Oooh Pam she sounds interesting! I think cats fur can just change colour as they get older. My boys fur was very different texture/colour when they were kittens. Satchmo was chocolate brown as a kitten, but when he hit puberty he got much darker, is black now, and developed white patches in 'man' places....chest, underarms and, erm, round his 'bits'...haha. Thats why I call him monkey boy. Kitchen (ginger spotty/tabby) developed a darker, coarser line of fur along his spine when he grew up, which is a nod to his Bengal lineage I'm told.
Post some pics! :-)