MaineCoon coat color kitten!

mpoulinl

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Hi, I was wondering how the two MaineCoon will look older. I can only adopt one.
I was told initially that they will be both black smoke... I had put in my deposit already but it turned out not to be black smoke...
Here is their evolution from week 1 to week 5:

For the first kitten the breeder is not sure yet what coat it is:
Hank_Week1.jpeg Hank_Week2.jpeg Hank_week3.jpeg

Hank_week4.jpeg Hank_week5.jpeg Hank_week5Back.jpeg
Hank_week5Front.jpeg

Here is kitten number 2: She thinks it is a blue smoke coat, to me, it looks silver/grey maybe.
Hazler_Week1.jpeg Hazler_Week2.jpeg Hazler_Week3.jpeg Hazler_week4.jpeg Hazler_week5.jpeg Hazler_week5Back.jpeg Hazler_week5side.jpeg


I want a kitten with a strong big chin. I would love it to be smoked and have its chest a lighter colour. I would love it to have big ears as well.

What coat colour do you think those two MaineCoon would grow up to be and which of them seem to have the bigger /strong chin? Are they both smoke as well?

It is hard for me to know as they keep changing so much!
 

shebaa

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I will never understand breeders. So many cats to choose from to adopt.
But....they both look like blue silver tabbys. The 2nd one looks to have a bit more of a Maine coon face to it
 

sivyaleah

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Hi, I was wondering how the two MaineCoon will look older. I can only adopt one.
I was told initially that they will be both black smoke... I had put in my deposit already but it turned out not to be black smoke...
Here is their evolution from week 1 to week 5:

For the first kitten the breeder is not sure yet what coat it is:
View attachment 432571View attachment 432572View attachment 432573

View attachment 432574View attachment 432575View attachment 432576
View attachment 432577

Here is kitten number 2: She thinks it is a blue smoke coat, to me, it looks silver/grey maybe.
View attachment 432578View attachment 432579View attachment 432580View attachment 432581View attachment 432582View attachment 432583View attachment 432584


I want a kitten with a strong big chin. I would love it to be smoked and have its chest a lighter colour. I would love it to have big ears as well.

What coat colour do you think those two MaineCoon would grow up to be and which of them seem to have the bigger /strong chin? Are they both smoke as well?

It is hard for me to know as they keep changing so much!
Really hard to tell since you really need to see the fur roots to ascertain smoke. What colors are the mom and dad?

I think the 2nd one may be blue as it's nose leather doesn't look entirely black. Too bad there's no photos of the paw pads, that might help.

Both have tabby markings but those could easily disappear as they get older.

Our MC's coat changed a lot from when we got her. Many do. Her breeder said solid black but thought maybe...black smoke. As she was growing I had a lot of MC people look at her from every possible angle, parting her coat etc, and the general consensus was black smoke. So, that was what I registered as and it made sense as the sire was smoke and mom, solid black.

Anyway, it turned out to be a fever coat and eventually all the smoky tones disappeared and she's clearly solid black now. I had to contact CFA and get her pedigree changed.

If it's worth anything, I think I prefer the looks of the 2nd one. The ear placement is a bit higher and the muzzle slightly more pronounced. Too bad no profile photos. It's going to be difficult to know what any kitten may look like once mature so I'd just pick the one that tugs on your heart.
 
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mpoulinl

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Really hard to tell since you really need to see the fur roots to ascertain smoke. What colors are the mom and dad?

I think the 2nd one may be blue as it's nose leather doesn't look entirely black. Too bad there's no photos of the paw pads, that might help.

Both have tabby markings but those could easily disappear as they get older.

Our MC's coat changed a lot from when we got her. Many do. Her breeder said solid black but thought maybe...black smoke. As she was growing I had a lot of MC people look at her from every possible angle, parting her coat etc, and the general consensus was black smoke. So, that was what I registered as and it made sense as the sire was smoke and mom, solid black.

Anyway, it turned out to be a fever coat and eventually all the smoky tones disappeared and she's clearly solid black now. I had to contact CFA and get her pedigree changed.

If it's worth anything, I think I prefer the looks of the 2nd one. The ear placement is a bit higher and the muzzle slightly more pronounced. Too bad no profile photos. It's going to be difficult to know what any kitten may look like once mature so I'd just pick the one that tugs on your heart.
Thank you so much for this insightful answer! So far my heart is going with number 2. I put my deposit on number two when it was born and was told it would be black smoke. I am a little bump that it is not black smoke (I currently have two domestic black cats. One is a stray cat and the other was really sick as a kitten and no one wanted to adopt him so he grew older and they were gonna put him down so we took him home :)). Anyway, that is why I wish it was black. It is also an expensive cat and I am in love with the traits of MaineCoon. So I really hope that the kitten will have strong MaineCoon traits.
Do you think number 2 has strong MaineCoon traits in general?

fyi:I provided you with a picture of the mom and dad. I love how the dad looks and would be so happy if my kittens get those traits as well!
 

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mpoulinl

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Also kitten 2 is said to have a silver undercoat
 

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I also think the 2nd one has more of a MC looks on her/him, but both are soooooo adorable. Why do kittens give us this joy in our hearts? Oh my!
 

sivyaleah

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Thank you so much for this insightful answer! So far my heart is going with number 2. I put my deposit on number two when it was born and was told it would be black smoke. I am a little bump that it is not black smoke (I currently have two domestic black cats. One is a stray cat and the other was really sick as a kitten and no one wanted to adopt him so he grew older and they were gonna put him down so we took him home :)). Anyway, that is why I wish it was black. It is also an expensive cat and I am in love with the traits of MaineCoon. So I really hope that the kitten will have strong MaineCoon traits.
Do you think number 2 has strong MaineCoon traits in general?

fyi:I provided you with a picture of the mom and dad. I love how the dad looks and would be so happy if my kittens get those traits as well!
Good looking parents. There's a breeder in Poland I know of who has cats that look very similar.

Both are very light colored; silver shaded smoke perhaps? Without knowing more, and making assumptions, black smoke kittens probably wouldn't have been out of the question but again, their coats may loose those silver tones as they mature. Usually the breeder, if good at the genetics, pretty much will "guess" right. Like I mentioned, ours did say Luna would wind up being solid black and while it took some time to get there, she is.

Both parents have a "stronger" look, more European type so I would also think the kittens will as well though many American types also have this look; a lot of breeders bring in outside cats from overseas (assuming you are in the US) for their breeding programs. The breeder we used has been breeding for literally decades but Luna's pedigree includes cats from several well recognized catteries in France and Germany.

Do you know the sex of each one? Not that it matters too much.

Last if neither kitten feels right there's nothing wrong with passing the litter over and waiting until the next one.
 

sivyaleah

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FYI just to show how much the coat can change this is Luna the week we got her at 16 weeks, and the next the photo I took of her when she turned 3 this past May. You can really see how dark she now is.
luna then.jpg
luna now.jpg
 

Meowmee

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Thank you so much for this insightful answer! So far my heart is going with number 2. I put my deposit on number two when it was born and was told it would be black smoke. I am a little bump that it is not black smoke (I currently have two domestic black cats. One is a stray cat and the other was really sick as a kitten and no one wanted to adopt him so he grew older and they were gonna put him down so we took him home :)). Anyway, that is why I wish it was black. It is also an expensive cat and I am in love with the traits of MaineCoon. So I really hope that the kitten will have strong MaineCoon traits.
Do you think number 2 has strong MaineCoon traits in general?

fyi:I provided you with a picture of the mom and dad. I love how the dad looks and would be so happy if my kittens get those traits as well!
I looked up the cattery but I can’t see these cats there which is odd. The kittens are both adorable, so cute😻 The second kitten looks more typically mc to me.

It seems like they specialize in silver. I could not tell if they are black smoke, silver smoke or maybe silver Tabbies brown and blue. They have a six month old black beautiful queen. I don’t think she has been bred yet though from what I could tell.
 
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sivyaleah

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Here's their Facebook page.
I happened to have "liked" it way before the OP wrote her post.

I think I found them there, and she has males 2 of which are listed as silver tabby and the other 3 as smoke, but doesn't specify exact color

Log into Facebook
 
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mpoulinl

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Thank you for everyone's input!
So I learned about cat genetics and have a better idea of the kitten.

To start MaineCoon only come in two colours: Orange and Black.
Then you can have orange or black being diluted. Orange would give cream and black would give blue.
Females (XX) will take one colour from each parent's coat. (You can view it as each x = colour).
Male (XY) will only take on colour from their mom. (you can view it as y = no colour).

That is why it is so hard to have a female Orange Maine coon because both x need to take the colour orange. Therefore, both parents need to have orange in their coats.

It leaves only the female to be able to be Tortie (two colours). Some males are tortie (It's rare) but they are sterile and could have health problems because in their genetics they have an extra x so it is xxy instead of xy.

Anyway since all kitten from the litter turn out to be either silver or kind of black I can assume that both parents can be considered black silver and not orange silver.

So I believe the kitten must be black or diluted (blue). It is also smoked because it has a silver undercoat. I think smoke only can come from a silver cat or a cat with a silver undercoat (smoke). Personally, I think the kitten is diluted so it would be a blue smoke.

Here is one of my source: http://catdnatest.org/pdf/understanding-cat-colors.pdf

I will post more pictures when I get more! So we can see how the kitten turns out!

Also, let me know if you know more and if what I said sounds right!
 

sivyaleah

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It's not orange, it's red. FYI, Female red (orange) cats are not all that unusual - that is not specific to Maine Coons. I've seen more than a few over the years. However there are certainly more red males than female this is very true. I think it's about 80/20.

I am no expert by far especially when it comes to complicated coloring (I don't know much about silvers) but yes, what you wrote sounds essentially correct.
 
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