The appearance of these domestic animals is closely related to the natural conditions of cold North America. In the article we will get acquainted with the colors of Maine Coons and take a detailed look at colors such as smoke, solid, tortoiseshell, white, red, marble and many others. No person who cares about animals can resist the beauty of these pets.
In our article about the description of the Maine Coon breed, we have already touched on the colors of these cats, today we will look at them in more detail.
Raccoon cat color classes
The color of Maine Coons is distinguished depending on:
- coat color;
- the presence of patterns or their absence;
- the presence of various spots or their absence.
In order to make it easier to distinguish the appearance of a cat of different breeds, taking into account the color of its coat, as well as a number of other characteristics, about 20 years ago the fife Assembly created the first EMS code system. This system was gradually improved, and now it is considered traditional for judging cats in all felinological systems.
Maine Coons are designated by the first letters of the Latin name of the breed – MC (Maine Coon). Since their hair is considered semi-long, coons were included in the II category of purebred cats, and designated with the letters SLH - from the Latin language Semi Long Hair.
Regarding the fur of all mustachioed pets, felinological systems agreed that male cats can only be of two colors - red and black. Other colors are the result of lightening or oxidation of these primary colors. White wool is considered to be a lack of color. Felinologists have noticed that Maine Coon kittens born with a white coat have one or more dark spots on their heads, which subsequently disappear.
The designations used in EMS coding are the first letters of colors or even color genetics in various languages, mainly English and French. White shades and spots on Maine Coon fur, as well as various patterns, are usually designated with a special number.
Maine Coon color chart with codes
| Color code | Color |
| a | blue |
| b | brown, chestnut, chocolate, Havana |
| c | lilac, platinum, lavender |
| d | red |
| e | cream |
| f | tortoiseshell |
| g | creamy blue, tortoiseshell blue |
| h | brown tortoiseshell |
| j | lilac tortoiseshell |
| n | black, wild, sable |
| s | silver, smoke |
| w | white |
| 01 | van (white except for one or more spots on the head, tail or shoulder area) |
| 02 | harlequin (van with spots on the back) |
| 03 | bicolor, two colors |
| 04 | white markings |
| 09 | white spots 1-2 cm in size |
| 11 | shaded hair colors (1/4 part) |
| 12 | veiled hair colors (1/8 part) |
| 21 | stripes, agouti |
| 22 | marble color |
| 23 | brindle color |
| 24 | spotted color |
| 25 | ticked tabby |
So, for example, a Maine Coon with black smoke coloring will be designated as ns. Next, the number of the drawing will be added, if there is one.
Most often in Maine Coons you can find such combinations as n 22, ds 22, d 22, n 23.
Maine Coon d 22
Maine Coon n 22
Maine Coon ns 22
Maine Coon ds 22
Rare and expensive Mei Coon colors
If we consider rare and expensive colors in a broader sense, then we can say with certainty that such colors do not exist. The most expensive and rare color can be considered any color of an animal, which is included in the standards of both American and European systems. But a rather rare occurrence could be, for example, the birth of a kitten that is completely the same color, despite the fact that its parents have fur with some kind of pattern.
Painted cats
The coat pattern often found among Maines is called tabby or, if pronounced in English, tabby. Scientists claim that tabby is present in the genotype of all cats without exception - they inherited it from their wild forest ancestors. The pattern is obtained due to the fact that, under the influence of a certain gene, the color of cat hair is zoned. Simply put, this means that the hair is not monochrome, but striped, as can be seen upon closer inspection.
Depending on how the light and dark areas are located on an individual hair, one or another pattern is formed on the wool. Tabby is divided into various "patterns", for example:
- brindle color is continuous parallel stripes;
- spotted – intermittent stripes;
- classic - marble stains.
The latter looks best on a black Maine Coon; the black tabby Maine looks surprisingly noble.
tabby color merle
tabby brindle color
tabby color spotted
Elegant ticking
A type of pattern that is uncharacteristic for Maines is ticked. With this color, the entire mass of the coat consists of striped (ticked) hair in the absence of a pronounced pattern (its residual signs can be on the legs, chest and forehead). Ticking is more common among Abyssinian cats; Maine Coons with this color are very rare. These cats look very elegant, especially the black ticked one.
color silver ticked
color red ticked
color ticked
The charm of diversity
Tortoiseshell color is a good omen - many believe that multi-colored cats bring their owners good luck in all endeavors. This may not be true, but they definitely bring joy and aesthetic pleasure.
The pied Maine Coon, especially with “smoke,” is incredibly picturesque. And in this case, it is not so important whether it is a classic “tortoiseshell” (randomly scattered spots of any color except white), or spotted brown, reminiscent of autumn foliage in color, or creamy blue tortoiseshell, combining delicate pastel shades. Without exception, all the “turtles” are magnificent!
tortoiseshell color
smoky tortoiseshell color
color tortoiseshell bicolor
Tabby
Various stripes on the coat of cats are combined into one name - tabby. In addition, tabbies are identified by expressive rims on the animals’ faces, which very often form the letter “M”. This color is called wild because it resembles real wild cats that live in forest areas.
Maine Coons can have different coat colors and one of three basic tabby patterns:
- Classic (Mackerel tabby);
- Spotted tabby;
- Brindle (Mackerel tabby).
The ticked tabby pattern is also quite common, but unfortunately, it is not recognized for Maine Coon cats. All other tabby patterns can be of any color recognized by the systems.
Classic (marble)
The classic tabby pattern, or marbled as it is also called, consists of wide curls and various continuous lines on the animal’s body.
Maine Coon black marble on silver
Maine Coon black marble with white
Spotted
Spotted Tabby has intermittent stripes on the animal's fur that give the appearance of patterns of spots. The spot can be of any size and any degree of clarity.
Brindle (striped)
The brindle tabby is quite easily recognized due to the vertical stripes that run parallel. Maine Coons, which have brindle coat patterns, often resemble small tigers, which is not at all surprising, because domestic animals are genetically close to large predators.
Maine Coon brindle (Mackerel tabby)
Maine Coon classic (Mackerel tabby)
Maine Coon Spotted tabby
ticked
In this case, there are no spots or stripes. Ticked coloring can be recognized by the characteristic pattern on the cat's face and agouti throughout the body.
If you look closely at each hair of a cat with a ticked tabby, you can see two smoothly transitioning colors. This hair color is called agouti.
Ticked coloring may occur in Maine Coons, but such a pattern has not yet been officially approved as part of the breed standard. Black and gold ticked patterns are often found in Abyssinian cats.
EMS color code
To simplify the names when entering data into documents, the EMS (Easy Mind System) coding system was adopted.
Maine Coon (MC) cats are classified as semi-longhair (SLH – Semilonghair, group 2).
There are two genetic colors in Maine Coon cats: black and red. The rest of the variety of colors are shades or lightening of the main ones. In fact, the favorite white shades are not a color - it is simply the absence of a color pigment.
When determining color, three factors are taken into account:
Coat color is indicated in Latin letters:
White spotting is designated by the following code:
01 – van (almost white individual with several spots) 02 – harlequin (larger colored spots are located on the main white background) 03 – bicolor or two-color 09 – white spots on the legs and/or chest
Other codes do not apply to the Maine Coon breed.
The pattern of a cat is called tabby. Its type is indicated by numbers:
11 – shaded (only 1/4 of the hair is dyed) 12 – chinchilla (only 1/8 of the hair is dyed) 21 – agouti (the coding is assigned if it is clear that the pattern will be, but it is not yet clear which one) 22 – marbled or classic pattern 23 – brindle pattern 24 – spotted pattern 25 – ticked pattern
Maine Coons are allowed to have any eye color that matches the following colors:
61 – blue* 62 – all shades of yellow 63 – eyes of different colors 64 – green
*only white cats have blue eyes
White marks
Many Maine Coon fans try to breed kittens with touching white spots. This is explained not only by the fact that the markings on raccoon cats look spectacular, but also by the fact that some felinologists consider the absence of white in the color to be a real defect.
White spots on the Maine Coon's coat can be located on any color and be of completely different sizes, but they are always clearly visible, unlike Siamese cats, whose spots are shaded and do not have clear boundaries.
Maine Coons color tuxedo
Maine Coon kitten, harlequin color
Maine Coon with white socks
Maine Coon black and white To scientifically describe the color with a white spot, simply add “with white” to the main coat color, for example, black and white or red and white. People often call this color of a cat simply black and white or white with spots.
Color classification of Maine Coon with white spots
| Russian color name | English color name | Color characteristics |
| White gloves | mitted | the presence of white “slippers” on the paws |
| White medallion | locket | the presence of a white mark on the chest, which may resemble a tie, bow tie or even a collar |
| White buttons | buttons | the presence of one or more small spots that have a clear outline |
| Bicolor | bi-color | Maine Coon's coat is exactly half white |
| Harlequin | harlequin | the coat is completely white, except for a few large colored spots |
| Wang | van | the coat is completely white except for the head and tail |
| The tuxedo | tuxedo | a gentleman's set of a beautiful combination of white gloves and a white medallion on colored wool (this definition has not yet been officially recognized) |
Smoky colors
The smoky color is considered a solid variety of silver tabby. The color is also called smoky if each coat of a Maine Coon is white at the base, but black or blue at the tip. Only a cat with distinctly white roots can be called smoky - gray roots are characteristic of monochromatic animals.
Maine Coon black smoke
Maine Coon peach smoke
Maine Coon blue smoke
Maine Coon smoke is divided into several types depending on the length of the colored hair:
- Chinchilla - the predominant color on the coat is white, only the tips of the hairs are colored.
- Shaded smoke - only a quarter of the tip of the hair is colored.
- True smoke - the wool is half colored.
- Black smoke – black coat color and white roots.
- Blue smoke – blue coat color and white roots.
- Silver – light coat with white roots. You can distinguish such a cat from a white one by its eyes - in a silver cat they are always green.
- Cream (cameo) - kittens with this color are mostly born white, the topping becomes noticeable only over time.
Maine Coon black shaded smoke
Maine Coon Chinchilla It is quite difficult to accurately determine the type of smoky color, but in any case, this coloring of the whiskers always produces an impressive effect, especially when the cat plays or moves gracefully, shimmering light smoky colors on its fur.
Color classification
All colors of Maine Coon cats can be divided into categories: with a pattern or tabby; without a pattern or solid; tortoiseshell; smoky and silver.
Drawing (tabby)
The Maine Coon Tabby has the following traits:
The drawing itself comes in 4 types:
People often use the name “wild” or “forest”. Underneath is the black marbled color of the Maine Coon n22.
Solid (solid)
A solid colored cat should have a uniform color throughout the body. Breed standards assume that the coat color is rich and the hairs are dyed from base to tip. The disadvantage is the residual pattern, including on the head, as well as a lighter undercoat (than the main color). Markings of a different color are considered defective.
In Maine Coons, solid is represented by 5 colors:
The black Maine Coon cat has a stunning look. It needs to be combed more often than others. This way, fur renewal occurs faster and dead brown hairs do not remain. This is especially true during the molting period. For a healthy and beautiful coat, you need to provide your pet with proper nutrition. Maine Coons with a black coat are the most difficult to prepare for a show. Dead hairs are brownish in color, while new ones are gray, which darkens over time. You need to make sure that the wool in the collar area and on the “pants” does not have a different color cast.
If a Maine Coon is born black with a white spot, then it is already a bicolor color.
The red color of the Maine Coon includes all shades. Most often you can hear the name red Maine Coon. Due to the strong tabby gene, it is very difficult to achieve the absence of a pattern in a Red Maine Coon. Therefore, it is slightly visible, but still present in the solid.
You can't go past the luxurious white Maine Coon cat. As stated earlier, this color is not a color. This is rather a lack of color in the Maine Coon, because the hair does not have color pigment. A small kitten may have color markings on its face that fade over time. Pets are not fussy to care for. White Maine Coons come with blue eyes and multi-colored eyes (one is blue and the other is green). The completely green iris of the eyes is characteristic of the silver color (description below). It is worth noting that such kittens have a risk of being born deaf. Therefore, it is better to choose a snow-white miracle from experienced breeders: crossing two white individuals is prohibited.
Maine Coons of the blue solid color are not very common in the CIS countries. Their fur is ash-gray in color, with a certain blue tint. Probably because of him, blue Maine Coons became popular in Europe.
The cream Maine Coon is obtained by lightening the red color. The color has warm shades of ginger. Achieving pure colors is problematic due to the progression of classical genes in the Maine Coon.
Tortoiseshell
There is an opinion that cats with a combination of several colors bring good luck. A black tortoiseshell Maine Coon can be a torby or a tortie depending on the number of colors. Torbi includes red and black (brown). Torti adds cream color. The lightened classic tortoiseshell coloring is called blue-cream.
Interesting! Most cats are born with tortoiseshell coloration. The chance of having a boy is 1 in 1000.
Tortoiseshell cats can be additionally smoky or silver.
In addition, the color may be missing or have white markings of varying sizes. A Maine Coon with white spots that have distinct edges is called a calico. Translated as “chintz” or “flap”. Calicos are characterized by the presence of red spots with a pattern. Blue-cream Maine Coons, with a spotted pattern or diluted calico (calico) may also have white markings.
Silver and smoke
Smoky Maine Coons always produce an impressive effect. A distinctive feature of the color is the presence of a perfectly white root zone in the coat. Do not go with a lightened or grayish color.
Smoky coloring has its own categories:
Black Smoke Maine Coons, like Blue Smoke, have a rich base color along with white roots. Tortoiseshell can also be smoky.
If a cat with a white undercoat has a pattern, then this color is called silver. As a rule, such kittens are born very light. As they grow older, the fur begins to darken and the pattern becomes brighter. Coloring is determined at a young age by eye color. The silver color has green eyes, and the blue color has white eyes.
In red smoke (silver) kittens, the coat pigment is weakly visible. They are born light-colored, which is why they are called “cream” or “cameo.”
Solid colors
The name “solid” was given to cats whose fur is completely the same color.
The monochromatic color is the result of the painstaking work of breeders, and it is quite difficult to find it. Often, upon careful examination of the cat, you will notice a subtle tabby pattern.
The Maine Coon is especially impressive because it is white in color with different or bright yellow eyes. Agree, the impressive size of the cat with white fur, which in addition makes him look fat, will not leave any fan of this breed indifferent.
The Maine Coon Solid black color is in no way inferior to white cats. Many lovers of this breed wait for many years to acquire such great happiness.
Maine Coon blue solid
Maine Coon black solid
Maine Coons white solid
Maine Coon red solid But completely red and red Maine Coons are acquired not only due to their bright appearance. Most animal psychologists, observing the behavior and intelligence of raccoon cats, have come to the conclusion that it is these pets that are the most intelligent among their fellows.
How much do black Maine Coons cost?
It is believed that the most popular color of a fluffy fur coat is black, and black silver and smoky cats are especially held in high esteem. The price of such beauties in nurseries depends on many factors:
- Age of the animal
– kittens from 2 to 5 months are the most expensive (they quickly get used to a new home and new owner’s hands). Adult cats taken out of breeding can be sold for a symbolic sum of several thousand rubles; - Typically, a black Maine Coon cat costs more than a cat
of the same color. It is boys who are in greater demand due to their luxurious and impressive appearance and playful character; - Belonging to a certain class.
Without claiming awards and titles, you can also purchase a pet cat that has minor flaws in appearance (small ears, light bones, etc.). If you want your pet to take part in exhibitions and possibly be allowed to breed, you will have to spend money on a breed cat (for example, with slight flaws in color). Well, the most expensive Maine Coon is a show-class animal, whose data is as close as possible to those indicated in the breed Standard.
So, the cost of a pet kitten in nurseries starts from 10 thousand rubles. For a breed-class baby you will have to say goodbye to an amount of 20-25 thousand rubles or more. A show-class animal will cost 50-70 thousand rubles or more.
By the way, you can buy a black Maine Coon both through the Internet and at the poultry market very cheaply - for 5 thousand rubles or less. However, there is no certainty that a purebred and healthy kitten will be sold there. Unfortunately, there are cases when, under the guise of a Maine Coon, a half-breed cat or even a mongrel furry baby was given to gullible buyers for a lot of money. So you will still have to go to a breeding nursery to get a black Maine Coon, especially if you want to purchase an animal for breeding work or to participate in competitions.
Tortoiseshell colors
The tortoiseshell color of the Maine Coon is associated with the history and origin of the breed. Since ancient times, these giant cats have had to adapt to survive in North America, where winters are often frosty and long. It was the tortoiseshell colors of the “fur coat” that served as a real salvation for cats, because with its help they could hide unnoticed in snowy thickets. The tortoiseshell color on the coat of Maine Coons remains quite popular to this day.
Unrecognized colors
Maine Coons of chocolate, gold, lilac, Siamese or any combination thereof are often not allowed to show.
There are also restrictions on the nature of coloring: colors and patterns that are found in Asian breeds are not recognized in raccoon cats. These include fawn, sorrel, cinnamon, point color, as well as any acromelanic colors. It is believed that oriental blood spoils the massive and powerful backbone of the Maine Coon. Ticked tabbies are also prohibited from showing.
Ticked Maine Coon
Maine Coon ticked color Breeders are diligently developing more and more new colors. Whether it's black markings on silver or blue markings next to white and tan spots, the famous wild colors will turn the Maine Coon into a real star of the show catwalk.
The Maine Coon breed truly delights with its variety of colors. Don't forget to help your pet properly care for its coat so that it always looks truly regal!
