We love our pets for many character traits, habits, but hardly anyone will dispute the charm of special colors. All fans of cats love the beautiful coat of animals, its transfusion, the game and the brilliance of colors at the slightest movement. The colors of Maine Coons are very diverse, and this is genetically embedded in them. It must be understood that this breed is distinguished by three main types of colors: spots, marble and stripes.
Maine Coon Character
Before describing the color of cats of this breed, let's talk a bit about the nature of Maine Coons. These animals have a talent for communication with others. They are friends with all household members: cats of other breeds, dogs and even rodents and birds. They are sociable and completely non-aggressive. Cat breeders claim that Maine Coons have the highest intelligence among all other cat breeds. Outwardly, the animal is like an impregnable ice cliff, but inside it burns a bonfire of love for the owner. Maine Coon always considers it his duty to take care of the owner and always be his loyal friend. However, its appearance is not as severe as that of other native breeds. Kids, by contrast, seem like angelic creatures. The color of Maine Coon kittens is pronounced, often white and makes them look like soft toys.
The cats of this breed are very large, gaining weight up to ten kilograms. They can "greet" the clawed foot of an aggressive careless dog, but in most cases the animal is friendly and does not attack anyone. Many are very surprised by the voice of Maine Coon. Those who hear it for the first time are amazed how this giant can purr so melodiously and softly. Cats of this breed are very smart, quickly adapt to living conditions both in a large cottage and in a small apartment. Although, of course, a Maine Coon will enjoy a house with a site where you can walk freely, much more, as, indeed, any cat.
Maine coon cats in pedigree
Novice breeders can not immediately understand the designations that are indicated in the catalogs of exhibitions, pedigrees, breed descriptions. Abbreviations are indicated by letters and numbers. For example, MSO w22. What does it mean? The breed is indicated by three uppercase letters. In this case, the MCO is Maine Coon. Next, the lowercase letter indicates the color of the coat.
There are many colors for this breed, which means that the letters can be different:
- w - white.
- n - black (black).
- a - blue
- d - red (red).
- e - cream (cream).
- f - tortoiseshell (tortoiseshell).
- g - blue-cream (bluetortie).
If there is only one lowercase letter , then the color is solid, that is, the coat is dyed uniformly along the entire length. Another letter may be nearby, for example, ns. This means uneven hair dyeing.
Designation of figures
Maine Coon colors in catalogs are divided not only by color, but also by pattern. After the lowercase letter, which indicates the color, you can observe the numbers. They will indicate the pattern on the wool. In our example, the number 22 will denote a marble color: light eye rims, the letter “M” on the muzzle, wide wide stains on the sides, spots on the stomach, along the ridge of the strip, ring-shaped stains on the legs and tail.
If the number 23 stands, this is a tiger color. The drawing in this case will be represented by continuous vertical stripes, like a mackerel or a tiger (hence the name). 24 - spotted tabby color. It is characterized by intermittent stripes, small spots. The color code may contain additional designations, for example 09 - white spotting. MCO n 22 09 - Maine Coon breed, black marble color and white accents.
Tabby
If your pet has stripes on the wool, these colors of Maine Coons are called tiger, or tabby. All representatives of this color on the face have thin stripes. They circle the eye sockets, and on the forehead form a kind of letter “M”. With a close inspection of the wool, one can note the alternation of light and dark stripes, which are called agouti. Breeders consider tabby the original color of this breed. There are four main figures:
- Tiger - vertical parallel stripes.
- Classic - on the sides are spiraling wide stripes that resemble marble stains. In England, this pattern is called blotched tabby.
- Spotted - the whole body of the cat in dashed stripes in the form of spots.
- Ticked - otherwise called agouti, or Abyssinian. There are no stripes or spots on the body, but on the face there is a drawing and agouti on the body. More often this color in abyssinian cats, sometimes found in other breeds. The Maine Coon breed does not recognize ticked color.
Tabby can be of various colors, the color of the stripes and the tip of the tail is important. The color of agouti can vary from rich red to faded blue.
Single color
One-color colors of Maine Coons are called solid. They are excreted by suppressing the recessive tabby genes. In cases when it is not possible to completely suppress the pattern, a shadow fuzzy tabby appears (shadow). When looking at a black leopard, one can find outlines of the pattern, since suppressed genes are also present here. Red or cream colors are not able to suppress tabby as effectively as possible; these representatives always have a more or lesser pattern. To get a white uniform color, they are exposed to a variety of genes that are able to completely suppress the color. Many white kittens initially have some vague shades of stripes on their heads due to incomplete color suppression, but this usually disappears with age.
Smoke
If Maine Coon is black or blue, but he has distinct white hair roots, then it refers to smoke (smoky). In monochromatic cats, the hair roots are grayish, in true smoky ones - only pure white. Smoky is one of the plain silver tabby options. This is a very impressive and mysterious color. It is especially nice to watch such an animal when moving, when the wool is amazingly shimmering.
Maine-coons of blue color, as well as black (smoke) by hair color are divided into types:
- Chinchillas - 1/8 of the hair is dyed.
- Shaded - 1/4 of the hair is dyed.
- Smoky - 1/2 of the hair is dyed.
- Black smoke - black with white roots.
- Blue smoke - blue with white roots.
- Silver (chinchilla, or shaded). Born kittens appear white, but as they grow older they change color, becoming silver. White color can only be genetically obtained from white parents. At the tip of the silvery sometimes there is a tabby pattern, which disappears in the second month. A sure sign of a silver kitten is green eyes.
- Cream, red smoky or shaded. White kittens are also born here, in which tipping manifests itself over time.
With white marks
White marks are clearly defined in the breed, completely different from the shaded spots in the Siamese. They can appear in any drawing of a Maine Coon cat. The colors from the photo confirm this. You can add “with white” to the description of any kind. For example, cream with white or black with white. White spots are different in location and size, hence the more accurate color names.
- A white spot on the chest is “with a white medallion.”
- White spots on the paws - “with white gloves”.
- The presence of several white spots - "with white buttons."
- Half white - “bicolor”.
- White color with large colored spots - “harlequin”.
- All white, the color on the tail and head is “van.”
- White breasts and paws - “tuxedo”. This is an informal definition.
Maine Coon, tortie color. Patterned tabby
If Maine Coon has the most random variety of color combinations, then it is possible that he belongs to one of the following colors.
If the color is not white:
- Turtle - spots of various colors are scattered throughout the body of the animal, except for white (black, cream, red). All of them have different definition, size.
- Tabby spotted brown resembles fall foliage in the fall - many patches of brown and red. This color is often called torbie.
- Color blue-cream. Across the body, random spots of pastel soft tones, cream, blue shades. This color was also called the blue turtle.
- Tabby spotted blue. Soft delicate color, with patches of blue, cream tabby.
Calico
Colors with different white labels, the name depends on the amount of white:
- Chintz, calico - a lot of white, the more, the more clearly black or red spots appear. As a rule, black ones are solid, and red ones with tabby.
- Tortoiseshell with white, blue-cream with white. There are small white spots on the case. Looks like the colors of simple tortoiseshell or blue-cream.
- Diluted chintz - cream and blue spots all over the body of the animal. Cream inserts - with tabby, blue - homogeneous.
- Spotted tabby with white spots. There are many white spots on the tabby areas, color spots are clear, large.