How do you call this color? (Looks like a "reversed smoke"?)

[yingying]

I was browsing CCA webpage for their show info and came across a photo of one of the national award winner. The lable simply put him as a "black male Persian", but I've never seen a black cat like that? It's like a "reversed smoke" with black root and white tip. He is an adult so shouldn't be "fever coat". So how do you call this color? Is it a color that you may also see in non-pedigree cats (i.e., is it a natural coloring/pattern)?

 

[northernglow]

That is just a faded black coat. It is common for longhairs (specially the breeds with a coat like Persians) to have the black fade, specially from the parts where the hair is the longest.

 

[nekochan]

Also sometimes a black smoke cat may look like that, the smoke Maine Coons I've seen usually look similar to that for example, because of the way their coat grows.

 

[segelkatt]

My all black foster cat at age 4 has turned brown underneath and almost red on the back of his pantaloons so it is not caused by the sun. Last year he did not have this color change. He also has some grey/white hair on his belly. His hair is medium long.

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• segelkatt
• Dec 1, 2015

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• segelkatt
• Dec 1, 2015

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• segelkatt
• Dec 1, 2015

I am wondering if his fur will revert to black. Norachan on one of the other threads has a cat named Carpet, also black with long hair  who turns brown on her body but not the legs and head and reverts to black in the cold months. Mine started to change color in August and he never lies in the sun unlike his short haired black buddy whose color does not change.

 

[biancavd]

My all black foster cat at age 4 has turned brown underneath and almost red on the back of his pantaloons so it is not caused by the sun. Last year he did not have this color change. He also has some grey/white hair on his belly. His hair is medium long.

101515 004.JPG

• segelkatt
• Dec 1, 2015

110915 010.JPG

• segelkatt
• Dec 1, 2015

111815 013.JPG

• segelkatt
• Dec 1, 2015

I am wondering if his fur will revert to black. Norachan on one of the other threads has a cat named Carpet, also black with long hair  who turns brown on her body but not the legs and head and reverts to black in the cold months. Mine started to change color in August and he never lies in the sun unlike his short haired black buddy whose color does not change.

This is probably caused by a shortage of Tyrosine. It's a bit too complicated to explain on my phone, but you should be able to google about it. A proper diet might be able to restore the black coat, but it could also be age related. Cats way of getting gray

 

[segelkatt]

This is probably caused by a shortage of Tyrosine. It's a bit too complicated to explain on my phone, but you should be able to google about it. A proper diet might be able to restore the black coat, but it could also be age related. Cats way of getting gray

This cat is only 4 years old so I don't think it's age related. I did google Tyrosine and found that its lack only affects long haired black cats, that it is indeed reversible and the article even gave the amount per kg weight of the cat needed to restore it back to black. He does look sort of rusty and getting more so and only the long hair is affected. Thinking back I recall that this started sometime after he had a bout of severe constipation and was put on canned food only. I have just put him on a different brand and will see if that will bring him back to black. if not, then I will take that up with his vet. Thanks for steering me into this direction. Will keep you and everyone else who reads this thread posted.. 

 

[segelkatt]

It's over a year since I last posted. I have been feeding this black/brown/orange cat 500 mg of L-Tyrosine twice a day (I broke the capsule open  and sprinkled it on is wet food) and the orange is all gone by now and so is most of the brown. Only his pantaloons are not pure black but sort of chocolate. On his belly he now has a patch of almost white hair, this had been sort of  dirty gray before so this is much better in appearance. I will keep feeding him the L-Tyrosine to keep him black.