# Coat Color Curiosity



## mekg4435 (Dec 13, 2014)

Hi Everybody!
I'm new to this so unfortunately I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet, but I'm hoping some of you may know more on this subject. I have a little kitten I recently took off the streets, named Growler. He's been to see the vet twice now, shots and boosters, and both times the vet was really taken by his coat color. She called it smoke. I think he's a smoke mackerel tabby. He's not like any cat I've ever seen before, and I'm just wondering if that's really an unusual color. The local feral colony is pretty much black, black or black, although a few tuxedos showed up this past Spring. I'm just curious--he'll be neutered and his forever home is here with me. He just looks so...weird.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Without pictures there isn't much we can say. You need to upload pics to a site like Photobucket and then put the IMG link in your post here.

But..often when members post a question that sounds like yours the kitten appears to have fever coat. Google it, you'll find lots of pictures to compare to.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

If your cat is pretty much solid black or very dark grey, but about half an inch of the _roots of the hairs are distinctly white_, it is a "smoke." It's normal for the roots on a solid black cat to be greyish; true smokes, on the other hand, have definite white roots. Smokes are the solid version of _silver tabbies._ Smokes are very distinctive because when they move, the hair parts and the white undercoat can be seen. They are some of the most beautiful of cat colors. I remember fondly a black smoke female I had many years ago.

A "black smoke" is a solid black cat with white roots. Black smoke kittens often show faint tabby markings which disappear in the adult coat.


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## mekg4435 (Dec 13, 2014)

Thanks Ami! From your description he's definitely a smoke...the bottom half of the hairs are definitely white. The lighter color showing through the grey looks very distinctive when he moves...which he does a lot! I will have to spend more time figuring out this computer thingy so I can post pictures. I finally got a smart phone, so that's a step in the right direction. (looking up fever coat now...)


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## mekg4435 (Dec 13, 2014)

Wow! That's why I love this forum...always learning something new! I'd never heard of fever coat before. Growler's color is definitely genetic...but fever coat explains the strange feral in my yard. We call him Ruff. I was mystified when this all black long haired kitten suddenly developed a lovely silvery lions mane. Fever coat explains all. Fortunately, 4 months later he seems quite healthy with an excellent appetite. And really quite lovely.


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