The Cream Maine Coon Cat

The cream Maine Coon cat is a beautiful sight, and many owners wonder if their Maine Coon’s cream coat color makes them especially rare.

If you have a cream Maine Coon, you might also be wondering how cat fur comes in such a gorgeous color.

A cream Maine Coon cat has pale to light red fur, which is a dilute of the color red. Cream colored Maine Coons can come in a variety of patterns, and the color can also co-occur with other coat colors, most often blue or white. While cream colored cats are rare when they are naturally occurring, they are common amongst breeders.

While cream fur is considered rare when it hasn’t been specifically bred for, many breeders recognize the attractive appearance of cream fur.

They often work hard to achieve this color in their Maine Coons.

Read on to find out all of the possible cream color and pattern combinations in Maine Coon cats!

The Cream Maine Coon Cat

The Maine Coon Cat is the largest domesticated cat breed.

This breed developed naturally in Maine, and as a result, Maine Coons have long, thick fur to protect them against the state’s frigid winters.

When most people hear the name “Maine Coon,” they often think of brown or black tabby cats.

However, Maine Coons actually come in nearly every color and pattern possible! One of these possible colors is cream.

The color cream is a dilute version of the color red, which is often also referred to as orange.

The dilute gene resulting in a cream-colored coat is recessive, meaning that a cat must receive two copies of the gene in order to have a cream coat.

To learn more about the orange Maine Coon cat, click on the link to take a look at my article.

Cream Maine Coon Coat Colors

Maine Coon Cats can come in a total of 25 different cream color and pattern combinations. First, let’s take a look at solid cream cats.

However, while solid cream cats may appear to be solid, it’s important to recognize that there’s no such thing as a truly solid cream cat.

Interestingly enough, any red-colored cat (and thus, any diluted version of the color red) is a tabby!

The term “solid” when referring to cream and red cats refers to ticked tabbies, who appear solid except for markings on the face.

Solid

• Cream Solid: A solid cream Maine Coon has even cream coloration throughout the whole body and with no markings anywhere on the coat.

• Shell Cream: Shell cream Maine Coons have a white undercoat with light cream tipping on the cat’s tail, back, flanks, and head, as well as possible lighter tipping on the face and legs.

• Shaded Cream: Shaded cream Maine Coons have a white undercoat and shaded cream fur on the sides, face, and tail.

• Cream Smoke: Cream smoke Maine Coon Cats are similar to shell and shaded cream cats because they have a white undercoat and cream tipping. However, cream smoke Maine Coons have cream tipping throughout the body, and the length of the fur that is tipped cream should be much longer than the amount of fur that is tipped white.

There is also a variety of cream Maine Coon patterns. Here is a comprehensive list of all possible cream Maine Coon patterns as outlined by the Cat Fanciers’ Association.

Tabby

• Cream Tabby: Cream tabbies have a pale cream ground color with darker cream tabby markings.

• Cream Silver Tabby: Cream silver tabbies have a white undercoat, an off-white ground color, and cream tabby markings.

• Blue Patched Tabby: Blue patched tabbies are primarily blue in color, but have patches of cream throughout the coat.

• Silver Patched Tabby: Silver patched tabbies are primarily silver and color, but have patches of cream throughout the coat.

• Blue-Silver Patched Tabby: Blue-silver patched tabbies have a ground color of silver, with primarily blue markings and patches of cream throughout the coat.

Bicolor and Parti-Color

• Blue-Cream: The cat is predominantly blue, but has mixed patches of cream throughout the body and legs.

• Shell Blue-Cream: The cat has a white undercoat with its back, flanks, and tail tipped lightly with blue and mixed with cream.

• Shaded Blue-Cream: The cat has a white undercoat with the back, sides, face, and tail tipped with blue and mixed with cream.

• Blue-Cream Smoke: The cat has a white undercoat and the whole coat is tipped deeply with blue and mixed with cream. The ruff and ear tufts should be white.

• Cream and White: The cat’s coat is a combination of cream and white, with the bib, belly, and paws all white.

• Shell Cream and White: The cat’s coat is white with patches of lightly tipped cream except on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

• Shaded Cream and White: The cat’s coat is white with patches of tipped cream throughout the body, except on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

• Cream Smoke and White: The cat has a white undercoat with patches of deeply tipped cream throughout the body, except on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

Tricolor

• Blue-Cream and White: The coat is a combination of blue and cream, with various amounts of white. There must be white on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

• Shell Blue-Cream and White: This coloration is the same as shell blue-cream cats but with white markings throughout. There must be white on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

• Shaded Blue-Cream and White: This coloration is the same as shaded blue-cream cats but with white markings throughout. There must be white on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

• Blue-Cream Smoke and White: This coloration is the same as blue-cream smoke cats but with white markings throughout. There must be white on the cat’s bib, belly, and paws.

• Dilute Calico: The cat is white with patches of blue and cream that are not mixed together.

• Shell Dilute Calico: The cat is white with unmixed, lightly tipped patches of blue and cream.

• Shaded Dilute Calico: The cat is white with unmixed, tipped patches of blue and cream.

• Dilute Calico Smoke: The cat is white with unmixed patches of deeply tipped blue and cream.

Are Cream Maine Coons Rare?

Many owners want to know if their cream Maine Coon is rare, and a lot more owners ask:

“Are cream-tabby cats rare?”

The cream color is very rare when it is naturally occurring.

However, it is common amongst breeders, who can easily breed cats with the necessary genetics to produce cream offspring.

While the cream coat isn’t especially rare, it is still considered rarer than colors like black, white, or red.

Even though the cream color isn’t especially rare among breeders, there are a few other colors that are much more difficult to produce. Here are the rarest Maine Coon colors:

• Lilac
• Cinnamon
• Chocolate
• Fawn
• Amber

Most Common Maine Coon Color

The most common Maine Coon color is black. While most people think the most common color would be a brown tabby, what many people don’t know is that brown tabbies are black!

This is because the true pigment of a tabby cat’s coat is determined by the color of its stripes. So even though brown tabbies are mostly brown, their stripes are black.

Cream Maine Coon Kittens for Sale

Many breeders specialize in certain coat colors and patterns.

If you would like a cream Maine Coon kitten, you should search for a registered breeder who sells cream Maine Coon kittens.

Cream Maine Coon Cat Grands

At the Cat Fanciers’ Association, there have only been two cream-colored cats to ever win Grand Champion.

The first was a cream silver and white tabby named To Kill a Mockingbird, which won in the 2012-2013 season.

The second was a cream tabby and white cat named Star Zarik.

Cream Colored Cat Names

Have you just gotten a cream-colored cat, but you’re having difficulty finding a name for it? Here are some name ideas for cream-colored cats!

• Angel
• Aspen
• Chai
• Coconut
• Custard
• Latte
• Nimbus
• Pastel
• Peaches
• Toffee

Maine Coon Color Calculator

Cat genetics can be rather complicated, so many people use color calculators to determine the possible colors and patterns of a certain breeding pair’s offspring.

While a color calculator can’t tell you exactly what each kitten will look like, it can tell you all of the possible outcomes based on a parent’s coloration and lineage.

Conclusion

The cream Maine Coon may not be rare amongst breeders, but it is an incredibly beautiful color that is difficult to come by naturally.

Cream Maine Coons can come in many different color combinations and patterns, as well.