The Maine Coon breed standard, as set by both TICA and CFA, includes a stunning range of eye colors: green, gold, green-gold, and copper. Maine Coons are considered a natural breed both by TICA and CFA, meaning only native traits are allowed in the breed standard. Blue eyes and odd eyes (where one eye is blue and the other is green or gold) are only permitted and natural in white cats or high-white bicolors. These cats typically lack pigment around the eye area, allowing the blue hue to show through.
In all cats, the eye color is often linked to the surrounding coat color. If the fur around the eye is white, the cat may have blue or odd eyes. If not, the eyes are expected to be green or gold. Because of this, most cats outside of those with all or high white rarely carry blue eyes.
Recently, some breeders have introduced a new gene into the Maine Coon breed known as the “Dominant Blue Eye” or DBE gene. This gene causes blue eyes in cats of all coat colors, not just in white or high-white cats.
The exact mechanisms of this mutation can be explained in the video clip below, featuring Dr. Leslie Lyons, Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri, speaking at the 2025 FIFe Judges’ Seminar.
Dr. Leslie Lyons explains the origin and health concerns of the DBE gene at a 2025 FIFe conference. This 10-minute segment highlights why researchers and responsible breeders are cautious about introducing this mutation into pedigreed cats.
While the Dominant Blue Eye (DBE) trait may appear visually striking, it raises well-documented health concerns, enough that it is explicitly disallowed by nearly all major feline registries worldwide.
Cats carrying the DBE mutation cannot be registered as Maine Coons with major organizations such as CFA, TICA, or FIFe, as the gene is not recognized within the official breed standard. In fact, no registry in the world currently allows DBE Maine Coons to compete for titles within the Maine Coon class. Instead, these cats are typically relegated to the Household Pet category, which is reserved for non-pedigreed or disqualified cats.
Breed standards are not arbitrary; they exist to protect the long-term health, consistency, and integrity of the breed. Ignoring them compromises both the welfare of the cats and the preservation of the Maine Coon as a natural breed.
In an effort to bypass these restrictions, some breeders may attempt to register DBE cats under vague classifications like “eye color unknown.” However, cats listed this way are not considered legitimately pedigreed, and prospective buyers should proceed with caution, especially when health testing, genetic background, and adherence to the standard are not fully disclosed.
Some proponents of DBE breeding try to justify the mutation by comparing it to other non-standard traits – most notably polydactyly. But this is a misleading comparison.
Polydactyly is a benign structural trait, not a genetic disorder. When ethically bred, polydactyl Maine Coons are just as healthy and sound as their standard-pawed counterparts. TICA’s guidelines even require that all toes touch the ground and that the cat’s legs remain straight to prevent structural faults.
DBE is an entirely different matter. It’s a dominant mutation linked to Waardenburg syndrome, a condition known to cause deafness, wide-set eyes (telecanthus), and skull deformities. These are medical concerns, not cosmetic ones – which is why DBE cats are not eligible for showing as Maine Coons in any major registry worldwide.
While polydactyly has earned acceptance through decades of healthy breeding and clear standards, and is even strongly believed to have existed in large quantities at the very beginning of the breed, DBE remains banned for good reason.
The Dominant Blue Eye (DBE) mutation is not just about appearance — it comes with well-documented and serious health concerns. DBE is linked to Waardenburg syndrome, a genetic condition known to affect neural crest cell development. In cats, this can lead to a range of structural and neurological abnormalities, including but certaintly not limited to deafness, widened space between the eyes (telecanthus), and skull deformities. These aren’t harmless cosmetic quirks; they are medical defects that can impact a cat’s quality of life and long-term health.
Deafness is the most widely observed and studied symptom associated with DBE. While white cats with blue eyes can naturally be deaf due to pigment-related pathways, the DBE mutation causes deafness without the presence of white spotting – which is a strong red flag. Other features like misshapen heads, asymmetry, and extreme eye placement have also been reported and documented in litters carrying the gene.
Because DBE is a dominant mutation, even a single copy of the gene can result in visible and structural changes. This differs greatly from traits like polydactyly, which is structurally harmless when bred responsibly. The predictable risks and lack of long-term safety data are why DBE has been rejected by every major feline registry, and why ethical breeders avoid the mutation entirely. The health and preservation of the breed must always take priority over novelty.
Concerns about the Dominant Blue Eye (DBE) mutation aren’t just theoretical – breeders have reported real, consistent issues in DBE-expressing lines. Some litters have produced kittens with facial asymmetry, deafness, deformed ear placement, abnormal skull shape, or even stillbirths and early death. While not every DBE cat will present with obvious defects, the unpredictable expression of the gene makes ethical, long-term breeding difficult, and potentially harmful.
Because DBE is a dominant gene (although as explained in the video above, it can skip being phenotypically present in some generations but will still cause the same issues in those cats), breeding two carriers together increases the risk of more severe deformities. There are even growing concerns that double copies of the gene may be lethal in utero, although long-term studies are still lacking. Despite the known risks, some breeders continue to propagate DBE lines due to their eye-catching appearance and hefty price tags, often prioritizing aesthetics over health and longevity.
This practice has drawn criticism from breed clubs and feline geneticists alike. Breeders promoting DBE lines as “rare” or “exclusive” often downplay the risks, which places the burden on buyers to research carefully and ask questions about health testing, pedigree integrity, and ethical intent.
A common argument raised by proponents of the Dominant Blue Eye (DBE) gene is that banning DBE cats due to the risk of deafness is hypocritical, since white Maine Coons – especially those with blue eyes – are also known to sometimes be deaf. But while this point may seem valid at first glance, the reality is far more nuanced.
White cats can indeed carry an increased risk of congenital deafness due to the dominant white (W) gene, which affects pigment and sometimes disrupts inner ear development. However, this gene is naturally occurring and has long been accepted in the Maine Coon breed standard. Its risks are well-understood and can easily be managed responsibly. Ethical breeders of white cats avoid breeding white cats with blue eyes (they are most at risk for deafness), typically perform BAER (Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response) testing to ensure hearing ability before breeding, and major registries require or strongly encourage this testing.
By contrast, the DBE gene is not a naturally occurring trait in Maine Coons. It is a new, artificially introduced mutation tied to Waardenburg syndrome, a condition known to cause not only deafness but also skull abnormalities, telecanthus (wide-set eyes), and neurological defects including obvious developmental disorders. This mutation affects cats that otherwise show no white spotting, making its presence more unpredictable and more difficult to screen for.
In short, comparing DBE to white Maine Coons is also misleading.
White Maine Coons are part of the recognized breed standard and can be ethically bred with hearing testing protocols in place.
DBE Maine Coons involve a disallowed mutation with deeper structural and medical implications, less understanding and research, and no major feline registry permits them to be shown or titled as true Maine Coons.
So no – it is not hypocritical. It is responsible breed preservation. Registries draw a clear line between managing a known native trait with established safeguards versus introducing a mutation known to cause deformities and long-term health concerns.
For ethical breeders, the goal is never just to produce a visually striking cat. It’s to protect the long-term health, structure, and integrity of the breed. The DBE mutation may offer an unusual appearance, but it comes at the cost of predictability, safety, and acceptance within the global breeding community.
By contrast, responsible breeders follow established standards, prioritize transparency, and avoid mutations known to cause harm, even when they’re popular online. Breed preservation means thinking beyond short-term trends and marketing appeal. It means honoring the history, structure, and genetic stability that make the Maine Coon a beloved and enduring breed.
In the end, truly ethical breeding isn’t about what’s possible. It’s about what’s right.
Different Founding Effects Underlie Dominant Blue Eyes (DBE) in the Domestic Cat – National Library of Medicine
Dominant Blue Eyes: A Call for Responsible Breeding – FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE FELINE (FIFe)
PAX3 haploinsufficiency in Maine Coon cats with dominant blue eyes and hearing loss resembling the human Waardenburg syndrome – National Library of Medicine
The Pigment Parade – PawPeds (this amazing article explains why we also avoid breeding blue-eyed white cats!)
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