The Green Kitten
(from messybeast.com - 30 May 2002)
There's definately something in the water!
In 1995, a green kitten "Miss Greeny" was born in north-west Denmark. Mrs Pia Bischoff found the green kitten near a hay loft. Its fur and even its claws were green and the discovery created a sensation among zoological experts in the country and geneticists hoping the colour was due to a genetic mutation. Mrs Bischoff, whose 5 year old daughter adopted the kitten, said she had tried to wash out the colour without success. A vet who examined the cat said it was perfectly healthy but confirmed that it had a copper patina, apparently present since birth, from the tip of its fur to the hair follicles. There was a similar human case in a southern Swedish town in which the hair of several blonde women turned green due to the amount of copper present in corroded water pipes.The green colouration did in fact turn out to be due to the high copper content in water in the area - this had caused a verdigris effect on the kitten's grey fur. Such high levels of copper are often toxic. The kitten and her 5 year old owner became celebrities for a while, but the green colour vanished as the kitten moulted her coat and new fur grew through; the new fur was unaffected by copper because the kitten was no longer drinking copper-rich water.
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Comments
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joanie: ilove kittens especially this green one(11/10/2008)
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Georgia and andie: i luv kittens!!!!!!!!!!
WIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!(20/08/2008)
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david beckham: very good(12/10/2007)
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gizmo: soo cute green kittttyyy!!!(09/02/2007)
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missy: awww hes soo cute!!! I love it!(09/02/2007)
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*Rebecca*: Shame-pies!!!!!!!!(10/10/2006)
- rebekah: poor kitten (14/11/2005)
