# Minion: Black Smoke?



## Kobster

Minion is a cat of a different color. I'm pretty sure she would be classed as a "black smoke" at this point, but would love our resident color expert to weigh in. *ahem, Heidi*

Pics at last.























































OMG SQUEEEE


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## Susan

I can't help you with the color and whether she'd be a "black smoke"...but she certainly is an adorable black cutie!


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## konstargirl

She's so cute!! How old is she?


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## SpellQ

OMG it's good you're too far away! What a sweetie! Definitely pointed imho and hmmm other than that I have no idea.


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## raecarrow

Kobster said:


>


Is she striped? It looks like she has faint stripes on her back legs in this picture.


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## Kobster

She does have faint stripes, they were actually quite pronounced a few weeks ago and have faded significantly. 

Best guess is she is about 10 weeks old now.


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## Kobster

SpellQ said:


> OMG it's good you're too far away! What a sweetie! Definitely pointed imho and hmmm other than that I have no idea.



I think she looks pointed too! Her body is a faded Silvery color but her legs, tail and face are still stark black. She really is gorgeous.


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## SpellQ

OH my goodness I didn't even see the stripes on her legs. Looking at her pics again I'm definitely glad I live so far away or she'd have a new home. LOL I say this with one kitty draped over my shoulder and another kneading my thigh. Just what I'd need. Another monster! hahaha


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## catloverami

If all the coat is white at the skin, then she's a black smoke. She looks like one to me. All black smokes have faint tabby "ghost markings". They fade out when the adult coat comes in. She's adoorable and I'm sure you won't have any trouble finding a new home for her.....and black smoke is a quite rare colour, related to the "silver gene". Black x silver tabby mating often produces a black smoke.


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## MissyCat

beautiful kitty!


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## Heidi n Q

She could be Black Smoke but I think she is a black kitty getting/recovering from a 'fever coat'. 
All that speckled hair and the 'pointed' look are really making me lean towards fever coat.


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## Mimosa

I agree with Heidi. 

Last year we had a foster who came in with a bald belly and when his fur grew back in it was the same silvery black colour. I just got some pictures from his new owners (he is about 8 months now) and he has turned jet black.


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## Heidi n Q

Copy/Paste about Fever Coats:

Fever Coat images

To the best of my knowledge, Fever Coat is simply a response triggered by some stressful 'thing' the cat is going through, not necessarily a fever, but a medical or other stressful type of issue. It usually only happens in black-based kittens/cats and once the underlying issue is resolved, the hair cycles through its' shedding-life and grows back in its' normal color.

Lucy:
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=65921&p=652898#p652898
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m49/soggybottomranch/_GLB1277.jpg

















Check out the fever coat this kitten was exhibiting:










Alright! FIVE minutes of searching and I found what I was looking for! 
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=65641&hilit=fever+coat


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## Heidi n Q

Fever Coat in an adult cat:
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&p=644247










Fever Coat in kittens:
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60785&view=previous

























About 6wks later...
_Note the chest area has returned to black and the hindquarters are still turning from the fever coat to black:_










http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59749&start=15









...a few months later:


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## Kobster

Ah! That makes sense Heidi! That would explain why initially she was jet black (as I think the smoke kittens I've seen were pretty well born that way) 

Should I be concerned that she isn't healthy then? She was very sick when I first got her, but seems fit as a fiddle now. Could there be an underlying problem? Very concerning.


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## Mimosa

Minion is probably fine now, her coat just needs time to become normal.


The fevercoat picture of the adult shorthair that Heidi posted was what made me stumble onto catforum, I was looking for pictures to show someone with fevercoated kittens.


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## Coyote

While I'm sure those cats have been through something not at all nice, those fever coats are BEAUTIFUL!


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## Heidi n Q

Kobster said:


> Should I be concerned that she isn't healthy then? She was very sick when I first got her, but seems fit as a fiddle now. Could there be an underlying problem? Very concerning.





Mimosa said:


> Minion is probably fine now, her coat just needs time to become normal.


Mimosa's right. I do not think your Minion is having issues right now, the f/c just indicates that she _did_ have some health concerns in her recent-ish past.

The term 'fever coat' conjures images of immediate sickness but I feel the presence of f/c is actually something like a physical/visible indication of delayed response to some stressor. Because it affects the pigment in the skin/hair-shafts, I feel it takes a while for it to display and dissipate, that is why most of those cats look healthy. 
_I can only surmise that the adult short hair in the stainless steel cubicle has been enduring an extended health issue to have the condition and still look poorly._


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