Half-siblings Sundar Reuel of Tufpaws and Sundar Tiffany of Tufpaws, who were not related to Panda Ring Tip, were mated together and produced two red point kittens, showing them to be colourpoint carriers. Those two cats turn up in many Maine Coon pedigrees including those of Belinda Blue of Gold Rain and Chandor von Ukana.Ĭats of the Sundar line can trace their colourpoint gene to Dauphin de France of Tati-Tan, one of the important foundation cats Germany. He came from close inbreeding centred on a blue-eyed white male called De Richelieu White Fox to De Richelieu Pussyfoot, a white cat with, unspecified eye colour. The first Maine Coon known to carry the colourpoint gene was De Richelieu Panda Ring Tip (of Miston) (aka Mr Panda Ring Tip). The first litter bred from their cat Belinda Blue of Gold Rain with Chandor von Ukana had resulted in three black tabbies and one white kitten that turned out to be a blue point. Apart from his pattern, Gigant Cats Don Carlos was a Maine Coon in all respects, and to the surprise of many breeders he was judged - the breed standard prohibited chocolate and lilac but had somehow forgotten to prohibit the pointed pattern itself.ĭon Carlos was owned and bred by Markus and Nicole Hæseli. On May 18th, 1997, a Maine Coon seal tabby point was exhibited at a FIFe show. There were others, but in Germany the breeders were threatened by phone and cats were destroyed to prevent them from being revealed as colourpoint Maine Coons. The first authenticated colourpoint Maine Coons were born in the 1990s to parents of the same breeding line. So the gene continued to lurk and be passed down the generations. The lack of tangible evidence may be because the breeder did not breeding lines labelled as tainted. In Germany, it seems that the first colourpoint Maine Coons were born in 1976 or 1977, but lived only a few months and there are no photos of them. The reader must remember that DNA testing for recessive genes such as colourpoint is very new.Ĭolourpoint Maine Coons have been the subject of heated debates, especially in Germany and Switzerland. These are the colourpoint Maine Coons and they turn up due to recessive genes. Occasionally Maine Coon matings produce surprise white kittens whose ears, paws and tail soon begin to darken.
Though vilified by the cat fancy the public liked them, but breeders who perpetuated them faced expulsion. The Rexed Maine Coons of the 1990s that caused such an uproar in the UK Cat fancy (which had no mechanism by which to recognise mutations in existing breeds) may also have been the result of long-hidden recessive genes. It’s possible that some early colourpoint kittens were hushed up (destroyed or homed as “randombred” pets) and their parents and siblings continued to breed. Digging around in early pedigree also throws up some cross-breeding surprises that I’ll come to later. Because the cats were registered simply as “Foundation” it is not known whether any of these have contributed significantly to the Maine Coon gene pool. During the search for "foundation animals" for the breed in the early and mid-1960s, some breeders in Maine sold Balinese x Persian hybrids as purebred Maine Coons. Maine Coons are supposedly descended from ships’ cats and may even have brought the colourpoint gene with them from some Eastern port. American Shorthair) mix, and Bridget Katt appears to be a Persian mixes. Andy Katt of Heidi Ho was an Domestic Shorthair (i.e. For example foundation cat Bridgett Katt was tortie smoke, clear evidence of a pedigree (probably Persian) ancestor. With colourpoint cats arriving in the USA in the 19th century, when pet cats roamed more freely, it’s hardly surprising that “pedigree” genes pop up in odd places. No-one knows what recessive genes were carried by foundation cats in the 1960s and 1970s. That kitten is visible evidence of colourpoint ancestry. The colourpoint gene is recessive and has been passed down the generations without showing up until two carriers are bred together, when there is a 25% chance of the offspring inheriting the recessive gene from both parents. Somehow it acquired a colourpoint from a cat that ultimately had a Siamese ancestor. However cats have legs and will wander and sow their wild oats, hence the Maine Coon has not developed in glorious isolation from other cats.
The Maine Coon, being a “natural” breed, is considered to have arisen in its region of origin.
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