Maine Coons have become popular in recent years due to their large size and unique appearance. One of the most frequently asked questions about these cats is what colors they come in. The Maine Coon doesn’t come in just one color though; there are many different variations of this cat!
Maine Coons are known to have a very diverse gene pool leading to their many variations in color and pattern. A cat’s color is determined by 3 genes: a spotted gene (S), a tabby or striped gene (T), and the silvering gene (S). A cat will inherit these genes from its parents and is born with either one or two copies of each gene.
Maine Coons have 15 different coat patterns which also determine their color; these are black-and-white, black-and-brown, black-and-red, calico or bi-color, blue, brown tabby or red tabby with white spots.
The most common colors
The most common colors for Maine Coons include:
The most common solid colors
The most common solid colors of Maine Coon Cat are black, blue, brown, cream, red and white. The three most common solid colors are brown, black, and blue.
The most common part-colors
Maine Coons are an attractive breed with silky coats of various colors combined with dark tabby stripes and lighter coloured markings on the head, ears, tail and legs. The most common part-colors are black/brown tabby or brown tabby with white patches on face/body/tail/legs.
Most common hybridization colors
Maine Coons come in a variety of color combinations, including black, brown, and red. In most cases, the dominant color is brown so it is not uncommon to see a cat with brown fur with black spots or stripes.
Maine Coons are often the result of a mix of two different colors. One parent might be chocolate and black, while the other is red and white. Mixing these two colors together will create a ginger maine coon. However, it is also possible to get one or more off-colored kittens out of this hybridization process.
Maine Coons can have hybridization colors such as blue or gray smoke, black silver, cream cameo, and other variants. Only tortoise, blue-cream, and calico are considered hybridization colors under the standard.
The most popular colors
#1 – Brown Tabby
The most popular color is the brown tabby. These tabby patterned Maine Coons have brown, orange, or cream patches on their coats that give them an earthy look. They have a light brown or orange-ish brown body with darker stripes, and their head and tail are usually darker than their body. Some Maine Coons can have this pattern on their face as well. Their ears are usually lighter than the body, but there are exceptions to this rule.
#2 – Black
The black Maine Coon is by far the most common color variation for its breed. There is nothing that stands out more than a cat with black fur!
#3 – Grey Tabby
The grey tabby has an even lighter body with dark spots or stripes of varying hues of gray throughout its coat. Sometimes it can be hard to see stripes at all because the patches of fur look more like dashes instead of lines. This version has grey or silver patches on its coat, making them appear to be made of metal.
The rarest colors
Maine Coons come in a variety of colors, with the most rare being lilac, chocolate, lavender, orchid, wheaten, gray smoke, and platinum. The second-rarest color is cinnamon shaded. This is followed by cream and blue-silver variations.