Black Smoke Long Haired Kitten?

[Rooker]

Hello all! Recently we adopted this sweet little kitten and I was wondering if there is any way to tell if he will stay black-smoke like that or if he will eventually turn all black? He is 4 months old now and still has the same amount of silver under coat as when he was 8 weeks. The silver undercoat only seems to be on his back, tail and neck. The very tips of his fur are black and then the roots are silver ish!
Also wondering if he will turn out long hair?

Thank you for any input!

 

[lutece]

He's definitely going to turn out longhaired, he already looks super fluffy

As for the gray color to his fur, my guess is that he is genetically a solid black cat, and his coat is still developing. It's normal for black kittens to have some grayish or brownish coat, especially in the fluffy areas of the coat. Even as adults, longhaired black cats often have a grayish or brownish undercoat.

In the last picture, the light banding on the hair looks like some kind of "fever coat" phenomenon, where for some reason those hairs weren't able to develop enough pigment at the time that the lightest gray band was growing in, but are now developing more pigment. "Fever coat" can be due to an actual fever, or it can have some other mysterious cause... but the hallmark of fever coat is that as it grows out, the hairs start to be more pigmented, and appear darker at the base as it appears in that last picture.

Smoke cats have white (or nearly white) at the base of each hair, and full color at the tip of each hair; a black smoke cat would have hairs with white at the base and black at the tip. The fact that this color is called "smoke" can be a bit confusing to people, I think, because a cat with "smoky" gray undercoat is usually a solid black cat, not a smoke! Although it is possible your kitten could develop white hair roots and turn out to be black smoke in color, my guess is that he will darken up and be more black. In either case, he's going to be a gorgeous cat... be sure to come back and post more pictures!

Here's a link to another thread about a "smoky" looking black kitten that you might find helpful. Check out the pictures posted by sivyaleah of her black cat Luna in various stages of development, and compare with the video of a black smoke cat that I posted farther down in the thread.

Is my boy a Black Smoke or just a beautiful Black?

Hello everyone. Quick introduction. I am cat mom to four beautiful kitties. All them were rescued. Three abandoned at my house (I live in the country so it happens far too often) and one adopted from a friend’s house when he was 7 weeks (no mama cat - but the daddy cat was attempting to raise...

thecatsite.com

 

[James&Misty2019]

Amazing

 

[Rooker]

He's definitely going to turn out longhaired, he already looks super fluffy

As for the gray color to his fur, my guess is that he is genetically a solid black cat, and his coat is still developing. It's normal for black kittens to have some grayish or brownish coat, especially in the fluffy areas of the coat. Even as adults, longhaired black cats often have a grayish or brownish undercoat.

In the last picture, the light banding on the hair looks like some kind of "fever coat" phenomenon, where for some reason those hairs weren't able to develop enough pigment at the time that the lightest gray band was growing in, but are now developing more pigment. "Fever coat" can be due to an actual fever, or it can have some other mysterious cause... but the hallmark of fever coat is that as it grows out, the hairs start to be more pigmented, and appear darker at the base as it appears in that last picture.

Smoke cats have white (or nearly white) at the base of each hair, and full color at the tip of each hair; a black smoke cat would have hairs with white at the base and black at the tip. The fact that this color is called "smoke" can be a bit confusing to people, I think, because a cat with "smoky" gray undercoat is usually a solid black cat, not a smoke! Although it is possible your kitten could develop white hair roots and turn out to be black smoke in color, my guess is that he will darken up and be more black. In either case, he's going to be a gorgeous cat... be sure to come back and post more pictures!

Here's a link to another thread about a "smoky" looking black kitten that you might find helpful. Check out the pictures posted by sivyaleah of her cat Luna in various stages of development, and compare with the video of a black smoke cat that I posted farther down in the thread.

Is my boy a Black Smoke or just a beautiful Black?

Hello everyone. Quick introduction. I am cat mom to four beautiful kitties. All them were rescued. Three abandoned at my house (I live in the country so it happens far too often) and one adopted from a friend’s house when he was 7 weeks (no mama cat - but the daddy cat was attempting to raise...

thecatsite.com

In the last photo I actually separated up his fur to show how it looks like inside (the roots are all silver and only tips are black).
The coat color changes depending on light, sometimes it looks silver and sometimes just black with silver undercoat. But the silver is still very visible. His eyes also seem to be more of a yellow color? and he doesn't really seem to have any hues of brown in his coat.

In the post you sent me, the kitten seems to have silver coat mainly on the outside and the roots seem to have much darker color?

 

[lutece]

Yes, I can see that you separated the hairs Here is what I am seeing in the picture:

A smoke cat has white roots, not gray / silver roots. Did you scroll down and look at the video in the post? It's a good example of a smoke cat.

 

[Rooker]

Yes, I can see that you separated the hairs Here is what I am seeing in the picture:

View attachment 322002

A smoke cat has white roots, not gray / silver roots. Did you scroll down and look at the video in the post? It's a good example of a smoke cat.

Oh okay! Now I see what you are describing. The black tips are now shorter and shorter as he grows. He is 4 months old now and the roots of the hairs are still silvery, but not white like you say.
I didn't think he could have a fever coat, he is such a sweet kitten and came from a mother cat who had a loving owner her whole life.

 

[lutece]

Sometimes fever coat can just happen mysteriously... I've seen fever coat on my own kittens occasionally, and I take good care of them

 

[Rooker]

Sometimes fever coat can just happen mysteriously... I've seen fever coat on my own kittens occasionally, and I take good care of them

Is this cat considered a black smoke? He seems to have white furs on the outside instead of on the inside of the coat and he has black face and legs.

The video you posted in the other post had an adult cat with white undercoat, but no signs of white coat on the outside? I might be a bit confused about what a black smoke coat actually is.

 

[lutece]

The video I posted is typical for a black smoke cat. The defining characteristic of a smoke cat is the white section at the root of each hair, and dark section at the tip of each hair. Even where there is short fur on the cat's face and legs, there will be some white at the base of each hair; it's just more difficult to see on those parts of the cat.

However, the relative width of the white and black sections can vary from cat to cat. Sometimes the white section is wider, and the black section is narrower; in this case you are more likely to see a light "ruff" and light colored belly fur as in the video you posted. You are also more likely to see a light "ruff" and light colored belly fur when a cat has abundant undercoat (Norwegian Forest Cats have lots of undercoat). On other cats, the white section is relatively narrow, and the black section is wider, in which case the whole cat will appear dark, and only a narrow section at the roots will be white.

Here are some more videos of black smoke longhaired cats showing different amounts of black and white in the coat. In the first and second videos, you can see examples of cats with a lighter "ruff" similar to the video you posted, and on the darker parts of the cat's body, you can see the white roots when the cat moves around. In the last video, the cat looks almost totally black, but when it moves around, you can just barely see a white section at the root of each hair.

 

[Rooker]

The video I posted is typical for a black smoke cat. The defining characteristic of a smoke cat is the white section at the root of each hair, and dark section at the tip of each hair. Even where there is short fur on the cat's face and legs, there will be some white at the base of each hair; it's just more difficult to see on those parts of the cat.

However, the relative width of the white and black sections can vary from cat to cat. Sometimes the white section is wider, and the black section is narrower; in this case you are more likely to see a light "ruff" and light colored belly fur as in the video you posted. You are also more likely to see a light "ruff" and light colored belly fur when a cat has abundant undercoat (Norwegian Forest Cats have lots of undercoat). On other cats, the white section is relatively narrow, and the black section is wider, in which case the whole cat will appear dark, and only a narrow section at the roots will be white.

Here are some more videos of black smoke longhaired cats showing different amounts of black and white in the coat. In the first and second videos, you can see examples of cats with a lighter "ruff" similar to the video you posted, and on the darker parts of the cat's body, you can see the white roots when the cat moves around. In the last video, the cat looks almost totally black, but when it moves around, you can just barely see a white section at the root of each hair.

Okay, so the white ruff and belly (wider white sections) are only specific to a Norwegian Forest Cats and can't be seen in a mixed breed or a Domestic Long hair cat?
This morning I checked my kitten's cheeks, where he has the lighter ruff and what I discovered was quite interesting... the light grey cheeks actually don't have any black hairs and the roots of them are white. But he doesn't have the white roots anywhere else but in his cheeks. Is that part of the "fever coat"?
His belly is black and when I look at the roots of the hairs they seem lighter, but not white, more like... beige? He has a strange color pattern.

I'm asking a lot of questions because I have been trying to find the answers to my questions for a while now and I am so happy to be talking to someone who understands it!

 

[lutece]

Okay, so the white ruff and belly (wider white sections) are only specific to a Norwegian Forest Cats and can't be seen in a mixed breed or a Domestic Long hair cat?

No, it's not specific to NFCs at all. Some black smoke cats are lighter in color than others; having lots of undercoat also makes the coat look lighter, because the undercoat is lighter. The NFC is a breed that happens to have lots of undercoat, but this is not exclusive to the NFC... many other cats also have lots of undercoat.

This morning I checked my kitten's cheeks, where he has the lighter ruff and what I discovered was quite interesting... the light grey cheeks actually don't have any black hairs and the roots of them are white. But he doesn't have the white roots anywhere else but in his cheeks. Is that part of the "fever coat"?
His belly is black and when I look at the roots of the hairs they seem lighter, but not white, more like... beige? He has a strange color pattern.

It's important to remember that at his age, he is a long way from getting his adult coat, and his color hasn't fully developed. I'm not sure exactly what you are looking at in his cheeks and belly, but it's totally normal and expected for black cats to have lighter areas in the coat as kittens. In a few months you should start to see the adult coat color developing. However, note that even adult longhaired black cats often have lighter coat on the ruff and belly, and anywhere where the undercoat is profuse. If this lighter coat is brownish or grayish when he matures, he's a black cat. If he ends up developing white hair roots everywhere on the body, he is a smoke. Since his coat hasn't come in fully, it could go either way, but my best guess at this time is that he will be a black cat.

 

[Rooker]

No, it's not specific to NFCs at all. Some black smoke cats are lighter in color than others; having lots of undercoat also makes the coat look lighter, because the undercoat is lighter. The NFC is a breed that happens to have lots of undercoat, but this is not exclusive to the NFC... many other cats also have lots of undercoat.

It's important to remember that at his age, he is a long way from getting his adult coat, and his color hasn't fully developed. I'm not sure exactly what you are looking at in his cheeks and belly, but it's totally normal and expected for black cats to have lighter areas in the coat as kittens. In a few months you should start to see the adult coat color developing. However, note that even adult longhaired black cats often have lighter coat on the ruff and belly, and anywhere where the undercoat is profuse. If this lighter coat is brownish or grayish when he matures, he's a black cat. If he ends up developing white hair roots everywhere on the body, he is a smoke. Since his coat hasn't come in fully, it could go either way, but my best guess at this time is that he will be a black cat.

Thank you for the helpful answer.
I will surely come back and post more photos of him when he grows up more! I am sure he will turn out beautiful either way.

One last question - can it happen that only one or two kittens get this "fever coat" from the litter and the rest of the litter is "normal"?
I know he had couple of siblings that had pure black coats as well as one sibling with the same silvery coat.

 

[lutece]

It's possible for fever coat to affect just some of the kittens, or the whole litter. When I've seen fever coat in my own litters, it has only affected one kitten in the litter each time.

Enjoy your beautiful little one!!