Orange Maine Coon

Orange Maine Coon or in other words a Red Maine Coon cat. This is a solid red Maine Coon cat although you can see the faint banding on the legs. Photo copyright Helmi Flick

I dedicate this short post to a cat only a few people knew in his short life. He caught a killer infection apparently and died only weeks old some times in late 2007. Here is his picture:


Photo copyright Great Beyond (published under creative commons). His name was Skyfire. He is 5 months old in this photo. He had an estimated 3 weeks to live. He stopped eating shortly after this photo was taken. His coat looks like a red mackerel tabby and white or a red classic tabby and white. As it is faint it may be due to being a kitten or be cameo (silver). We'll meet you over the rainbow bridge one day and love you again.

The red or orange color (orange is a more accurate description I think but cat fanciers call orange, red), is the result of the actions of the O orange gene, which is sex linked. The O gene is carried on the X chromosome. Females have 2 X chromsomes and males have one X chromsome. Females therefore can carry 2 O genes, which results in the cat being red.

Update 4th March 2010: I believe that the above is incorrect regarding females being orange as there is apparently a 3:1 ratio of males to females that are red. You can see another red Maine Coon on this page: Orange female Maine Coon. On the linked page I talk some more on the prevalence of males to females being orange.

The O gene makes cats red as it converts the black pigment, which is called eumelanin, to phaeomelanin and orange pigment giving us an Orange Maine Coon cat.


Red classic or mackerel (can't see the body or perhaps an expert can tell by the face) tabby Maine Coon cat and white. Photo copyright Vironevaeh.

This is another handsome Maine Coon cat. The cat associations allow an extraordinary range of colors for the purebred Maine Coon cat. The cat at the top of the page photographed by Helmi is almost certainly a purebred cat while the other 2 here are probably not but I don't know.

Associated page:
My affectionate Orange Maine Coon

Orange Maine Coon to Maine Coon cats