New Cat Brings Joy, and A Mystery

Our new kitty, bright-eyed Little Ultraviolet Girl!

Cats have always just walked into our lives. When our Bud departed for the Rainbow Bridge in June and left us catless, we thought we’d have to go looking for a kitty. I thought, well, we’ll go to a shelter or rescue and I’ll seek my favorite fur color, black.

The pictures are dark and may not show our new cat’s colors very well, but I don’t have time to brighten them for this quick announcement. UPDATE: I’ve now had time to try to do some quick beginner’s editing on the first two pictures. They still don’t show the color well as the two colors in the fur mean a challenging edit. I’m trying for a natural look, but when the black areas are dark enough, the reddish tinges become too red. It’s not important, she’s the sweetest little cat and that’s what matters to us! The backgrounds need some more work too, another time.

Our new black kitty, Little Girl aka Ultraviolet or UV.

Then we found out a friend who feeds ferals was also feeding a friendly black cat outside who showed up about a year ago. Our friend has a No-Other-Cats! sort of cat and couldn’t take Little Girl in, and would be pleased if we’d scoop her up and give her a home.

Little Girl has more reddish-brown on her than our friend had remembered, but she’s a solid black cat. She just has a blaze of ruddy color on her floofy back, and elsewhere. It’s like “tipped” fur, with a black undercoat.

Ultraviolet is a small cat

We have a feeling it’s her natural coloration, not the “rusting” that black cats can undergo in the sun, and the vet is of the same opinion. She also has red on her chest and legs, areas that don’t get so much sun exposure. And I could swear a few of her extra-long whiskers are ruddy.

She’s not a tortoiseshell, her fur isn’t brindled, or patched with discrete areas of red and black. I’ve never seen anything like this, though I’ve seen a lot of cats. I checked The Messybeast Cat Resource Archive by Sarah Hartwell and found a description of a “smoke” black cat – black with a light or silver undercoat – if I’m interpreting that correctly. Messybeast also notes that “tipped”, “shaded”, and “smoke” refer to three types of hair shaft color banding, described as being over a lighter undercoat. Again, that’s my take on it, which can always be wrong. Source: http://messybeast.com/colours.htm

I went looking for images and descriptions of the Abyssinian breed of cats because I remembered one phase as being a deep red and black combo. But, they are basically ruddy cats and the few black areas are “ticked”, in other words black is just on the top part of the hair shaft, the undercoat is red.

So where does our kitty fit into known cat colors and phases??? Known or unknown, she’s a fetching kittygirl! Not a tortie, but a diva nonetheless!

Little Ultraviolet Girl aces lounging

I’m going to call her Ultraviolet, UV for short, although like as not we’ll call out “Little Girl”, or “Sweetheart” too. The vet says she’s about ten years old and basically healthy. She’s lost all her teeth to resorption, but eats like a horse. She has a loud purr and she trills a bit. When she opens her mouth to meow almost no sound comes out. To acknowledge, I say, “I see that meow.” She’s such a purring joy of a kitty, and I hope for many years with her!

Do I hear a Phssssst from the Rainbow Bridge?

Sorry Buddy! She’s found your favorite sleeping spots and trails through the house already, but at least she hasn’t shown any interest in editing – so far.

(As is often the case, I may not be quick to post and answer comments due to too doggone much to do.)