The Black Maine Coon

The Black Maine Coon

The Black Maine Coon is as dark as night with the exception of two bright shining eyes.

Black Maine Coons are a more common and popular color.

Dark As Night!

Black is a solid color.

The Cat Fanciers Association states that black should be a “dense coal black, sound from roots to tip of fur. Free from any tinge of rust on tips or smoke undercoat”.

The nose leather should also be black with black or brown paw pads.

The Black and White is considered a bi-color and is a combination of black and white, with the option of white on the face.

However, according to the Cat Fanciers Association they must have white on bib, belly, and all four paws.

Black cats are the most popular color.

Sadly in some countries, black cats are often persecuted.

In America, many humane societies will not adopt out black cats during October because they worry the cats will be abused around the holiday Halloween.

Keep The Sun Screen Handy

Interestingly, a Black Maine Coon cat can get a bit sunburned.

The sun can cause his or her coat to look rust or brown colored.

Keep an eye on your black cat in the summertime. They can easily get overheated.

Make sure your cat always has access to fresh, clean water.

There is another rare instance that your black cat can look rusty.

Sometimes cats are deficient in the enzyme tyrosine. Tyrosine is necessary to produce eumelanin. Eumelanin the color pigment which produces black fur.  

Your vet can do blood work to see if your cat needs a tyrosine supplement.

Black Maine Coon Genetics

For a kitten to be black both parents need to have a black allele or gene.

Black is represented by a capital “B” and is a dominant gene.

A recessive black gene is represented by a small “b”.

However, the pattern tabby dominates over the color black. So, and here is where it gets a bit complicated, for a cat to be a solid black they must also have the non-agouti (a) recessive gene.

The odds of having a black kitten vary depending on the parent’s genes.

A BB combination will result in black kittens, a Bb will result in a 1/3 chance of black kittens and a bb will result in a 1/5 chance of black kittens.

There are several interesting color variations in the black range.

Below is a Black Tortoiseshell – a combination of black and red (ginger). Torties like this one are almost always female.

The Black Silver Maine Coon

The black silver is not recognized by the CFA but is accepted in The International Cat Association (TICA) which accepts silver pattern (black-silver, blue-silver, red-silver, cream-silver) and the Fédération Internationale Féline d’Europe (FiFE)

The black silver tabby color is more popular and a Maine Coon Standard.

Here is a black silver ticked. Ticked is a tabby pattern, not a color.

The ticked pattern is actually due to a masking gene. The ticked pattern is very light stripes on the legs, face and tail.

The Black Smoke Maine Coon

As we have discussed in previous blogs, any solid color can be a smoke. A Smoke coloring just means that the undercoat is a lighter shade.

According to the Cat Fanciers Association, a Black Smoke has a white undercoat that ends in a black overcoat.

When the cat is sitting and its hair is smooth, the cat should appear to be a solid black. However, when you fluff the coat you see a white undercoat.

They also have a black mask with a narrow band of white The ear tuft may have a light silver coloring.

The nose leather and paw pads are black.

GC, BW TRIPLE TIARA NENE
Black Smoke Longhair LaPerm Female

Famous Black Maine Coons

Who cannot help but love a cat whose job is to provide loving therapy to hurting people?

Cats make wonderful therapy animals and it has been proven that petting a cat reduces stress, lowers blood pressure and helps alleviate depression.

The International Cat Association honors loving cat therapists! “RW SGC Sarajen OliverUnderfoot of Maggismaines is a black silver Maine Coon owned by Margaret Sutherland of Georgia.”

Oliver visits a nursing home weekly. His speciality is helping older people with hand injuries or arthritis.

Many of the residents are supposed to do exercises to help strengthen their hands. Sometimes those exercises may be boring or tedious.

Petting Oliver is a great form of hand therapy. And petting a cat makes the hand exercises relaxing and enjoyable.

Oliver, a black silver Maine Coon therapy cat

Here’s a video of some black Maine Coon kittens

Here’s more of an adult black Maine Coon