#now that i think about it cfa doesnt accept polydactyl maine coons

[felinefractious]

speaking of high smokes, have you heard about "merle effect"? where high smoke cats have patches of regular smoke pigmentation. so far we know this can be caused by combination of high smoke + wide band + high white spotting and can be replicated pretty easily from what i've seen.

(cats from Viktoria Pride cattery)

Yes, I’ve heard of them but haven’t seen very many. It’s fascinating!

Messybeast has a page with examples from other breeds as well and speculation as to what the heck could be going on. So it’s very possible there’s different genes or gene combinations which result in a similar phenotype.