changing color?

[bizzy23]

hi everyone! my kitten zim is about 8 months old. when i first adopted him, he was all black with white / gray on his belly, white paws, white chest and a little white under and around his nose.



now it seems the white under his nose is spreding around his eyes, and the gray on his belly seems to be spreding outwardly as well. this didn't strike me as overly unusual, but then yesterday i noticed that he has gray pathces on both his shoulders. the same size on each. like gray hairs are mixing in with black ones.



is he just shedding a baby coat or could this be something more serious like premature aging? i haven't noticed any other behavior differences. he eats and drinks normally and he still plays and runs around like crazy. has anyone ever experienced anything like this?

[Traci]

He is simply maturing into adulthood. Many kittens will develop different coloring as they mature. His true color and markings should be evident by the time he reaches around 1 year of age.

Just curious, but is that a collar on him? Not a flea collar I hope?

[bizzy23]

nope just a regular collar. he is an indoor cat but he got out of our apartment a little while back. he was gone for a day but somehow he ended up finding his way home. so just in case he sneaks out again, he always wears a collar with my number on it.

[Tambrey]

this post got me to thinking...earlier this summer, one of the ferals had one kitten...the one I found out by our LP tank while I was mowing...it was a little black adn white thing, like momma...and it got to where it would let us pick it up...sometimes...but before we could totally tame it...it disappeared....

Now about a month ago, a cat appeared on our front steps...it was more gray adn white, very pretty cat...and let my son pick it up and bring it in...it has been in our bathroom waiting to get neutered this next month...finances would not allow us to sooner...

soooo...I got a couple of those baby pics of that kitten...and compared them with a couple pics I just took of this gray and white one...marking are similar enough..I know as the kitten grew, some marks might even "move"...and the kitten's ears were more black, where this one has white on the ends, but in looking at the younger pics...you can see tufts of white fur...so again, maybe more white came out as he grew...

I am thinking this might be our lost Panda Bear

[Traci]

Kittens can be very deceiving

My Cody, until around 5 months of age, appeared as a black and white tuxedo. As he matured, he turned into a black tabby with the tuxedo marks.

Cassidy, at around 2 months, was all black, with 6 tiny white hairs on her chest, and a few white hairs on her chin. I thought as she matured, those white areas would be more prominent. Nope. She still is completely black with those same 6 white hairs on her chest and her chin.

Maybe your Panda Bear is back "home"

[Tambrey]

my husband does not think so...but I do...I think...longshot...but a possibility...

kitten


the one in our bathroom, we have been calling Bud

[Traci]

Hard to say, Tambrey...in my experience, where the colors meet (i.e., white and grey or black and grey, like behind the neck) are the telling factors, since the "meeting" point rarely changes. Do you have a pic of the first kitten's face to match your current kitten's face? (the face "mask" is also a good indicator)

[Tambrey]

I will look and see what I can find...but I think this is the best face shot I ever got of the kitten



here is one I found and lightened up a bit


and a face of the one upstairs...


and this is the face of the momma of the baby kitten for sure...


hhmmmm...maybe this is not our panda bear after all
Panda Bear had more black around the eyes...