My Shaded Golden Maine Coons

By Kathryn Harrigan

I think that my Maine Coon boy is very special; his coat color and pattern are unusual and he is very affectionate towards me. This photo shows Marala’s Auric (aka “Ricky”) who was born on March 10, 2006; he is a shaded golden with white Maine Coon (ys 09). (Ricky has a little white “Hitler” mustache, white chin, some dribbles of white on his chest and white fingertip gloves. The rest of his seemingly-solid coat pattern has the smoke agouti pattern.)  

Ricky’s remarkable feature is that he is shaded golden; he has patches of golden tan with grey down hairs and the base of his golden guard hairs are also grey (reverse agouti). Ricky also has very dark guard hairs across his back; the base of his dark guard hairs are also grey. 

Marala Auric from Marala breeder owner Kathryn Harrigan NY USA honey shaded golden maine coon

Ricky’s breeder called his pattern “honey shaded golden” and reported that the pattern is rare in males because he has tortoiseshell-like variety in his coloring. The tips of some of Ricky’s guard hairs are golden; the tips of other guard hairs are dark brown. Since Ricky has dark feet (except for his white front toes) and a dark tail, he appears to have the cs cs recessive gene associated with albinism. His sire (Marala’s Samuel II) and dam (Marala’s Heloise) both had the silver gene, as did all of his grandparents and half of his great-grandparents. There is a solid red male (with white) in both his paternal and maternal lines as well as a blue tortoiseshell female (coefficient of inbreeding =25%).

Here is a photo of a dark shaded golden kitten;      

notice how much more red appears in Ricky’s coat.

Marala Auric Coat  

Honey golden shaded maine coon coat maral breeder owner Kathryn Harrigan

Ricky’s half-brother, Marala’s Pinky Lee, is a shaded red Maine Coon (ds 11) who also has Marala’s Samuel II (ns 11) as sire. Pinky Lee’s dam (Marala’s Radha) was also a (ds 11) shaded red (coefficient of inbreeding = 25.8%); Pinky Lee’s maternal grandmother, Marala’s Jezebel II (fs), was a dark tortoiseshell and her dam was a genuine red smoke, Marala’s Sundance Maiden (ds) – not the more-typical cameo-shaded Maine Coon (fs 11) like Pinky Lee.

Marala's Pinky Lee red shaded Maine Coon from Marala Breeder owner Kathryn Harrigan

My first shaded golden girl, Marala’s Aurora (aka Rory) was a dark shaded golden with high white (ny 09). Typical shaded golden Maine Coons have golden down hairs and the base of each black-tipped guard hair is golden. But Rory had the tortoiseshell-like trait that Ricky also enjoyed of having some golden guard hairs with grey bases mixed in with her dark guard hairs. 

When Rory sat in a shaft of sunlight with her golden guard hairs peeking out among the dark ones, the effect was stunning.  Aurora was supposed to replace her mother, Marala’s Golden Girl as breeding stock, but the breeder needed money so she sold Rory to me instead.  (I remain convinced that the breeder would not have shipped Rory to me; she would have waivered concerning the sale had I not gone personally to her farm in South Carolina to collect the kitten.)
Rory’s dam, Marala’s Golden Girl (fs 11), came from a line of golden Maine Coons – Marala’s Golden Nugget (ny 11), Marala’s Golden Belle (fs 11), Marala’s Maximillian (ds 11) and Marala’s Sir Humphrey (ds 22) – that was each bred with a blacksmoke mate, respectively. Three generations of Rory’s maternal ancestors carried the silver gene. Rory’s sire, Marala’s Paul Bunyan (n 09), carried the silver gene through his sire, Marala’s Samuel (ns 11) as well as through his maternal grandfather, Marala’s Fats Domino (ns 09).
Rory’s mustache and golden markings were so striking that her veterinarian used to parade the kitten through his waiting room to show her off to other pet owners.
      

Marala Aurora Dark shaded golden white maine coon Marala Breeder Owner Kathryn Harrigan

SOME OTHER GOLDEN MAINE COONS FROM MARALA BREEDER (Marla Vales)

Fife's EMS CODES USED IN THAT ARTICLE:

ys 09 means golden shaded white

ds 11 means red silver shaded

ns 11 means black silver shaded

ny 09 means  Black golden white

fs 11 means Tortie silver shaded

ds 22 means  red silver tabby (classic or blotched)

ns 09 means Black smoke white

COLORS:

a = Blue
b = Chocolate
c = Lilac
d = Red
e = Cream
f = Black tortie
g = Blue tortie
h = Chocolate tortie
j = Lilac tortie
m = Dilute modifier, caramel
n = Black (seal in Himalayan-patterned cats, ruddy in Abyssinians and Somalis
o = Cinnamon (sorrel in Abyssinians)
p = Fawn
q = Cinnamon (sorrel) tortie
r = Fawn tortie
s = Silver, smoke
t = Amber, light amber
w = White
x = Indicates an unrecognized colour
y = Golden

PATTERNS:

01 = Van
02 = Harlequin
03 = Bicolour
04 = Mitted
09 = Unspecified amount of white
11 = Shaded
12 = Shell, chinchilla
21 = Unspecified tabby pattern
22 = Blotched tabby
23 = Mackerel tabby
24 = Spotted tabby
25 = Ticked tabby
31 = Burmese pointed
32 = Tonkinese pointed
33 = Siamese pointed (Himalayan)

THIS ARTICLE NEEDS TO BE TRANSLATED IN FRENCH  ITALIAN AND GERMAN

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