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Siamese Cat - Change in pigmentation

16:35:33

Question
We have a six month old Siamese female - she's a beautiful Seal Point.  Over the last couple of weeks, we noticed that the front part of her black/brown nose has turned a light pink.  Her paws changed too, from dark brown to a combination - almost a brown/pinkish color.  What happened?

Answer
Are you refering to her paw pads and nose leather?  Or to her coat color?

If you're talking about the coat, this is common as the weather warms.  The dark color on a Siamese's coat (and skin) is temperature-related.  Cool parts of the body are dark, warm parts are lighter.  As the weather heats up, many cats shed their winter fur and grow in fur of a much lighter color, since the warmer outside temperatures effect how warm the skin stays.  Then they darken during the winter.

This is true for the leathers, as well.  I have a chocolate point whose leathers turn cinnamon pink during the warm months and darken in colder months.

Some antibiotics are also known to cause light skin/fur, and sometimes perhaps even spaying could be a cause, because of hormonal changes.  It's also suspected that dark fur may lighten if there is not enough protein in the diet.

Vitiligo is also seen in cats.  Though rather rare, Siamese do seem to be overrepresented.  This will result in random spots of pigment loss, eventually turning completely white.  There's no treatment.  It's not painful and doesn't cause problems, except sunlight exposure should be limited.