Color

We offer a variety of colors in our Cattery:

Shadow- Black Smoke

Blue- Blue Silver with White

Nina- Black Silver Torbie

Misty- Blue

Sapphire- Black Smoke Tortie

Rosie- Black Silver Tortie

Goldie- Red Silver

Esme- Black Tortie

Elsa- High Red Silver

Maine Coon eyes can be green, gold, copper, blue, or odd-eyed (one blue, one green/gold).

Learn more about color below:

The two basic cat colors:

Everything else is a modified version of these two colors!! With over 80 recognized colors and pattern except pointed.

#1. Red

#2. Brown/Black (depending on where you register your cat, it can be called either brown or black).

In short: You can take either of the two base colors (red or brown/black)

*Combine it with any of the main modifiers: with white, dilute, solid, or silver! So many possibilities!*

Solid Colors:

Black: A deep, inky black.
Blue: A diluted black, appearing as a silvery-gray with a hint of blue.
White: Pure white fur with a delicate pink tinge on the nose and paws.
Red: A rich, fiery red ranging from orange to a more burnished copper.
Cream: A soft, creamy color with a warm apricot hue.

"Solid"

Solid is a recessive gene, which removes the tabby markings! A recessive gene means both parents have to show it or carry it, so it is less common. When a cat gets the solid gene from both parents, it will turn the brown/black tabby into a solid black cat. A blue tabby becomes a solid blue. A patch tabby becomes a tortoiseshell. And here's the tricky one: a red tabby becomes... a red solid which still looks almost exactly like a red tabby.

"Dilute"

The dilute gene is another recessive gene which modifies the red or the brown. The dilute gene turns the red --> cream, and the brown --> blue!

”With White”

Any color can have white layered on top! It can be a tiny spot, or it can take over the entire coat! The white gene basically paints over the other color and hides it! It looks white but “underneath” is the real color, which you cannot see. The "with white" gene is a dominant gene, which means if one parent has it, approximately half of their kittens will inherit it.

Silver and Gold:

Silver A rare variation caused by an inhibitor gene, resulting in a lighter, silvery appearance.

Gold Also caused by an inhibitor gene, resulting in a golden or yellowish undercoat.

"Silver"

Here's the deal: whoever picked the term "silver" was getting a little ahead of themselves. If a brown cat gets the silver gene, they DO look silver, but if a red cat gets the silver gene, they don't look silver at all!

The silver gene is dominant, so if only one parent has it, approximately half of the kittens will inherit it.

The silver gene does two main things.

1. The silver gene takes away the yellow from the coat color. That means it turns a brown tabby into a silver tabby. It turns a solid black cat into a black smoke. It turns a red tabby into a red silver, or "cameo" tabby. It turns a solid blue cat into a blue smoke. It's the removal of the yellow that makes the cat go from brown to silver, and the red go from brassy red to a softer red.

2. The silver gene causes the color in the hair to not be deposited at the base of the hair follicle! So if you pull the hair apart, the roots of the hair are... white! Examples below. This gives "silver" cats (which includes red cameo and smoke colors) the look of being lit from within, a bit of a glow.

Tabby Patterns: “agouti”

Classic Tabby: Known for its broad, bullseye-like swirls.

Mackerel Tabby: Features vertical stripes.

Ticked Tabby: Has a "ticked" appearance, where hairs have alternating bands of color.

Patch tabby: a female cat with the red AND brown - with a tabby pattern!

Other Patterns:

Tortoiseshell: A mix of black, red, and cream colors, with patterns that are often female.
Tortoiseshell (or 'tortie' for short): a female cat with red AND brown, which is solid (i.e. no tabby pattern - see lesson #5)
Both patch tabbies and torties can have white, dilute, silver, or a combination of all three!
Bicolor: A combination of two solid colors, often including white.
Smoke: A color where the fur appears lighter at the tips and darker at the roots, creating a smoky effect.

(Basic color red) + (dilute) = CREAM

(Basic color brown/black) + (dilute) = BLUE

(Basic color patch tabby or tortie) + (dilute) = BLUE PATCH or BLUE TORTOISESHELL

Gender vs Color

Male cats get their basic color (the red or the brown) only from their mother. A mother who is a patch tabby has both red and brown, and her sons could be either red or brown.

In contrast, female cats get their basic color from both parents. So females can be red, brown, or both! Note that only females* can be a mix of red and brown!

*Except in extremely rare cases with an abnormality. The odds are estimated to be only 1 in 10,000 males that are born tortoiseshell/patch tabby.*

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