Maine Coon Cat Gives Birth to a Litter of Tiny Storm Clouds
When kittens are born, you never really know what you're going to get. Though the colors of their parents definitely provide some clues, there might be one who surprises you, and the division of colors is never the same twice.
Recently, one Maine Coon cat gave birth to a litter of kittens that ended up looking like a litter of perfect little storm clouds in varying shades of grey. Put them in front of a blue bakcground and you'd never be able to tell they weren't just part of a rainy spring day:
@blackdiamondmainecoons Do you have a favorite kitten yet? mainecoons #cats#catsoftiktok#kittens#mainecoonsoftiktok
Glamorous - Fergie
Black Diamond Maine Coons has some of the most impressive cats ever, and though they're not all dark like this cat and (most of) her kittens, most of them are a little smoky. This bunch just happens to have a lot of that going on!
There are 9 kittens in this litter, which is super impressive: though Maine Coon litters are typically larger than other cats', nine kittens is still a ton! My favorite was the 5th one she showed: I love the little white eyebrows. That little kitten is going to look surprised forever!
Related: Grey Maine Coon Gives Birth to a Rainbow of Tiny Kittens-and Each Is Cuter Than the Last
Although the kittens are the sweetest babies ever, the woman who runs the cattery maintains that their parents were her babies first. She made sure to treat this mama very, very well before she went into labor:
@blackdiamondmainecoons I'm for grateful to be able to love these babies from day 1 mainecoons #cats#catsoftiktok#kittens#mainecoonsoftiktok
Raindance - Dave & Tems
This cat was once one of those kittens, after all! She won't ever let them think they mean less to her just because there are newer kittens. That's exactly what a good cat mom should be doing!
Why Do Kittens In a Litter Get Lighter?
There's a common phenomenon we see when cats have kittens that we like to call "running out of ink." For many litters, the kittens tend to get increasingly lighter! It doesn't happen every time, though.
Cats in a litter can technically have multiple fathers, which can lead to some more extreme variations in litter coloring. In controlled breeding environments like this one, though, there's only one dad, which means any variation is random.
Kittens inherit 50% of their DNA from each parent, but when it comes to coat color, it's almost completely random. That's why some look more like Mom, some look like Dad, and some are perfectly in-between!
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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 9:00 AM.