I am eagerly awaiting my show kitten. I will be getting a silver tabby with white. In my prior days of showing Maine Coon's, I was lucky to have a tarnish-free silver mackerel. In talking with my breeder and other breeders about showing silvers, I've learned that tarnish can be present on a lot of silvers. I would of course prefer that my precious new kitten not have any tarnish, but I need to be realistic. So my question is this: do judges tend to fault silvers with tarnish, or do they accept it, or do they judge these cats somewhere in between. Another related question: what causes the tarnish? I've been told that a brown or red parent can cause it. Is this true? My other (non-tarnished)silver's mother was a brown patched and father was a silver. Any information is greatly appreciated!!

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001

Answers

By tarnish, I am assuming that you mean a silver tabby with some faint brown or red in it's fur. I'm not a MC expert, but I think that my 5 month kitten "Silver Myst" fits this description of a tarnished cat. Her father is a red tabby & her mother is a silver tabby. She is a lovely little lady.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2001