Nicole Böhm rescued Elli and her sister, a pair of black and white cats who lived on a dirty farm in Germany a few years ago. Elli used to be a tuxedo cat, but things started to change a year after she was born.
While visiting a local farm, Nicole accidentally saw two kittens hiding in the corner of a barn. At that time, they were only four months old. They were in poor condition and she knew they desperately needed medical attention. She was sure that without her help the kittens would not last long.
Nicole told Love Meow that the kittens were practically abandoned, with mites and infections in their ears.
This cat’s fur has changed color
“It pained me to see them suffer, so I took them both.”
The kittens were incredibly beautiful with black and white fur and had wonderful personalities. For this reason, Nicole decided to name them ‘Elli’ and ‘Rosie’. With lots of love and care, the sisters were nursed and quickly grew into two strong and healthy kittens.
One day, the woman noticed something strange in Elli’s fur. Where once his fur was intense black, a few flecks of white fur had appeared.
Since then, his appearance began to change as more spots continued to form on his fur. Unsure and scared of Elli’s condition, Nicole took her to the vet to find out what could be causing these marks.
Nicole told The Dodo:
“He had a tuxedo coat like his sister. Nothing unusual. The change started about a year after birth. It was just a little white patch on his back. I didn’t know why, so I took it. taken to the vet.”
Elli was diagnosed with vitiligo, a rare condition that causes loss of pigmentation, resulting in white patches on her skin and hair. Although sometimes linked to other medical issues, Elli was in perfect health.
Vitiligo occurs when patches of skin/coat lose their pigment. This rare disease affects 0.5-2% of the general human population and is even rarer in animals, as all animals, from cats to horses, can develop this disease.
But what started out as a few white spots on Elli’s body quickly turned into something uniquely beautiful.
Over the next few months, the white spots continued to form on his tuxedo coat. Nicole watched the black parts of Elli’s fur slowly turn white.
“He surprised me. I’m still in shock.”
A year after Nicole discovered the first white spot, Elli had gained many more snowflake-like spots all over her fur.
The condition did no physical harm to Elli, but only gave her more unique characteristics and added more adorableness.
“Her personality is the same as always. It doesn’t matter to her. She’s as cute, charming and as playful as the first day.”
Elli’s sister, whose fur hasn’t changed at all, still treats her exactly the same as usual.
What matters most, of course, is that Elli is healthy and happy.
Nicole said Elli’s fur continues to turn white, but she suspects some black marks, like the ones on her face, will remain.
“His change is happening every day and I love him more and more.”
Images: Instagram / @elli.vitiligo
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