Colours of cats
Our beautiful domestic cats come dressed in a dazzling range of colours, patterns and coat varieties — a remarkable feat of genetics packed into one small, purring package. The Maine Coon, in particular, is famous for its wonderful variety.
It all starts with two pigments
Nearly every coat colour comes from just two pigments: eumelanin (black, and its dilutes blue, chocolate and lilac) and phaeomelanin (red and cream). Genes switch these on and off, dilute them, or restrict where they appear, producing the enormous palette we see.
Tabby, the original pattern
Underneath almost every cat lies a tabby pattern. In Maine Coons you will often see the bold swirls of the classic tabby or the narrow stripes of the mackerel tabby, sometimes with silver or smoke shading where the hair roots are pale.
Torbies, smokes and white
A torbie is a tortoiseshell-and-tabby combination — patches of red woven through a tabby coat, seen almost exclusively in females. Smoke cats look solid until they move, revealing a pale undercoat. And white markings, from a single locket to a fully white coat, add yet another layer of individuality.
Every coat tells a story
For breeders, colour is partly genetics and partly art — but for the cats themselves, every coat is simply their own. Whatever the pattern, it is the character underneath that makes each one special.