***Disclosure- Cats pictured are for educational purposes only and only some are cats we produced**
When you first decide you would like a Maine Coon kitten, the next overwhelming task is "what color do I want?" Maine Coons come in many different patterns and colors. I hope this guide will help you to decide which is your favorite.
PATTERNS
#1 The first pattern is called SOLID
There are basically 4 different patterns that form the base of the Maine Coon coat.
SOLID BLACK
Ironically, the "solid" pattern to most breeders means that the cat has no pattern, but this is incorrect. The kitten is actually either spotted, striped, or classic/marbled but you cannot see the pattern because the markings AND the background are the same color. If a cat has black stripes on a black background, all you see is black. When solid cats are very young, it is sometimes possible to see the pattern and then it quickly fades away to a solid color. Solid Maine Coons can be Black, Blue, or Red.
Black Smokes:
Sometimes a kitten that is a SOLID BLACK is born with an extra gene. This Inhibitor Gene is referred to by breeders as SILVER. When a solid black kitten also has a silver gene it is called a BLACK SMOKE. The silver gene ALWAYS gives a kitten a white undercoat (the hair closest to its body is white, not cream) which continues to grow and peek out of the black hairs giving the kitten a smokey appearance. The amount of white hair that peeks out can vary with each kitten so some Black Smoke Maine Coons have a lot of white peeking out and some have much less.
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Black Tortoiseshell aka Tortie:
Sometimes a kitten that is SOLID BLACK is born with an extra gene that causes orange patches (these patches are cream colored on a Blue) on the coat in random unpredictable areas. This ONLY occurs in FEMALE kittens. (yes, it is extremely rare for a sterile male to be born with 3 sex chromosomes but we will stick with the norm here). The gene is the X linked Red gene. Female kittens born with this pattern have the Red gene attached to only 1 of their "X" sex genes. Female cats are XX and males are XY so a female with these orange/red patches is genetically XX. These Solid Black Females with Orange/Red patches of fur are referred to at Tortoiseshell.
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Solid Blue
Sometimes a Solid Black kitten is born with two recessive genes called the "Dilute Genes". The dilute gene changes the black coat color to a shade of gray/blue. Breeders refer to this color kitten as "SOLID BLUE".
Blue Smoke
Sometimes a kitten that is a SOLID BLUE is born with an extra gene called an inhibitor gene. This Inhibitor Gene is referred to by breeders as SILVER. When a solid blue kitten also has a silver gene it is called a BLUE SMOKE. The silver gene ALWAYS gives a kitten a white undercoat (the hair closest to its body is white, not cream) which continues to grow and peek out of the bluish hairs giving the kitten a smokey appearance. The amount of white hair that peeks out can vary with each kitten so some Blue Smoke Maine Coons have a lot of white peeking out and some have much less.
Blue Tortoiseshell aka Blue Tortie
Sometimes a kitten that is SOLID BLUE is born with an extra gene that causes orange patches (these patches are cream colored on a Blue) on the coat in random unpredictable areas. This ONLY occurs in FEMALE kittens. (yes, it is extremely rare for a sterile male to be born with 3 sex chromosomes but we will stick with the norm here). The gene is the X linked Red gene. Female kittens born with this pattern have the Red gene attached to only one of their "X" sex genes. Female cats are XX and males are XY so a female with these orange/red patches is genetically XX. These Solid Blue Females with Cream patches of fur are referred to as Blue Tortoiseshell.
Solid Brown
Although we have Classic/Mackerel/Spotted Brown Maine Coons, the SOLID version of this is SOLID BLACK so you will not see Solid Browns sold unless they are Chocolate which is do not believe is a very common color in the Maine Coon breed.
Solid Red
Sometimes a SOLID BLACK is born with one sex-linked red gene. The male cat sex genes are XY and a male born with the red gene attached is XY. When this happens the kitten is technically SOLID RED, however, the red gene is the only gene that is dominant to the BLACK gene so the pattern of the cat is not hidden in a Solid Red and thus is not referred to as a SOLID RED because the pattern will show spots, strips, etc... For those who desire the deepest red color possible in a Maine Coon kitten, it is these kittens what will be the most dramatic red color.
Tip for breeders: A kitten with this genetic make-up will have 2 non-agouti genes so on your DNA panel you will see "aa" not Aa or AA.
Tip for breeders: A kitten with this genetic make-up will have 2 non-agouti genes so on your DNA panel you will see "aa" not Aa or AA.
The second pattern is called CLASSIC Pattern. Please CLICK HERE to move to the next page.
So what is the deal with Calicos??
Calico... the "with white" pattern.
Sometimes a Tortoiseshell kitten is born with an extra gene called WHITE. Breeders refer to tortoiseshell with white cats as "CALICO". When the WHITE gene is present in a kitten it causes the patches of Red/Orange to be much larger. This is why tortoiseshell kittens without white typically have smaller patches of red/orange and those with white typically have larger patches of red/orange. Any color of torbie/tortie Maine Coon can also have a Calico version....just add white.
So now that you have a basic understanding of the SOLID Maine Coon colors lets mix it up a bit....oh yes we can make this more complicated. I will post some variations but it may take some time for me to find pictures to add.
