Asked by: John Duncan Pawson, Scarborough
Strictly speaking, cats can go grey. Some cats will go grey as they age but not on the scale that dogs and humans do. As our feline friends mature, they retain enough melanocytes – the cells in the hair follicles responsible for the production of the pigment melanin – to ensure that the colouring process does not significantly diminish.
We are not sure why this is the case. For example, it is possible that cats are born with a greater number of melanocytes in the first place, or that they simply don’t decline at the same rate as they do in dogs.
Read more:
Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.