# Moulting in Long Haired Cats



## pchel (Aug 16, 2011)

Hello, 

I have been fostering kittens this past year and finally fell in love with a little fella I couldn't part with. I had to mother and really worry with him, because he was a sickly little (feral) guy. I've fostered about 12 kittens to date with varying coats. I had one little black kitten what was a fuzz ball, she looked like puss n' boots from the back (her photos are on flickr as "Odette"). 

My Sylvester and his sisters were not the same kind of fuzzball she was, but they are furrier than 'normal', with crazy long whiskers going every direction. Now, Sylvester was smaller in size than his sisters by half. When they were 2lbs being spayed and adopted out, he was still 1lb (and half their length), so I think he was a little more mature, closer to puberty maybe when he was neutered. Right before he was neutered he lost his long hair and his whiskers broke off (not sure if that was related or not). Best guess is that he is around 16 weeks old. 

Is this normal for any of the long hair breeds to moult to the point of being short haired cats? His hair is really fine and soft. I'll link photos so you can see him. It just baffles me. Of course if he stays short haired I will love him as much, but I really thought he'd be a medium or long haired cat. He does have some new white sparse hairs growing this week through the black short hair which might be the beginning of long hair growing back, but it is white?. 

More Sylvester photos



cat2 by peashells, on Flickr

A little Austin Powers/ Mr. Wigglesworth humor there.


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

That's very odd about Sylvester's fur and whiskers. I think I'd call a vet just to rule out any weird illnesses. 

Oh, I just thought of something...are you in the US? Maybe he lost his fur due to the extreme heat that parts of the US is experiencing? Either way, I'd still call a vet. He's a cutie and so is Oreo. <3 <3 <3


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## pchel (Aug 16, 2011)

He goes to the vet tomorrow. I am not familiar with long haired cats, so I didn't know if it could be a normal puberty or seasonal thing for them. I am in the US and it was during those hot days he lost his hair. I kinda thought he might have broke his whiskers off in the window screen or something. He looks like a different cat, though. lol


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## my5kitties (Sep 13, 2005)

Well, good luck at the vet. Let us know what he/she says. The only thing that I can think of is that it might be heat related, but I don't know...and I have a long haired kitty.


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## Morquinn (May 2, 2011)

Thats the same cat??


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## pchel (Aug 16, 2011)

lol That is the same cat! The vet said that it was normal in young kittens and puppies. They loose can loose the 'fuzzy' coat and grow in a sleek one. It will be interesting to see what Sylvester grows up to look like!!


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

I'm familiar with "kitten coat drop", but wow! that hardly looks like the same cat but the markings say it is! So maybe it a combination of "kcd" plus the fact that this is the time of year all coats are moulting. They shed during spring when the length of days lengthen to have a lighter summer coat, and again at this time of year (and yes the days are getting noticably shorter!) dropping some of the summer coat which will grow in longer and thicker as summer goes into fall and winter. Hope you'll update us with a pic after he comes into his adult coat around 1 yr. and in the wintertime. Sure would like to see how he turns out. Very cute kitty with an upturned nose! Sylvester's a beautifully marked "tuxedo kitty".


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## Morquinn (May 2, 2011)

Crazy, I have never seen that fluffy of a kitten lose all the poof and go to such short hair..I mean yeah I know kittens have "kitten fur" or whatever and loses that, but wow that looked like it would've been a long haired cat and... poof its gone! The whiskers are another story :?


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