With how curious and impulsive animals can be, it’s almost not a surprise when we find out they’ve gotten themselves messy after we left them alone.
Most of the time, that mysterious film they’re covered in won’t stay a mystery as soon as somebody steps into the aftermath of their kitchen rampage, but sometimes the answer is a little harder to discover.
And in the case of one cat, solving the mystery of why they look different had nothing to do with what they or anybody else did.
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A couple of years ago, Nicole Böhm adopted two kittens after they were rescued from a farm in Germany.
As she told The Dodo, the two were sisters and to all appearances, they could be twins as they sported the same black-and-white fur.
However, it would take less than a year before one of them, Elli, started to change.
As Böhm indicated here, she developed an unexplained white spot on her back. Elli’s new owner was stumped as to what was causing it, so she took the cat to a vet.
“She had a tuxedo coat like her sister. Nothing unusual,” Böhm told The Dodo.
“The changing began about one year after birth.”
The vet soon discovered that Elli has a condition that is rare both in cats and humans known as vitiligo.
According to the Mayo Clinic , it occurs when pigment-producing cells either die or stop producing melanin.
This progressively causes the skin to whiten in certain patches. In the case of Elli, this is also true for her fur.
Although vitiligo can sometimes show links to skin cancer, iris inflammation, and hearing loss, none of them seemed to be an issue with the cat.
As the weeks went on, Elli’s fur started to change as predicted.
She was first diagnosed in April of 2017 and by July, patches of white were starting to show around her face.
As Böhm told The Dodo , “I was surprised. I’m still surprised.”
By December of that year, it started to become clear how Elli’s further changes would go.
As we can see here, the areas that will later become white are already showing up as a lighter gray, while those black marking around her eyes are maintaining their darkness.
According to Böhm, it’s unclear whether those markings are just more stubborn than the rest of Elli’s fur or whether they’ll always stay that way.
Even now, Elli’s fur continues to whiten and time will simply have to tell as to what her final form is.
However, Elli’s changes have purely been physical.
Elli hasn’t shown any sign of negative feelings about her change, nor has anything changed about her personality in general since this began.
As Böhm said, “Her personality is the same as ever.”
“It doesn’t matter to her. She is as cute and lovely and as playful as the first day.”
Part of that likely has to do with how she gets along with Rosie, her sister whose pigment never changed.
Böhm said that Rosie treats Elli exactly the same as she did on day one. And aside from marveling at the difference, that’s essentially how it goes for Böhm too.
As she said, “Her changing still goes on every day, and I love her more and more.”
Ellie isn’t alone at home, or on her journey with vitiligo, either.
On Twitter and Instagram, other pet owners have shared photos of their cats and dogs with the same disease.
Pets with fur disorders like vitiligo are even being used to teach children about their own vitiligo.
According to ABC News , Carter Blanchard, 8, saw photos of Rowdy the white eyed dog, and immediately did a “180” with his opinion on his own skin.
Eventually, he flew across the country to meet the vitiligo dog that changed his life.
Rowdy, Ellie, and any other pet with vitiligo might look a little different —
But their effect on people around them is inspiring to say the least.
h/t: The Dodo
