Why is my cats fur like this?

[Girlinblue]

Hi, I posted a few days ago about my cat not eating normally atm. She still isn’t eating right but today has eaten some of her cat food with a food topper on and some treats. However her fur is looking so different.. it’s kind of separating and looking spiky. It’s usually very smooth. Does anyone know what this means?

I'd be concerned she's not grooming properly (if she's not well) - my cat did this when ill, the fur was separating because it was a bit oily on the tips where not washed.

Have you taken her to the vet? She may be ill and not able to express it.

IIRC this can be a sign of thyroid problems.

Have her bloods been done already?

bloods havent been done. I took her to the vet yesterday morning and the vet said that she seemed fine and healthy. Checked her stomach, temperature, teeth etc and couldn’t find anything wrong. She just said to see how she is over the weekend and bring back in Monday morning if she hadn’t improved. She didn’t eat anything Thursday and most of Friday, but then ate a few bites Friday night and a few bites Saturday morning and last night. Then today she has eaten a packet and a half of her food. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that whatever was wrong is getting better, but I’m confused about why her fur suddenly looks like this!

This is literally what the term 'off colour' is used for. It comes from the horse world, and when a horse is feeling a bit unwell their coat looks different, and they can look a slightly different colour to normal. Hence being off colour.

If she's eating better, I'm sure she will be back to normal soon.

Keep an eye on her, might just be a viral thing or being out of sorts, however, spikey fur and not eating were the signs of thyroid problems in our cat. If no improvement within a couple of days in terms of eating take her back to the vet and ask for bloods.

How old is she?

She will be 2 in February. She has actually been eating normally now since Sunday night thank god!

It looks like she's not able to groom properly. The back end of cats starts to go a bit manky/dready if they can't bend sufficiently to wash there. Does her gait look weird, is she grooming in a normal way? Is she scratching?
Definitely take her to the vets. When a cats coat starts to look unkempt there's usually a medical reason.

She looks cold to me! Has she got access to cosy places - beds and blankets, etc?