My cat has changed colour

[Islandlady]

I have got a black and white - well I DID have a black and white cat I now have a brown and white cat as his coat has lost its deep black and is now a brownish red.

He is 15 years old and now and since we moved to the island has changed from being an indoor cat to a cat we only see at mealtimes.

I dont really want to take him to the vet if its only old age and change of environment as a trip to the vets ends with a traumatised cat and the shedding of blood (mine) as he is scared of going into a cat basket.

He is eating well with a well balanced diet, and is active, playfull and happy
so I dont think he is ill at all - just brown

Has anyone alse got a brown cat that used to be black or can give any insight

I'll be the first to say

are you sure it's your cat

and sorry I have no real help but I've bumped it for you

oops sorry he is reddish BROWN

That'll be the effect of sunshine on his fur! You mentioned that he'd changed from being indoors to outdoors most of the time.

Our ginger cat goes from a deep red in winter (when he stays snuggled inside most of the time) to an almost blonde colour in summer (when he's roaming outside nearly all the time)

My black rabbit did the same in spring/summer too - went browny-red.

HTH

My rabbit once changed colour. He went on holiday for a couple of days and when he came back he was white (he used to be grey). My mum told me he had been to the hairdressers on his holidays

Maybe your cat has been to the same hairdressers?

(T'will be the sun)

I've heard breeders keep the black cats in because of this effect.

I'm so glad you posted this. I have two black and white cats who have gone brown, I thought I was going mad! They are out and about all day if its sunny, so it must be like a cat tan.

Now that's a cat of a different colour.

(Runs away)

Our vet said it was age that makes them go ginger. I think my cat has done it to blend in with our rug to camouflage him from the kitten! [bugrin]

Cat tan - brilliant!

One of our cats gets a pussycat tan! In winter he is most definitely black, but in the summer he goes a kind of rusty brown, same as the OP's cat.

Not uncommon at all. Brownish red though would be a whole different story!