Gray Maine Coon

Gray cats have long been considered the keepers of peace and prosperity in the house, they say that they also help their owners to find financial well-being. But gray cats protect against troubles like human envy and unwanted guests. Surely such beliefs can be applied to Maine Coons – massive cats with gorgeous long hair and a thoughtful look. One has only to glance at the photo of a gray Maine Coon, as you can understand how much nobility this representative of the cat family has.

Maine Coons are gray and not very

From the point of view of felinology, the gray Maine Coon is an individual of a blue color, whose fur is colored in a rich gray-ash color with a bluish tint. A similar cat coloring is very popular in the USA (in the homeland of Maine Coons) and a number of other European countries. In Russia, you will not find a blue Maine Coon in every nursery. By the way, gray Maine Coons, or rather blue ones, appeared as a result of lightening the black color, that is, initially there was no such color at all, it was bred in the process of breeders’ work.

Color options for gray Maine Coons

Solid blue – according to the rules of the breed Standard, this is an animal with a gray coat that does not have a pattern. However, if you look at a photo of a gray Maine Coon, you can almost always find at least faint stripes, stains, spots. All this is due to the tabby gene, which is responsible for the pattern present on the Maine Coon coat. But sometimes (although very rarely) there are true solids – those whose coat is uniformly colored in a single solid color. In some cases, white spots may be present on a gray coat, which is undesirable;

Blue tabby – cats with a similar color have a distinct pattern on the fur: head, chest, torso, limbs and tail (sometimes with white marks). Maine Coons have only three tabby options:

• Classic or marble – if they talk about an animal whose color is blue marble (blue marble), then this means that there is a pattern on the body that repeats the veins that are on a real rock (marble);
• Brindle – the head, body, paws and tail of the cat are decorated with stripes similar to those in the color of a real tiger;
• Spotted – the body of the Maine Coon is decorated with numerous darkened spots and stripes (including intermittent ones).

Blue smoky – a similar color (it is also called gray smoke) is present in Maine Coons, whose hairs are snow-white at their base, but blue at the tips. It is rare, since a color without patterns on the body can be called truly smoky. The color is called smoky only when the coat at the base is white, not light gray at all. When walking, when the breeze develops the coat of a blue smoky Maine Coon, it seems as if the hairs change color from dark to light gray. Depending on the degree of shading of wool hairs in gray, smoky colors are divided into the following varieties:

• Chinchilla – 1/8 gray (blue) hairs;
• Standard – hairs are half white, half blue;
• Shaded – Maine Coon’s hair is a quarter gray, while the rest of them is white;
• Blue silver – this color means that against the background of a white-blue smoky coat, a tabby pattern is clearly visible. Recall that gray (i.e. blue) Maine Coons almost always show a pattern on their body. Therefore, patterned animals with both blue and white coats should be referred to as blue silver marble (or blue marble on silver), blue silver brindle, or blue silver spotted, depending on the type of pattern that is present in the cat. Silver pets, like cats of other colors, may have white marks on the body;

Blue with white – so painted pets can be called gray-white or white-blue in a different way. Depending on the location and size of white spots on the coat, such colors are divided into the following types:

• Bicolor – blue and white wool in equal parts;
• Harlequin – the hair on the body is white, but there are several blue marks;
• Wang – only the head and tail areas are colored blue;
• Medallion – there is a white spot on the neck of a gray Maine Coon;
• White buttons – against a gray background there are several white small marks;
• White gloves – white wool on the paws of a cat;
• Tuxedo – the hair on the whole body is blue, and on the chest and paws – white.

How to take care of a gray Maine Coon coat?

There is no doubt that the fluffy and thick coat of Maine Coons is one of their decorations. In order for the hairline of the animal not to lose its luster, you should remember the following:

1. For general health and an attractive coat in particular, Maine Coons need proper nutrition. As a diet, dry or canned ready-made food marked “for Maine Coons” (or “for large cats”) of super-premium (or holistic) quality is suitable. As an alternative to purchased food, natural food is often chosen, which includes lean meat, cereals, vegetables (greens and fruits, if the cat loves them), acidic milk products. If the animal eats the food that the owner prepares for it, you will have to think about fortification. The lack of vitamins E and B always contributes to the deterioration of the coat;
2. Almost any disease makes a luxurious fur coat faded and ugly. Stress, parasitic diseases, poisoning, skin ailments are just some of the reasons why the coat looks untidy. To understand that an animal is unhealthy, sometimes it is enough to look at its coat;
3. Maine Coons are naturally clean cats, so you shouldn’t bathe them often. As a rule, bathing procedures are carried out once every 3-6 months using a special shampoo for long-haired cats, after which the pets are dried with towels and a hairdryer. Show cats are bathed more often, before each appearance. At the same time, not only a cleansing shampoo is used, but also coloring, degreasing and texturing grooming products;
4. Domestic gray Maine Coons are combed two to three times a week, and daily during molting. For hair on the body, brushes with long teeth are used, for the muzzle and limbs – with short ones. Sometimes they act differently: first they comb the cat with a brush with sparse teeth, and then with frequent ones. It is hardly worth neglecting combing, because thick hair will quickly get into tangles, which will simply have to be cut out, depriving the animal of hair vegetation;
5. During molting, gray Maine Coons lose hair just as much as other long-haired cats. Usually, the coat begins to shed twice a year, usually in early spring and late summer or autumn. If the air in the room is too dry, molting can be protracted. So that during active hair loss the animal does not swallow wool, it makes sense not to neglect combing. And if necessary, the cat can be given a special remedy – a paste or gel to remove woolen balls;
6. Sometimes handsome Maine Coons are taken to a grooming salon for a haircut (usually the hair on the body is shortened). On the one hand, after a haircut, it is easier for an animal to survive the heat (especially if there are no cooling devices in the apartment). Yes, and the owner has less worries in the form of long combing. However, almost all owners who have carried out such a procedure at least once note that new wool grows of poorer quality: thinner, prone to tangling. It turns out that it is better to remove dead hairs with a regular brush, without depriving the Maine Coon of his thick and beautiful fur coat.