Kitten with vitiligo transforms from black to white over two years
A pet owner has shared incredible pictures showing how her cat's fur completely transformed colour, due to rare skin condition vitiligo.
Nicole Böhm, from Heidelberg, Germany, rescued two kittens from a farm in 2016, but soon noticed something strange about one cat, Elli.
The female feline, who Nicole describes as having a 'tuxedo' style coat, began to get white spots in 2017, before her coat turned almost completely white in 2018.
Fascinating pictures on her Instagram show Elli as a black kitten with white paws and a white patch around her nose and chest in July 2016.
Speaking to The Dodo, Nicole said: 'The changing began about one year after birth. It was just a little white spot on her back. I didn't know why, so I took her to the vet.'.
After she was diagnosed with vitiligo, her fur transformed completely within two years, with Nicole admitting: 'It changed very quickly.
And her transformation still continues, with her owner adding: 'Her changing still goes on every day, and I love her more and more'. Nicole keeps her 6,000 followers updated with regular pictures of her two cats, and Elli's ongoing transformation.
She is inundated with comments from fascinated fans, including one follower who wrote: 'I’ve never seen a cat with vitiligo (I have it myself so am always interested to see others with it) -so cool she looks like a tiny tiger'.
Despite the condition- which causes discolouring of skin and hair- often being linked to other medical conditions, Ellie is otherwise completely healthy. Vitiligo is a disease in which the pigment cells of the skin are destroyed in certain areas of the body.
Although the exact cause is unknown, experts say it is an autoimmune condition in which the body's defense system mistakenly attacks and destroys certain cells within the body.
It's not painful and doesn't have significant health consequences, but it can have emotional and psychological consequences. Treatment ranges from medicines and creams to skin grafts.
Common areas for white patches are the armpits and groin, around the mouth, eyes, nostrils, navel, genitals and rectal areas. Symptoms include loss of skin color with white patches of skin in any location on the body.
Most will develop the condition prior to age 40. About half develop it before age 20. It may have a genetic component, as the condition tends to run in families. Source: Medicine Net.