So the cat doesn’t show the pointed pattern but carries one copy of the gene. One breeder has speculated that fever coat may occur in some cats who carry one copy of the Himalayan gene (Cc). This gene is recessive to the full-color C gene, which means the cat needs two copies (cc) for the pointed pattern to show up. The Himalayan gene inhibits the development of pigmentation in areas of the body warmer than 100 – 102 F (37.7 – 38.8). This is only true for cats who carry the heat-sensitive Himalayan gene (pointed cats such as the Siamese, Birman, Tonkinese, etc.), which is a form of partial albinism. One source claims fever coats occur in the offspring of queens with a high fever because the cat’s coat is heat sensitive. Did the cat require medications to treat an infection or disease that caused an elevated temperature? Some medications can cause a drug-induced fever. Extreme stress and medication have also been implicated however, there is no mention of the type of medications involved. What causes fever coats in cats?įever coat in cats may be the result of maternal fever during pregnancy which causes incomplete deposits of pigmentation. It is recommended to have them seen by a veterinarian and tested for feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia. Though some causes of fever in the mother may be passed to the kitten, most kittens with fever coats are completely healthy. If your kitten has a coat color abnormality, there is no reason to assume they are unhealthy. In solids, it is an all-over silver-grey, often with darker fur on the face, ears, and lower legs, while only the black stripes are affected in tabby cats.

Aside from an unusual coat, a fever coat does not harm the kitten, and when he or she molts, the adult coat transitions to its normal color.įever coat can develop in kittens of any color or pattern. This differs from a smoke cat, who is pale at the roots and dark at the tips. Kitten fever cats: what do they look like?Īffected kittens are born with dark roots and a lighter silver/grey towards the tip. All of what has been written about is purely anecdotal, and there appears to be no research on fever coat, presumably because it would be too difficult and unethical to try to recreate.

Though these are the theorized causes of this coat appearance in kittens, there is no definitive proof of the cause. Stress and certain medications have also been implicated as a cause.

Fever coat is thought to occur when the mother develops a fever during pregnancy, and the unborn kittens(s) are exposed to an elevated body temperature in utero. Also known as stress coat, fever coat is an uncommon phenomenon where one or more kittens are born with a smokey grey coat.

Light silver tabby cat