'He was the weirdest looking cat I've ever seen': Couple notices gray "monkey" hiding, they discover it's actually a homeless kitten they can't resist adopting

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jan 25, 2026 11:00 AM EST

This meowsterious gray cat seems like a fever dream, but it is actually just a fever coat.

One of our furvorite things to cover as writers for I Can Has Cheezburger is cats with rare and unique fur patterns. To see all those cats who won the genetic lottery with spots like a dalmatian, numbers spread throughout their fur, or cats that look like a cup of cute boba tea. Some of these cats have a reason why their coats look that way, like the white spots on a black cat are caused by vitiligo (where an animal's fur slowly stops producing pigment. Others, like our kitten here, were born with what we call a "fever coat".

A fever coat can happen in kittens who are born when their mother was experiencing stress, fever, illness, or hormonal disruption during her hopefully otherwise purrfect pregnancy. It doesn't just happen with black cats, although it is the most apparent because their fur is naturally so dark, so the kitty contrast is extra apparent. The good news is that it goes away over time, and doesn't affect the kitten's health at all!

In fact, in today's case, it purrobably saved him. While walking, a couple noticed a weirdly colored creature hiding on the streets. At first, they thought it was a monkey because of his coloring. After discovering that it was, in fact, a kitten, they fell in love and decided they had to adopt him. He now has a fully black coat, and is living a peaceful life at home. From stressed single to cute companion, his story is one we won't soon furget.

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    Cheezburger Image 10599318016
    via Thermon01
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    when we found him on the streets he was the weirdest looking cat I've ever seen, looked like a grey monkey, anyway love at first sight we adopted him and he grew up to being a beautiful black cat. he is very big and eats a lot, never seen a transition like this before and we owned many cats, thought I'd share :)
    via Thermon01
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    TurnkeyLurker First pic almost looks like a lemur.
    via TurnkeyLurker

  • He certainly doesn't scream “kitten” upon first impression. He does look like some sort of mixture between a lemur, a cat, and a monkey, so we understand why they were confused! No matter what he looks like, though, he's adorable, and if we had found him there on the street, we would have taken him home as fast as we could!

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    Grand-Fun-206 Poor bub. Mum must have been really sick or stressed to give him a fever coat like that. He grew into his looks, as a kitten he looked more like a fox than a cat.
    via @
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    EclecticEvergreen I am getting Zuboomafoo vibes
    via EclecticEvergreen
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    Cheezburger Image 10599318528
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    Vintage-Grievance I have NEVER heard of a 'fever coat' until today....thank you, reddit, for teaching me something other than 'humanity sucks' for a change.
    via Vintage-Grievance
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    Laefiren I almost thought he was Lykoi
    via Laefiren

  • Lykoi cats are some of the most purrfectly interesting cats out there. They're also known as “werewolf cats” because they kind of look like a half-transformed werewolf. If you've never seen one before, it's hard to picture, but once you see it, you'll know exactly what we're talking about. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10599319296
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    lizzie_goblin Omg he looks like a little lemur! He's very lucky you found him
    via lizzie_goblin
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    Cheezburger Image 10599318272
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    Southern_Shoe_3301 I legitimately thought that was a different species of feline at first
    via Southern_Shoe_3301
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    One of my cats also started with a fever coat!

    3magic4 NO
    via 3magic4
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    He looked like a grey fox pup, especially in the picture of him lying on the colorful tablecloth.
    via Vintage-Grievance
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    The side-by-side is like he went from 'definitely possessed by the spirit of a Victorian child' to 'Yeah, that's right...bitch, I RUN this place'. The pattern on the red couch really adds to the 'royalty portrait' aesthetic.
    via Vintage-Grievance
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    megan-d15
    via megan-d15
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    We took in a stray that ended up being pregnant. All 3 of her kittens had a fever coat. I had never heard of it before. This baby had the strangest coloration. I'll post another picture of her as she grew and then one of her now.
    via megan-d15
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    Oh my God, he looks exactly like my cat. I love it

    • justnobody0 · 22h ago
    via justnobody0
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    jtyrhe Wow, I would never guessed it. He looks great.
    via jtyrhe
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    EmiliaFromLV He did not look like a cat back then... and still does not look like a cat! Congrats! :) Edit: nvm, there are moar pics. Yes, he is a cat now :)
    via EmiliaFromLV

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adoption homeless cat rescue kitten rescue monkey Cats cute kittens animals
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