Blue Eyed Maine Coon Breeders

Please visit the Blue Eyed Maine C**n Breeders Group on facebook where I will continue making posts but other breeders and individuals may also post and ask questions.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1195861237823230

If I can't breed two blue eyed kittens together what eye color should I breed my DBE to?

You can breed your DBE to another Maine C**n of any eye color other then blue but there may be colors that are better then others. Please note that there have been no studies done with Maine C**ns but according to the Messy Beast it was preferable to breed to a DBE to a green eyed cat.

"Blue-eyed Altay should be bred to non-blue-eyed Altay variants, preferably to green-eyed variants. This produces strong and healthy offspring and a mix of blue-eyed, odd-eyed and green-eyed offspring."

On a side note, I have bred my DBE boy to two girls both with yellow/gold eyes, one Queen had two DBE kittens out of five and the other had one DBE out of five. I then bred him to my green eyed Queen and got four DBE out of seven. One breeding with each girl does not signify but could there be a correlation? Have any of you other DBE Maine C**n breeders noticed any correlation between eye color and the number of DBE in a litter?

http://messybeast.com/blue-eye-breeds.htm

BLUE-EYED BREEDS / DOMINANT BLUE EYE (DBE) Blue-Eyed Breeds 1 (this page) - Altai, Topaz, Barnaul, American Ojos Azules, Breeds derived from Altai & Topaz Blue-Eyed Breeds 2 - Spontaneous Blue-eye Mutations in Mink Ragdolls, Australian cats, Chinese cats, Silver & Golden British Shorthairs, Historical Reports. Reviewing the Dominant Blue Eye...

I was sent this link to an article written by Messy Beast by another concerned Maine C**n breeder, I am not sure where her heart was when she shared it but I do know that her concern was only for the health of the Maine C**n breed. Indeed I was glad to receive the information and the reminder. There are a lot of uninformed individuals who see the blue eyed Maine C**n and have unfounded fears that all DBE cats are unhealthy, this is exactly that, UNFOUNDED.

As DBE breeders we do need to stay informed and deal with issues before they become a problem. I have included a few excerpts that I think we should all know but please read the full article for your own knowledge base.

"In cats the traits occurring together can include: distinctive distribution of white, premature greying, brilliant blue eye-colour in one or both eyes, or eyes where the iris has two different colours (sectoral heterochromia), congenital deafness, broader nose and shortened tail. Apart from deafness, which is seen in blue-eyed white cats, THESE TRAITS ARE COSMETIC AND HAVE LESS IMPACT THEN (for example) skeletal problems in Scottish Folds or spinal problems in Manx, both of which are managed by careful selective breeding."

"When working with DBE (Dominant Blue Eyes) work only with one mutation imported from one existing blue-eyed breed. Do not mix mutations from different foundation cats."

"The interest in DBE has led to several blue-eyed breeds being developed by REPUTABLE breeders. Some are introducing blue eyes into existing breeds (but under a new breed name) while others are working only with blue-eyed cats from the random-bred gene pool. These breeders keep records of any abnormalities they encounter, they neuter cats that have any form of abnormality (to prevent it being passed on) and they avoid mixing genes from different sources. The downside of the sudden popularity of DBE traits is that bulk breeders do not care which genes they are working with, they simply want to churn out blue-eyed cats to sell to cat lovers regardless of any health issues caused by mixing mutations. This uncontrolled breeding means all DBE breeds come under suspicion and there are UNFOUNDED FEARS of debilitating forms of Waardenburg syndrome in all blue-eye breeds." (All caps mine)

I think it is important to know of these potential health concerns but to also know that they do not have to be an issue, NOT all dominant blue eyed cats have Waardenburg Syndrome. Thank you for taking the time to get to the end of the post :-)

http://messybeast.com/blue-eyes-waardenburg.htm?fbclid=IwAR12paR4wLQoQp3IxEREZv8C2rA2VdFTLRR9jtgRG-0ezVfTYcYLI5eHZk8

TICA
Eyes: Large, slightly oval, appear round when wide open. Outer corner of eye points toward outer base of ear. Wide-set. Color: Any shade of green and/or gold. No relation to coat color. Blue and odd-eyes accepted in whites and particolors.

CFA
EYE COLOR: eye color can be shades of green, gold, green-gold or copper. White cats and all cats with white may have blue or odd eyes.

Our boy Heart Stealer Que Lindo is registered both with TICA and CFA as a blue eyed stud, our girl Isla Blue Ridge is registered with CFA. If you read TICAs following statement carefully you will see that they do allow blue eyed Maine C**ns to be registered, but prefer if the blue eyed kittens have any amount of white on the body as well. Indeed they state "Blue and odd eyed Maine C**ns without white can be registered...These cats should be registered correctly so if there does not appear to be any associated problems, and there is future interest to consider them for registration, they can be tracked." So PLEASE, PLEASE register your blue eyed kittens accurately!

Based off of the following statement I would assume that if a blue eyed Maine C**n also had white on the body they could be shown and accepted for championship status? "Blue and odd eyed Maine C**ns WITHOUT WHITE can be registered, but it should be remembered that they are not accepted for championship, and there are no plans to accept them." (caps mine)

Who am I and Why did I create this page?
I am the owner of Marwood Maine C**ns, premiere breeder of the blue eyed Maine C**n in Western Canada. I fell in love with the striking beauty of blue eyed gene in 2019 and got my first blue eyed male in 2020 from Heart Stealer. Seeing the growing desire that catteries all over Europe and America had in bringing this trait into their cattery I decided to add a second blue eyed female to my breeding program in 2021, Isla Blue Ridge is from a distinct and unrelated line to our male. This dominant genetic trait is so beautiful and unique, I wish to preserve it by producing bewitching blue eyed Maine C**ns that are also excellent examples of the breed standard.
My goal in starting this page is to create a group of likeminded individuals who also love the blue eyed Maine C**n. This is a NO JUDGEMENT group, for everyone but especially for breeders, to share information about how our blue eyed graduates are doing and to stay informed about any potential health issues.
There are some misconceptions out there that blue eyed Maine C**ns are unhealthy and so this is also a place for us to dispel that falsity.

Blue eyes may be found when a Maine C**n has a high degree of white marking on the face and body but it is unusual to find blue eyes in a cat with little to no white, however in the Netherlands, Joyfield's Faith is Blue-Cream Silver and White with blue eyes. Alice Gal - van Valkengoed and her husband bought cream-and-white Rociri’s Elvis (father to Joyfield's Faith) from Ciska Mennings, choosing him when he was only one day old. Rociri’s Elvis is the son of Anverscoon Grenache (blue male) and Famke of Keraysun (cream smoke female). Famke does not have any odd-eye or blue-eye ancestors but the father of Anverscoon Grenache is an odd-eyed white (i.e. one blue and one orange eye) with odd-eyed white in his ancestry. The breeders and vet believe that the odd-eye gene has mutated so that blue eyes show up in non-white cats. Elvis was the only male in his litter and the breeder never had any other blue eyed offspring from the same pairing. When Elvis had his first offspring, Alice did not expect to see blue eyes – but two of his kittens had inherited the trait, showing it to be a gene mutation that could be passed on.
Our blue eyed Heart Stealer's Que Lindo is from the Joyfield line and is the great grandson of Rociri's Elvis. We are very excited to have him in our breeding program and look forward to working with and specializing in the line of blue eyed Maine C**ns.
​
The original article may be found on the Messy Beast website.

Pictured below is Heart Stealer Que Lindo of MARWDMC, a descendant of the Joyfield line.

There are some misconceptions about the health of the Blue Eyed Maine C**n, perhaps by knowing of other blue eyed breeds their health issues and what may have been the cause we can be better educated on good breeding practices for our blue eyed Maine C**ns.

THE ALTAI

The Altai originated in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan in 1995, Lyubov Zikeeva noticed cat at a factory who had one blue eye, if the Ojos Azules could be recognized as a new breed based off of eye color and a white mark then the Altai could as well. Lyubov worked with the owner of the odd eyed cat and the development of the blue-eyed Altai began and is continuing to this day. After many unsuccessful pairings finally there was the birth of Ariel, a blue eyed Altai and the progenitor of all Altai cats. Lyubov then crossed blue eyed to blue eyed in hopes of having an entire litter of blue eyes only to find that when the gene is homozygous the cats will be deaf. In 2016 under the body of WCF Anna Kalinichenko began breeding Altai cats and in 2018 a standard for the Altai was drawn up. According to Wonderful Aquamarine the draft standard was drawn up in 1999 which stated that the head was a rounded wedge, cheeks not very large, the nose even, the transition to the forehead is smooth and well marked, a scissor bite and rounded chin. The eyes are medium sized slightly oblique, round in shape, and blue or odd coloured. The body is of medium size, strong, flexible, muscular and rectangular in format, the legs are medium in length and the paws are round. Accepted colours are variations of colours with white as well as having the tip of the tail being white. The wool is dense, even, and shiny with a well developed undercoat. Altai are friendly, energetic, sociable, loving and curious cats that do not need a lot of space and do well with other animals and do not require special care. The Altai are still in development.

The main health issue in the Altai is deafness when the blue eyed gene is homozygous, breeders can avoid this by breeding a blue eyed Altai with another Altai of differing eye color.

There is an experimental breeding programme with the Altai and a wild type in which they are using Bengal cats to achieve the wild look. The Altai are also being used in other breeding programmes with other breeds like the British Short Hair and the Maine C**n in order to introduce the dominant blue eyes.

The picture below is from Wonderful Aquamarine Cattery, breeder of the Altai Cat.

There are some misconceptions about the health of the Blue Eyed Maine C**n, perhaps by knowing of other blue eyed breeds their health issues and what may have been the cause we can be better educated on good breeding practices for our blue eyed Maine C**ns.

THE OJOS AZULES

Ojos Azules literally means blue eyes, Ojos Azules cats are distinguished by their cornflower blue eyes which are an independent trait from the coat color, meaning that their coat color does not need to be white in order for them to have blue eyes. The Ojos Azules originated in New Mexico where a feral tortoiseshell female with blue eyes had a litter of kittens and passed it on to her offspring. There were also reports of blue eyed cats discovered in Australia even though no Ojos Azules were ever imported to the country, this may mean that it is a random mutation that can occur in any cat, pedigreed or otherwise. Both the long and short haired Ojos Azules were accepted by TICA in 1991, by 1992 there were only ten that were registered with TICA. The standard was stated that the Ojos Azules are to be medium sized with round blue eyes, an arched neck and the tail is to be propionate to the cat’s body. A triangular shaped head with a slightly rounded forehead, angular muzzle and a slight nose break. The coat is to be fine, soft, silky and shiny without too much undercoat. All colours are allowed with white markings on the extremities, solid white is undesirable. In 2004 the breed standard was updated and only those cats who had deep blue eyes were considered Ojos Azules all other cats in the breeding programme were considered variants, necessary for the health of the breed. As of today there are no more Ojos Azules descended from the original tortoiseshell female of New Mexico.

In the Ojos Azules cranial deformities, white fur, a small curled tail and stillbirths were the health concerns however this could have been avoided by breeding a blue eyed Ojos Azules with another Ojos Azules of differing eye color.