Brown tinge to cat's coat

Zapperzy

My black and white cat has a very slightly brown tinge to her coat (the black fur mostly on her flanks) this last few weeks, she was temporarily on whiskas for about 2-3 weeks over the christmas but has been back on her regular high quality food for the last 2 weeks, when on this food she always had a gleaming cost with no brown tinge. How long would it normally take for changes in food to come through the coat? Or have others noticed it's just the time of year? Don't think it's as soft as it usually is either.

SillyMangoX

My old black cat started to turn ginger for the summer when he was about 2-3 years old, not fully ginger just like what you said, he would get a coppery tinge to the fur on his sides. It usually started around this time of year when he was shedding his winter coat and would fade when his winter coat grew back in!

I've also noticed with my current black and white cat his fur is starting to get a slight tinge to it now, so maybe its just a thing certain cats go through! Mine are fed whiskas wet food and science plan dry food, not sure if its anything to do with the whiskas though! I've never noticed it on any female cat I've had though!

The only thing I can think of is if its some sort of copper deficiency, because I know black/dark brown cows and horses will get a coppery tint to their hair if they are deficient. But to be honest I wouldn't worry about it too much

The Sweeper

Tyrosine (amino acid) deficiency?

http://www.cat-world.com.au/why-do-some-black-cats-coats-turn-that-reddish-brown-colour

Zapperzy

The Sweeper wrote: »

Tyrosine (amino acid) deficiency?

http://www.cat-world.com.au/why-do-some-black-cats-coats-turn-that-reddish-brown-colour

Interesting, I'l look into it more. Should she get that though on a high quality complete diet supplemented with chicken breast a few times a week? Orijen dry and bozita wet is what she's on.

angry kitten

Zapperzy wrote: »

Interesting, I'l look into it more. Should she get that though on a high quality complete diet supplemented with chicken breast a few times a week? Orijen dry and bozita wet is what she's on.

Hi I'd be careful with Orijen, I took my cats off Hills and put them on Orijens for a few months. 1 of my cats piled on weight and my vet warned me that in her opinion, the protein content is too high for cats. Just something to be aware of.

Mo60

I used to have a completely black cat that a couple of times, when coating, got a brown tinge on her coat. Other times she would be slightly different shades of black so I just presumed it was normal.

The Sweeper

Zapperzy wrote: »

Interesting, I'l look into it more. Should she get that though on a high quality complete diet supplemented with chicken breast a few times a week? Orijen dry and bozita wet is what she's on.

Honestly I don't know. I'd say it'll take between four and six weeks for you to see if the colour will change back. The appearance of reddish-brown in the undercoat seems fairly common in black cats.

Of course the place that colour and appearance is most important is in the showing world, so you could do some googley moogley research and see if there are any supplementary recommendations from people showing black cats on how to get them back to their midnight best.

Alun

Mo60 wrote: »

I used to have a completely black cat that a couple of times, when coating, got a brown tinge on her coat. Other times she would be slightly different shades of black so I just presumed it was normal.

Same here. We've had all manner of different cats that, when sunlight catches them in just the right way, appear from time to time to have a slightly browny / gingery tinge to them. I've always assumed it to be normal too.

Themadhouse

http://www.pictures-of-cats.org/black-cat-fur-picture.html

Does the colouration look like the black cat in this pic?