Do Kittens Lose Their Baby Fur?

Pretty much all kittens are born with a soft, fluffy coat. This can be surprising to some new kitten parents, who expected to get a sleeker cat.

Will that fluffy kitten coat last forever or do kittens lose their baby fur?

Do kittens lose their baby fur?

At approximately five months of age, your kitten will start to shed their baby kitten fur and grow into their adult cat fur. The process can start a little earlier than five months, but it can also start later. This depends on the cat, the breed, and their living situation.

When a kitten starts to shed their baby kitten fur, it can take a month for the complete process to happen. They will shed their baby kitten coat during this month-long period and grow in their adult fur coat.

The fuzzy baby kitten fur will shed all over the place, so it may be best to keep them in one room or be prepared for lots of cleanups during this time. 

Some kittens may complete the process a little sooner, and others may take a bit longer than a month.

During this process, the distinctive design or pattern that a particular kitten has will continue to be the same as they change. 

It is possible for the kitten to get a slightly darker adult fur coat, but this doesn’t always happen. 

Regardless of any slight color change, your kitten or cat will look as it did before the shedding of fur.

When the kitten begins to lose its baby kitten fur, the process can be helped along by brushing them. 

This encourages a healthy transition and keeps the house clean, but this depends on whether your kitten will tolerate this brushing as some don’t like it.

Do kitten’s fur change?

Yes, kitten’s fur does change as they grow from baby kitten to adult, and it will shed and grow into a new adult cat fur coat. 

While the baby kittens coat is soft and fuzzy, the adult cat fur coat is soft but stiffer and sturdier to handle weather and protection from the outside world.

A kitten’s fur may change in color slightly; it may get a little darker, or not at all. The pattern or design will not change, though. 

They are like a cat, meaning their markings and pattern will remain the same from a baby kitten to an adult cat.

Why do kittens lose their fur?

The kittens lose their fur as they go from baby kitten to adult cat as part of a natural process driven from within their body.

There are other reasons why a kitten might lose their fur that is not related to this natural process, and these reasons might require a trip to the veterinarian.

Other reasons can include skin infections, fleas, mites, and other medical issues.

Some of these issues are more serious than others, but all will warrant a consultation with their veterinarian if they need medication or other medical intervention.

Most often, the cause of fur lose in your kitten will be their growth and development into an adult cat, but depending on the home environment, other issues can be the cause.

If a kitten starts to lose their fur in big clumps or patches, a consultation with its veterinarian is necessary.

How long do kittens stay fluffy?

Kittens will stay fluffy for the first few months of their lives while they have their baby kitten fur coat unless they are a breed that normally has a fluffy fur coat, such as the Persian and Angora cat breeds.

A kitten’s fur is normally fluffy and soft, and as they go through the shedding phase at around five months, they will lose that fluffy and soft fur to develop their adult cat fur coat.

What they will get after that is dependent on their breed.

If they are a mixed breed, they can have fluffy or more coarse fur as an adult cat, depending on the breeds that make up their genetic background.

Either way, most cats have soft fur regardless of their breed. While their adult cat fur coat may not be the same fluffy fur that it once was as a kitten, it will still be soft and silky to the touch.

Can I train my cat to like being brushed?

Yes and no. You can train many cats to tolerate being brushed from a young kitten age, but some will never really like or enjoy it.

It depends on how early in their kitten life they are exposed to brushing and grooming.

Kittens and cats groom themselves naturally.

The need for brushing and a bath is not necessary at any age unless they get extremely dirty or because of a medical reason, like when they wear a cone on their head after surgery.

If you feel the need to brush your kitten or cat, if you expose them to this process early in life, they may learn to tolerate it, and some might even enjoy it as a form of shared affection.

During the time when they are shedding their kitten fur coat and developing their adult cat fur coat, it may be beneficial to brush them to limit fur all over the house, but other than that, it may not be necessary.

The only other time it can be helpful to brush and groom a kitten or cat is when they are a specific breed like the Angora or Persian.

These cat breeds have thicker and longer fur that is more likely to shed everywhere. 

It is not necessary to groom and brush these cat breeds either, but when they do shed, their fur might be a bit more difficult to clean up around the house.

Closing Points

Kittens lose their baby fur at around five months, and the process that brings in their adult fur coat is short at about one month.

Each kitten will go through the process differently and in its own time.

Their fur will have the same pattern and appearance that it did before they went through the phase.

How long it takes and when it happens is individual, but the process remains the same. 

When it is done, your kitten won’t be a full-grown adult cat, but they will be well on their way to becoming one!