folks.
Blip is superb at grooming - she is clean even by feline standards. It is definitely not old hair - the hair itself is soft and silky. Just grey-looking. And it comes out when I try to clean it (at first I thought it was dusty).
I was wondering if it might be a blocked anal gland. Anyway, we shall have it checked out tomorrow.
She has been a bit off her food, but in a strange way: she is keener to eat her dry food than her wet (not like her at all). So she is taking in sufficient nourishment, but in a different form.
Odd, perplexing and a little worrying...