people to their knees with a unmarried, tiny mew. They tin instantly brighten whatever day and make the lord's day feel like it'southward shining even if it's storming. Just they tin't change colors, right? Funny story: It turns out they tin can.

While the to a higher place photo would satisfy all my Lisa Frank-fueled babyhood dreams of a hot pink kitten, the "color-changing" kittens we're talking almost are born with bright silver. As they age, their fur changes until they are a completely different color than the fluff they were born with, a phenomenon known equally "fever coat."

Fever (or stress) glaze occurs when the female parent cat is ill with a high fever or stress during pregnancy and doesn't usually have any negative effects on the kitten's overall health.

A stray moggy from the UK, Georgie, gave nascence to a litter ofvi kittens born with this unusual coloration. Maggie Roberts, head vet at Cats Protection HQ in Sussex, was contacted in regards to Georgie's strange breed. Four of the kittens merely had the silver patches on their legs, but 2 were completely covered in the silver fur.

Later a chip of inquiry, it was adamant that the kittens well-nigh likely take fever coat. As they aged, the kittens shed their silvery outer coats and showed their truthful colors:ii black kittens, three torties, and one tabby.

More recently, a tiny, premature kitten was brought to the National Kitten Coalition, discovered hours after he was born.  Co-founder Susan Spaulding worked 'round the clock to save this fantastically colored preemie, whom they named Rizzo.

The silverish portion of Rizzo's fur will eventually turn blackness, like other cats with fever coat. "Just as with Siamese points, which are due to a temperature-sensitive factor, the coloring shows darker on his extremities because their temperature is cooler," says Spaulding, who has had a dozen or so cases of fever coat over her years working in cat rescue.

Rizzo in activity (still a bit wobbly!):

Rizzo's changing coat:

Bruce the cat is another example of a rescued kitty that grew out of his argent fever coat into a handsome black true cat.

Have you ever had a color-changing kitten?

[h/t LoveMeow, The Ross Gazette]