Curious Cat Colors

It depends.

A major point of controversy in the Maine Coon fancy right now is the subject of dominant blue eyed cats. The breed standard considers blue or odd eyes to be a disqualifying fault with the exception of white or high white cats.

We now know that the dominant blue eye gene referred to as Rociri Elvis (DBE-RE) is associated with deafness and other physiological changes (which are also off standard) similar to Waardenburg syndrome in humans.

Unfortunately this gene seems to be the most common one found in DBE Maine Coon lines, although there are a smaller number of breeders working with unrelated genes - some of which haven’t been fully explored, yet.

So in this case yes, there is a health issue associated with an off standard trait which is exactly what those in opposition of blue-eyed Maine Coon’s from the start were concerned about.

In this case breeding off standard colors - honestly, the entire hypertype is contradictory to standard but I digress - is the cherry on top for an all around bad breeder.

It is especially concerning to see the breeder working with the colorpoint pattern specifically because we know pointed cats are prone to vision issues such as nystagmus and strabismus and thus require very careful, conscientious breeding to avoid.

Additionally these variant cats are labeled as Maine Coon mixes on their pedigrees but if you trace the pedigree back it doesn’t tell you what that other breed is, the data is omitted missing.

There are other situations where someone may produce off standard cats where it isn’t a red flag and has no detriment to the animals health, in particular outcross programs to improve genetic diversity may result in this.

This is a Havana Brown from Broghill Cattery. You might notice he is not, infact, brown (chocolate).

This is because he’s a 2nd generation outcross, his dam is also black and is a 1st generation outcross. The Havana Brown is an uncommon breed and these outcross programs are essential to maintain the breeds health.

There are also individuals who outcross with the intent of introducing off-standard colors into their breed of choice for… whatever reason. This is always controversial and can result in heated discussions within the fancy but, breed preservation aside, is it bad?

Eh, personal tastes aside… it can be done right.

The breeder should be transparent about where the disqualifying trait comes from, ideally it should be a generally healthy breed and one that doesn’t completely contradict standard.

The goal should also be to overall preserve breed type by crossing back to the desired breed with the only ‘incorrect’ trait being the new color/pattern.