White Maine Coon: A Coat That Keeps a Secret
Why a white Maine Coon is genetically a masked cat, the four white eye-color classes, what the UK registry requires before breeding one, and prices.
Published August 20, 2026Updated August 27, 2026 5 min read
Contents
A white Maine Coon is the breed at its most theatrical: a huge, tufted, snow-colored cat with eyes that can be gold, green, copper, blue, or one of each. It is also the one coat that is genetically a disguise. White here is a mask worn over whatever color the cat truly carries underneath, which is why registries give White its own class rather than treating it as a pale variant of anything, and why a white cat's kittens can arrive in colors that seem to come from nowhere. The hidden color was there all along; the mask just never let you see it.
Solid white versus "with white"
Two different things in every standard. A solid white Maine Coon is entirely white, the full mask. "With white" cats (bicolors, calicos, vans) wear white patches over a visible color, and the registries set minimum-white rules for those classes: wants white on the bib, belly and all four paws, and the UK and Canadian standards carry near-identical floors. This page is about the solid white cat; the patched families live with their base colors across our color pages.
White Maine Coon eye colors
White is the one coat where every eye color is on the table. The UK's is so precise about it that it registers four separate classes of white Maine Coon by eye alone: blue-eyed, orange-eyed, and green-eyed (orange, not gold, in GCCF's own vocabulary). Canada's standard names blue, copper, gold, green and odd-eyed whites. Odd eyes, one blue and one gold, are entirely showable on a white cat everywhere, and they are part of why white kittens command attention, and often premiums.
The hearing conversation, without the folklore
White cats and deafness travel together in every breed, and the honest version for a buyer has no percentages and no panic, because the reliable, sourced version is structural: the risk is real, graded, linked to the white-masking pathway and highest in blue-eyed whites, and plenty of white cats hear perfectly. What matters is what the institutions that govern this breed actually require. The UK's , in its official Maine Coon breeding policy, requires a hearing test for white Maine Coons before breeding. , the big European federation, makes the PAX3 "dominant blue eyes" DNA test obligatory for blue-eyed and Maine Coons in its current breeding rules. Canada's show standard, for its part, states plainly that deafness in a white cat, "although undesirable, is not penalized" in the ring.
Before you buy
Read those three sentences as a buyer and the move writes itself: a test exists, it is painless, and registries themselves treat it as due diligence for white cats. Ask the breeder whether the kitten, or at least the white parent, was tested. A deaf cat can live a superb indoor life; you simply deserve the answer before, not after. And the standing rule: something wrong with your cat means call your vet, out of hours an emergency clinic.
Are white Maine Coons rare, and what do they cost?
No registry ranks colors by rarity, so no honest "rare" claim exists. Pricing runs on the seller's own list, not on a rule, and the same coat sat at opposite ends of two price lists in our August 2026 research:
White, bottom of list
CA$1,600
one -registered Ontario cattery listed its whites at the bottom of its own list, below its brown tabbies at CA$2,000
The premium goes to the EYES
$600 to $2,100
US breeder lists put their premiums on blue- and lines, roughly this much above standard, not on the white coat itself
The market prices the look it wants that season, market by market. Full four-country figures live on the price page.
Living with the white coat
Grooming is the standard Maine Coon routine (the coat-texture range, seasonal sheds and mat map are on our grooming guide); the white simply shows the evidence sooner. Tear staining, litter dust and a summer of garden adventures all read loudly on white fur, so owners of whites tend to become the comb-and-cloth experts of the breed. Bathe on condition, not on a schedule; no registry or vet school sets a bathing interval.
The vet's take
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Frequently asked questions
Are white Maine Coon cats rare?
No ranking or population count exists in any registry, so "rare" is a selling word. White is a recognized classic; what is uncommon is everything staying pristine.
How much is a white Maine Coon kitten?
Whatever its market and seller decide: one named Ontario cattery listed whites at CA$1,600 in August 2026, at the BOTTOM of its own list, while blue- and odd-eyed whites elsewhere carry premiums. Four-market ranges on the price page.
Do all white Maine Coons have blue eyes?
No. Gold, orange/copper, green, blue and odd eyes all occur, and GCCF registers each as its own class.
Are all white Maine Coons deaf?
No. The link is real and graded, strongest in blue-eyed whites, and a BAER hearing test settles the question for an individual cat, which is why the UK's breeding policy requires it for whites.
Why did my white Maine Coon have colored kittens?
Because white masks the cat's true genetic color. The kittens inherit the hidden color; some also inherit the mask.
Community questions
Got a question this page doesn't cover? Ask it: the best ones get published here with their answer.
This is information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot tell you what is wrong with your cat. Our rule is a simple one: if something is wrong with your cat, call your vet, and call an emergency clinic if it is out of hours. Nothing you read here is a reason to wait.
Medical information applies to every reader. Prices, legal duties and common practice do not: unless stated otherwise, they are given for the United States, and they differ in the UK, Canada and Australia, and often between states or provinces. Check with your own vet and your own local authority.
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