Maine Coon Colors and Patterns
It's not always easy to determine a Maine Coons Pattern or Colors. There is more to it than just calling brown kitten a brown classic. If you are looking for information to determine your cats color or markings we can help.
Maine Coons come in a wide variety of Colors:
Solid: Black; Blue; Cream; White
Parti Colors: Tortoiseshell; BlueCream; Calico; BlueCream Calico; Tortie/White; BlueCream/White; Calico Van
Bi-Colors: Black/White; Blue/White; Cream/White; Red/White
Tabbies: Brown Classic and Mackerel; Blue Classic and Mackerel; Blue Silver Classic and Mackerel; Cream Classic and Mackerel; Cameo Classic and Mackerel, Cream Cameo Classic and Mackerel; Red Classic and Mackerel; Silver Classic and Mackerel; Brown Patched Classic and Mackerel; Blue Patched Classic and Mackerel, Silver Patched Classic and Mackerel; Blue Silver Patched Classic and Mackerel
Tabbies with White: Brown Classic and Mackerel; Blue Classic and Mackerel; Blue Silver Classic and Mackerel; Cream Classic and Mackerel; Cameo Classic and Mackerel, Cream Cameo Classic and Mackerel; Red Classic and Mackerel; Silver Classic and Mackerel; Brown Patched Classic and Mackerel; Blue Patched Classic and Mackerel, Silver Patched Classic and Mackerel; Blue Silver Patched Classic and Mackerel
Shaded: Black Smoke, Blue Smoke, Cream Smoke, Red Smoke; Shaded Silver, Shaded Blue Silver, Shaded Cream Cameo, Shaded Cameo, Tortie Smoke, Blue Cream Smoke, Shell Cameo, Shell Silver
Shaded with White: Black Smoke, Blue Smoke, Cream Smoke, Red Smoke; Shaded Silver, Shaded Silver Torbie, Shaded Blue Silver, Shaded Cream Cameo, Shaded Cameo, Tortie Smoke, Blue Cream Smoke
Ticked Tabbies (Accepted in TICA, CFF and FIFé): Black Silver Ticked Tabby; Black Silver Ticked Torbie; Brown Ticked Tabby; Brown Ticked Tabby with White; Brown Ticked Torbie; Red Ticked Tabby; Red Ticked Tabby with White
Eye Color - Although the eye color of the cat is helpful in picking the correct coat color of a cat, it should not be used at the only determining factor. A cat can have an eye color other than that which is specified and still be the co at color defined in the Show Rules or on the color description sheet. Kittens are born with blue eyes. It may take some time for the adult eye color to develop. Eye color is not recorded on CFA registration records except in the case of white cats. If you are not sure of a white cat's eye color, hold off on individual registration until you are sure of the color. A litter can be registered even though the adult eye color is not known.
Non-Championship Color Classes - There are colors which are genetically possible which are not included in either the Show Rules or on the color description sheet. These include such colors as cream smoke, bluecream lynx point, tortie lynx point in some but not all breeds, etc. These colors may have to be considered as possible coat colors even though they are not accepted for registration and/or showing in other than the AOV class.
SOLID COLORWHITE - Some kittens are born with a smudge of black or blue hairs on top of the head. The spot disappears as the adult coat start to grow in around 9 months.
BLACK - Kittens are born black, but often develop rusty or coppery coats, white or silver hairs, or a lighter ruff and/or undercoat until full adult coat appears at 12-18 months.
BLUE - May have tabby markings when a kitten, but usually those disappear as the adult coat develops.
RED - Kittens are usually born with tabby markings which may or may not disappear with the adult coat. There is actually no such thing as a pure red cat. All red cats are red tabby with tabby markings either very obvious (tabby) or very faint (red).
CREAM - Kittens are often born with faint tabby markings which usually disappear with the adult coat at about 9 months.
SOLID COLOR OR SMOKE? - A young non-smoke cat has a kitten coat that is often a lot lighter than the base color of the cat. The cat can look like a smoke, but because neither parent cat has a white undercoat, the kitten cannot be a smoke. The kitten coat will darken as the cat gets older.
SHADED AND SMOKE COLORSShaded Cameo/Shell Cameo - Kittens born white with tipping gradually appearing.
Shaded Silver/Chinchilla Silver - Kittens born with dark markings and/or tabby markings - particularly on the tail, which disappear by 4-6 weeks. A chinchilla silver may be so light that it looks like a white cat, but because neither parent is white, the kitten cannot be a white. Green eye color on a white cat with silver parentage is a good sign that the cat is a chinchilla silver, not a white.
Shaded Tortie/Shell Tortie - The cat may look like a shaded silver or a chinchilla silver, but will have just a small patch, or even just a few hairs, of cream and/or red, or will have mottled black and cream paw pads. Those small differences will make the cat a shaded tortie or shell tortie, not a shaded silver or chinchilla silver.
Smoke - Often difficult to tell from solid color kittens except that smokes sometimes have white around the eyes and a paler stomach. May take some months to tell which kittens will be smoke because the full coat color is sometimes not seen until the adult coat comes in at 2 years. Undercoat begins to show at 3 weeks, and by 6-8 weeks have a mottled look.
SMOKE OR SHADED?
- 1/8 of hair length colored at tip - chinchilla and shell
- 1/4 of hair length colored at tip - all shaded
- 1/2 of hair length colored at tip - all smoke
Tabby - Markings will show even at birth. Often the darker the stripes at birth, the clearer the adult pattern will be.
Tabby or Patched Tabby? - If a cat has patches of red and/or cream or has two different colors on its nose leather and/or paw pads, the cat is probably a patched tabby (silver, blue or brown).
PARTICOLOR COLORSBlue-Cream or Blue? - Kittens with the palest coat often develop into the best blue-cream adults. Often the kitten will look much like a pale blue in the first few weeks. Even a small patch of cream, or just a few hairs of cream, or if the paw pads are mottled blue and cream, will make the cat a blue-cream, not a blue.
Tortoiseshell or Black? - Even just a small patch of red and/or cream on the cat, or if the cat has mottled black and cream paw pads, will make the cat a tortoiseshsell, not a black.