Main colors of Maine Coons

Maine Coon cats are very popular all over the world. The reason is obvious - unusual large sizes, exquisite "tassels" on the ears and a variety of original colors. A professional just needs to look at the shade and pattern of the animal's fur, eye color to tell a lot about it.

Maine Coons have several varieties of color, however, all this variety is reduced to only 2 genetic colors - black and red. The rest of the colors are breeders and are based on these two natural colors. At the same time, modern science believes that Maine Coons are naturally bred. Living on farms, feeding on large rodents and interbreeding within a limited population, these animals acquired large size and characteristic features of the breed.

The need to mimic the surrounding nature determined the peculiarities of the colors. Today felinology calls the Tasca color "black marble". That is, it is this color that is natural. With the time of the spread and demand for the breed around the world, new colors have appeared. For the convenience of breeders, a unified international classification of colors has been adopted. It is based on 3 components:

• coat color;
• the presence of a pattern on the wool - usually these are stripes, which can sometimes turn into curls;
• the presence of spots, their sizes and shades.

Let's take a closer look at what types of Maine Coon colors are.

The tabby color is present in all Maine Coons (but not all of them are pronounced). This is due to the fact that such a color is genetically laid down - the hair of the animal is zoned, that is, striped. In some literature you can find the name "tabby" - in the English manner.

The color "tabby" can have several variations - depending on how the dark and light areas of the hairs alternate and fold in the coat. For example, solid parallel stripes are indicative of a brindle tabby. If the stripes are intermittent, the color is called "spotted". By "classic" is meant a marble pattern (stains).

A variety of this type of color can be considered "ticking". The latter implies ticking (that is, the presence of stripes) throughout the body of the animal, however, the pattern is not pronounced. Sometimes only these stripes appear on the forehead, chest, paws of the animal. Cats with the "ticking" pattern are often found among the Abyssinian, the ticked Maine Coon is a rarity, therefore it is so valued.

Among individuals with a color "tabby" black cats can be distinguished. This is not a mistake - the black color always has residual stripes ("tabby") under it. They are especially noticeable in kittens. One gets the impression that the finest black veil has been draped over the patterned fur. As the individual grows up, the pattern appears less and less, the coat becomes a noble black color. However, the latter is largely the merit of the Maine Coon owner.

Cats with this color do not have a pattern (or are characterized by a "shadow", that is, not a very pronounced pattern). For a solid, the full color of the hair of the animal along the entire length is inherent. However, sometimes the individual has a lighter undercoat. Other spots are faults. Solid can be red, black, white, cream and blue.

Moreover, it is interesting that the red hue itself is one of the most common in Maine Coons. However, the pattern on such wool appears brighter. In other words, in the specialized market you can most often find red variations of "tabby", spotted red Maine Coons, while the same red cats, but already in the flourishing of "solid", are a real rarity.

Blue solidi are widespread in the West. In our country, they are sometimes mistakenly called gray, however, the difference between blue, smoky and silver cats is colossal. The delight of connoisseurs is caused by the color "blue smoke", in which the Maine does not have a pronounced pattern, however, its fur includes several color variations - from silver to graphite.

It is worth mentioning separately about the white solid. In any case, the white color of the Maine fur is not a color, but the absence of pigment. Snow-white kittens sometimes have darker spots on their faces, which disappear as the animal grows. White Maine Coons are unpretentious in grooming, however, they can be deaf. This is why they are best purchased from reputable and experienced breeders.

Because of the fear of deafness of the animal, many choose not white, but cream cats. This color is the result of lightening the classic red. The result is an animal of a creamy ginger color. However, achieving a pure solid is problematic, stripes or a classic pattern manifest themselves (usually on the face, chest, legs).

The tortoiseshell Maine Coon is a tricolor Maine Coon that has a picturesque appearance. Based on which shade prevails, tortoiseshell Maine Coons are divided into:

• "Torby" (color consists of black and red);
• "Torti" (a lightened cream shade is added to them).

Also, haze or silver may additionally be present. Interestingly, tortoiseshells are usually born female. The chance of a male being born is 1: 1000. The tortoiseshell color can be complemented by white spots that have a well-defined outline. This color is called "calico" (in translation - flap, chintz).

Smoky Maine Coons are very popular and look very impressive. With this color, each cat hair has a white base and a pigmented tip. Moreover, the color can have a different intensity from a darker smoky to a very light silver. For example, cats of black smoke color have a strongly pronounced shade of fur. The intensity of the color depends on which part of the individual's hair is dyed:

• if half a hair is dyed, then this is "ordinary smoke";
• when dyeing 1/4 of the hair, it is considered to be "shaded smoke";
• the hair is dyed by 1/8 part, in front of us is a Maine Coon of "chinchilla" color.

Maines with exquisite silver color are distinguished separately in this group. It can be so light and light that it is easy to confuse such individuals with whites, especially in childhood. Traditionally, kittens are distinguished by the color of the iris. Snow-white animals have blue eyes, while silver ones are green-eyed beauties.

As the individual grows, the coat darkens somewhat, the "tobby" pattern becomes more pronounced on it. Maine Coons of “marble on silver” color are considered to be of great value.... They have a light silver color with a darker spiral pattern, as if imitating the color of marble. This group also includes the peach Maine Coon. These cats have white hairs and bright red at the tips. Thanks to this combination, a soft peach coat color is obtained.

First of all, it should be said that spotted Maine Coons are not bicolor. Bicolor, according to the international standard, is when the ratio of white to colored hair on the body of an animal is 1: 1. Maine Coons can have the following types of white spots:

• "Buttons" - are small chaotically located white spots throughout the body of the animal;
• "medallion" - the spot is noticeable, located on the chest of the cat;
• "gloves" - we are talking about the white legs of an animal;
• "Van" - an almost white Maine with colored spots on the head and tail;
• "harlequin" - large colored spots on white fur.

There is also a tuxedo color. It is not included in the international classification, but is often used by animal owners. It means the white legs and breast of the animal against the background of the rest of the colored fur, while the white and colored fur are usually contrasting.

There are a lot of Maine Coon colors, among them - a random combination. Consider the options adopted by breeders:

• brown spotted tabby - Maine Coon in brown and reddish spots;
• "Diluted turtle" - blue-cream shade, which is a combination of spots of blue and cream (ginger) color;
• blue spotted tabby - Maine Coon blue color with cream spots.

Seals of this group have no white spots. There are also individuals with a random combination of colors - white spots:

• blue cream with white spots - the cat has a blue and cream color and white spots;
• spotted tabby with white - a tabby animal with white spots.

The unified international EMS system allows you to understand what color the Maine Coon is, according to which an individual code is assigned to each color. Let's consider this in the form of a table. In such a system, Maine Coons are supposed to have the following types of color:

If there are white spots on the skin, a digital is added to the indicated letter code:

• if the animal is white with one or several spots of the main color, then it is "awarded" the classification "van" - 01;
• if 2/3 of the individual is white, then this is "harlequin" - 02;
• a two-color pet or bicolor is 03;
• with white (if it is less than half) - 04.

The presence and type of fur coat pattern makes it possible to distinguish the following types of raccoon cats:

• classic tabby or marbled (the animal has a pattern in the form of the letter "M" on the forehead or "butterflies" on the sides) - code 22;
• mackerel or brindle tabby (it can be recognized by the already mentioned letter "M" on the forehead, in addition, the animal has stripes like the color of a tiger's skin all over the body) - 23;
• spotted (the so-called torn brindle or spotted) - 24;
• shaded (the appearance of tabby color on a silvery coat, which makes it look blurry) -11;
• chinchilla - black series of colors, cameo - red series -12;
• agouti factor (it is obvious from the color that the individual is a tabby, but the drawing is difficult to attribute to a specific type) - 21.

Sometimes, when describing an individual, the characteristic of eye color can also be used. When taking it into account, special codes are also used:

• blue-eyed Maine Coons are coded as 61;
• cats with yellow, orange or golden eyes have a code 62;
• in case of disagreement, indicate code 63;
• green-eyed code 64.

You can find out about the Maine Coon colors by watching the video.