| At birth, kittens may have magnificent markings, but quickly lose color and contrast as they become fuzzier. This is referred to as the "ugly fuzzies". Different bloodlines experience the "ugly fuzzies" at different stages, some get it worse than others. A beautifully clear kitten at three weeks old may begin to acquire a ticked kitten coat at four to five weeks old, that is a sort of camouflaging of the actual pattern and markings. This coat begins to clear again to higher contrast at about 12-16 weeks and is again breathtaking by 6 months as the adult coat starts to emerge. The camouflaging of a Bengal kittens' coat is a trait passed down from their wild ancestor, the Asian Leopard Cat. In the wild, an Asian Leopard Cat cub will have a camouflaged coat to blend the cub in with its' surroundings. This is natures' way of protecting the young cub so that it will be harder for other predators to see it. |
UGLY FUZZIES
| This is an example of a Spotted Fever Kitten during this amazing transformation. |
Tucker at 3 days old...
Tucker at 3 weeks old..... Before with kitten pelt
Tucker at 6 weeks old....Very fuzzy now
Tucker at 11 weeks old.... Starting to clear up
Tucker at 5 months old... almost completely clear
Adult coat... completely cleared up now!!
| NOTE: See how his rosettes opened up too, and continued to get more gorgeous as time went on! A truly phenomenal transformation!! |
