? Sam’s coat turning red

Hey,

Anyone know why a cats coat would turn brown/reddish? Is he missing tyrosine in his diet? I would assume fancy feast would have everything a cat needs

 

I put in fur turning red in the search section up top and found this posted by a member
Here's a link to an article about black fur turning brown:
http://www.cat-world.com.au/why-do-some-black-cats-coats-turn-that-reddish-brown-colour

More members discussing this you will have to skim through them
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/mineral-deficiency-color-change.125078/

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/ot-color-change.257034/#post-2892267

I also tagged some members for you , that talked about it in the links I posted

 

Tagging
@tiffmaxee

@FrostD

@Wendy&Neko

 

I think fir changes color with age. Max was black and white but his turned orange/brown in areas as well.

 

Some cats with black hair get redder hair if they have GI conditions and aren't processing their food properly. So no matter if the food has all it's needed in it, the hair can turn red. Neko's also turned redder when she was out in the sun in the summer. As you are in the Vancouver area, I know too much sun is not the current issue.

 

Chewie's coat also changed from black when she was younger to rich undertones of brown in her last few years. She did sun herself in the summer, but not excessively so? She didn't have a GI issue that we know of, so I'm not sure what caused the change.

 

He looks far more brown/red in natural light than he does in artificial light (which is what I'm used to seeing him in). That might be responsible for part of it; just me not being used to having the curtains open and him lounging in my living room. But yeah; age might just be part of it. He had no liver problems on his bloodwork at diagnosis, so I doubt it's that.

 

Might also have to do with the fact I got a deshedding comb and actually used it on him. I had maybe 5-6 fistfuls of hair. He feels so much softer now, though he shed for the next day (I have another comb I bought for that, to use about 6 hours after I use the first one when they start to shed, and after that about twice per day until they stop shedding). His dandruff also disappeared after that, so that's nice.

 

The TAMU GI panel is where I'd start...biased obviously, but when Mr Kitty's coat turned we did the panel and it unearthed some issues. It's a little pricey though.

 

Fair enough; the more I look at him the more I think he's pretty much okay. I think he's always kind of been this way; I only see it when he's in natural light. It's bizarre. Because I'm used to seeing him in rooms with no natural light (I only recently started opening my curtains during the day lol).

I'll keep on eye on his GI issues though; if he continues with weird pooping I'll go get him a GI panel.

 

Vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, unexplained weight loss can also be signs of GI issues.

 

No weight loss at this point, he vomits about once per month which is what all of our cats have always done, he hasn't really had diarrhea lately (just lots of normal-ish poops and constipation). I will take him to the vet for a checkup in a month, he's scheduled for a check up.

Thx for the advice though, he probably should get a check up to make sure he's okay.