Woman Accidentally Dyes Her Cat Yellow Using Turmeric

Source: © Shutterstock

Cat hair dyeing has been a trend in recent years. We’ve seen some pretty incredible multi-colored fur art, and we’ve also seen some ridiculous dye work. But what happens when you don’t intend to dye your cat’s fur, and you end up turning your wonderfully white kitty into a turmeric fur ball? That’s exactly what serendipitously happened to one cat from Thailand. After a turn of interesting events, this once all-white cat has now become bright yellow.

We first heard of the story from the cat’s owner, Thammapa Supamas, whose deep love for her cat started the whole thing. Supamas’ cat got an infection on one of her limbs. It’s the kind of thing you should consult your vet about first. But Eastern medicine has always worked on people, so her move for a naturopathic healing approach actually made sense. Her cat was sick, and there are a lot of naturally available plants or herbs or spices—in this case—she can use for treatment. It’s long been known that turmeric has a lot of benefits and healing qualities. That’s what Supamas went for except that she kind of went overboard. Instead of just treating the infected area, the cat owner got a little too zealous with the yellow powder and applied it all over her cat.

The goal, clearly, was to get rid of the infection. Although Supamas probably didn’t need to dye her whole cat, it was better to be safe than sorry. The immediate result after application was striking and probably to be expected as well. We’re not entirely sure how long the owner kept the powerful yellow extract on her cat, but the result wouldn’t have changed much regardless. Upon rinsing the powder off, Supamas found that the grains may have washed off, but the yellow color remained. A shock at first, Supamas’ cat came out the process as a totally different creature. It was yellow from ear to paw and unevenly at that. The dye even left a darker yellow mark just below the cat’s right ear—almost as if it was a birthmark that had been there since the cat was born. The snout of the cat remained closest to white as possible, and we can imagine that Supamas must’ve left that part out so as not to irritate her cat upon application.

Why turmeric to begin with? In the Indian culture, turmeric has many benefits and healing properties. Reports of these benefits have long reached across the globe. Many people consume turmeric on a regular basis to avail of the benefits, which include antifungal and antibacterial properties. Turmeric has also long been believed to have anti aging properties. To take advantage of its many benefits, people over the years have added it to their cooking, mixed it in with their drinks, or even applied it topically as a cream.

There’s a certain negative to using turmeric, however, and it’s as superficial as it gets. You’ll know this if you’ve ever tried to make authentic curry or if you’ve eaten curry without carefulness. Turmeric stains, and it stains hard. Turmeric contains a compound known as curcumin, and it’s powerful enough to stain most surfaces—porous or not. If you get it onto your countertop, you’ll find how long a turmeric stain can actually last. But it might even be worse on organic materials. If you ever get curry on your hands, you know exactly just how difficult it can be to wash off. The same thing happened to Supamas’ cat fur. The stain is there for now; and though we know it isn’t permanent, we’re not quite sure when it will completely disappear.

In true social media sense, Supamas decided to document her and her cat’s journey through Facebook. She started a page and shared photos of her adorable cat. In an instant, Supamas’ cat became an Internet sensation. We already know how much netizens love anything that involves cats, and this particularly story checks the box and more. Within a few short days, Supamas found herself with a drone of fans that needed regular updating. A lot of people have expressed concern about the cat’s infection, but more people simply gushed about the accidental yellow creature. It’s true—it’s completely adorable.

What got the Internet excited even more was when Supamas turned her cat into another beloved yellow creature—Pikachu. We’re just glad that Supamas didn’t have to resort to using coriander seeds or cayenne in order to turn her furry friend into the adorable Pokémon character. With a little bit of imagination and Photoshop, Supamas’ cat became transformed into yet another thing to gush about.

The cat’s owner recently gave an update that the turmeric stain is finally starting to fade. Although it might take a while for the white color to return back to what it was, the good news is the cat seems to be safe from it. It’s even better that Supamas’ cat seems to be recovering from the infection. It seems that the turmeric application actually worked. In fact, this cat might not get sick for a little while because of the amount of turmeric it probably has in its body. The infection has begun to heal completely, and the cat is more famous than ever. Although this was a fortunate accident, we don’t recommend that you go on applying turmeric onto your cat if it does get some kind of infection or illness. The first step in healing is to consult your pet’s vet. He or she should direct you on what your next steps should be. If you believe that turmeric is the answer to your cat’s issues, make sure you let your vet assess the situation first before anything. Again, it’s better to be safe rather than sorry.