Black cat is turning brown

[toothfairy73]

Hi. My all black cat has started having patches where his fur is going lighter.

I've googled this and found it can be because he isn't having enough meat.

www.vetknowhow.co.uk/blog/why-is-my-black-cat-turning-reddy-brown

Because he is overweight and normally eats his and his sister's food I've started giving them a pouch between them in the mornings and then dried food (and this week switching to a light version for him) and sometime cat "soup".

I will actively give him more meat but are there any vets/ vet nurses or anyone else on here that has experience of this? The above article talks about other possible causes. Do I need to take him to the vets?

I agree it's a nutrient deficiency of.some sort- my DH's childhood cat had this when she was older, and her fur went really dry. She had to have special vitamins from the vet (she did live to 24!).

I’d vet him, I’ve seen this on here before and the cat was taken to the vet.

It’s always best to rule out anything sinister.

@PhilODox do you know if the fur colour came back with vitamins? Or did the cat remain brown?

@Fluffycloudland77 the thing that is odd is that I took him to the vet a few weeks ago and they didn't notice it, although maybe it's only recently become more noticeable. I will call the vets on monday and get an appointment this week

@Fluffycloudland77 can you remember what the outcome was? The article (in the link) also mentions thyroid. He is overweight and remains so no matter what we do

We had a black cat with lots of brown patches all over. I put it down to the sun bleaching the fur. She'd lay in the hot sun all day on top of a shed. The only things that weren't brown were her head and tail.

I can’t no, I remember people being blasé about it and saying it was sunlight but then a vet came on & reminded us we were talking bollocks because it was winter.

No idea with cats but it is known with horses and cows to be a copper deficiency that causes the brown and does go away when the coat changes if the diet is no longer deficient.

I was going to say copper deficiency. Its very common in older black cats. We used to sell something called SA37 years back, which is a nutritional supplement you sprinkle on food. Not sure if can still get it

www.hyperdrug.co.uk/EasiVet-SF-50-Powder/productinfo/SF50/

I would use sparingly as it has vitamin A which is bad for cats livers in high quantity.

I've posted about this before. I've spoken to my vet about this in the past and been told there is no problem since the cats are all very healthy.
Here is one of my 'black' cats.

I will take him to the vets and see what they say. He does spend a lot of time in the garden and always has but the change in fur is recent thing. It is very soft and fluffy which hopefully is a good sign

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats your cat is gorgeous

Age?

Black rabbits often start to turn brown in places ad they age so maybe it's the same with cats

He is only 5 years old (we think). He is a rescue cat. They thought he was 2 when we got him and we've had him 3 years.