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Showing posts from September, 2011

Maine Coon Cat Colorado

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People searching for Maine Coon Cat Colorado are searching for breeders of this cat in Colorado, USA. So here are two that I have selected. For future reference I find that the best source for cat breeders generally, is the Breedlist.com website, followed by CFA referral lists and then maybe listings on a Google search. In this instance the last suggestion proved the best as there would seem to be a decent number of Maine Coon breeders in Colorado from Google's standpoint. CoonPlay is the outstanding Maine Coon cat breeder website in this state. They have been breeding for 21 years. That is probably exceptional and indicates that they are a good breeder. Good breeders bred for heath, let us remind ourselves. One thing I don't like is that you don't know where in the state they are. OK, security is a factor, but a pointer as to their location would help in selection. Trutails is in Colorado but I could not get their website to load. But this link will take you more qu...
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Comparing the Ragdoll and Maine Coon

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Some visitors might like a comparison between the Ragdoll cat and the Maine Coon. These are both highly popular purebred cats. Based on my long standing poll the Maine Coon is the slightly more popular of the two. That may be because a lot of visitors are from America and the Maine Coon is an American cat breed. I'll compare appearance and character. I'll leave links to history. Appearance The best way to compare appearance is through a decent photograph and by comparing breed standards (in outline).  Comparison between Ragdoll and Maine Coon Photo of Ragdoll copyright Dani Photo of Maine Coon copyright Helmi Flick   The photograph shows the similarity. My initial thoughts without reference to books etc. are that they are obviously both large cats. The Maine Coon, on average, is slightly larger and the largest cat breed registered by the CFA . The Ragdoll is the second largest. They are both " substantial " in cat fancy parlance. However, the M...
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Maine Coon Figurines

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Here is a slide show of Amazon.com Maine Coon figurines. These are for the North American market as far as I know - I don't believe these people ship internationally. There are Maine Coon brown figurines and much more. Amazon.com Widgets I hope these are useful.
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Maine Coon Chatterie

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The title is a search term for people in France looking for a Maine Coon cat breeder. The Maine Coon is a very international cat. Yes, it is the American cat but also an international cat. My search produced Le Comte des Fées. On a strict translation that means "Count of the Fairies". Not sure that is correct in this context! This is the link to the site . The site is in French and English and the cats are stunning. They are located in the middle of France.
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CFA and TICA Maine Coon Comparison

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Photos copyright Helmi Flick Helmi Flick says (and she should know) that Maine Coons registered with the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) tend to be prettier and tidier than those registered with The International Cat Association (TICA) which are more shaggy and natural looking, if you like. It's all about the interpretation of the breed standard by cat show judges, which cannot be absolutely precise. As I have already written about this I won't recite it all again here. Please go to this page for full details . The photos and text on this page are protected by copyright ©. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).
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Maine Coon Adaptation to Winter

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Floris -- photo ©dirk huijssoon The theory goes that Maine Coons have several adaptations to deal successfully with harsh winter climates. This, it is argued, harks back to the early days when they evolved as semi-feral cats from long haired cats imported into the United States either by the Vikings in the 11th century or seafarers and settlers to America in the early 17th century - Maine Coon history . The Maine Coon has a dense water resistant type coat. Particularly, it is longer on the undersides and the rear of the cat. The theory is that this protects the cat when sitting and walking in snow, icy or wet conditions. In addition it is said that the long plumed tail can be used as a protector to provide warmth when curled up resting. The Maine Coon not uncommonly has large polydactyl paws acting like snow shoes. However this theory is probably bogus because the ships cats that were imported into the USA were often polydactyl cats because sailors preferred them believing t...
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No part of a Maine Coon cat should be exaggerated

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It is interesting to read that the premier cat association, the CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association) - the cat association which really dictates (with TICA) how Maine Coons should look - makes it clear that no part of the cat should be exaggerated, and the cat should be "well-proportioned and balanced".  In other words, any form of extreme appearance such as a particularly heavy muzzle or particularly large ears with extra-long lynx tips are not going to be seen as advantageous in terms of winning cat shows or in terms of having an ideal appearance. As soon as I read that no part of a Maine Coon should be exaggerated, I immediately thought of the extremely large, extreme-bred Maine Coon cats that often come from Russia. These cats have very heavy muzzles.  Lion-faced Maine Coon with exaggerated features. Image in public domain now. In fact, their heads look like the heads of lions. I get the impression that breeders have selectively bred their cats over years to look like male...
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The extreme Maine Coon face

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This is an example of extreme breeding. This is a Maine Coon but this cat is an extreme and rare example of this breed. This is not the way they look normally. This face is almost like an aggressive robot with the piercing eyes and the huge muzzle.  Or like a lion's head. The head looks enormous and very heavy. It looks unreal. But it also looks very impressive.  And purchasers like impressive-looking domestic cats. But this not the face of a Maine Coon that wins cat show competitions as it does not fit the breed standard as accurately as the more moderate winners (see below).  In fact, the CFA standard is clear in that the cat should have a balanced appearance although this cat was not bred under the CFA breed standard as I understand it (see below).  Click here for more on the kind of MC which wins at shows . Maine Coon selectively breed to have an extreme face. Image in the public domain. And the Maine Coon is meant to be a large cat, the largest domestic cat b...
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Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6 weeks and 6-years-of-age

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This is a cross-post as the image is so damned good. It is amazing because the cat is amazing. To put the same cat at different stages of their life in the same photograph is a nice idea especially with this Maine Coon (MC) who has an amazingly heavy face. It is so mightily masculine to be almost unbelievable. He has a priceless expression on his face too. Very serious compared to the innocence of his face when he was 6 weeks old. He looks a bit coy when 6 weeks old and a slightly grumpy middle-aged man when 6 years old. Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6-weeks and 6-years-of-age. Image in pubic domain. No doubt he is huge too. You get a clear sense of that in the image. There is a serious and less impressive side to this image. It's the backstory that people don't really want to read about and discuss or in fact do anything about: heart ( HCM ) and joint disease. The bigger and heavier the MCs are the more predisposed to heart disease they are. Here is the posts on...
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Eerie picture of a Maine Coon sitting like a human on a chest of drawers

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This is a slightly scary picture according to those who've seen it. One social media user said it was the devil and "If I walked into a room and saw that, I would assume some shit is about to go down". There is a ghostly stillness and sinister feeling about the image. 'Eerie' is a better description. This attractive cat appears to be completely at ease and comfortable sitting on top of a chest of bedroom drawers. The lighting from below (deliberate?) enhances the eerie effect. It seems possible that this is a photo-edited image but if so, it has been done with great skill. However, I don't think this is Photoshopped. Rethink: to be honest, the more I look at the picture, the more I feel that this is a photo-edited image. It is just too unnatural to be real. Although some domestic cats get themselves into some very strange positions. Maine Coon calmly sitting just like a human on a chest of drawers. Picture source unclear. Image deemed to be in the public d...
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Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes

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Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes. Photo: Instagram. OMG, this is a Maine Coon with an amazing face. His full name is "Richie du Mont d’Even". I think he has a black smoke coat which has created this black face with the assistance of other genes (polygenetic influence?) and ears with piercing, diamond eyes. This is a very special cat. Richie looked very interesting but relatively plain as a kitten. Image: Instagram. His paws are balls of fluff. He has a mane that goes over his head like a halo. He's angelic and other-worldly. The lynx tips on the end of his ears are smoky grey which makes them stand out. They are a bit like the opposite to the black lynx tips of the wild caracal.  He lives in France with his human: Adriana Piraino. He was born on 7th November 2020. He is still very young. They say Maine Coons reach adulthood at around the age of 4. He is going to be enormous as well. Richie with Adriana. Photo: Instagram Richie was bred b...
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Difference between Maine Coon and domestic long hair

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The difference between a Maine Coon cat and a domestic longhaired cat comes down to the fact that the former has been artificially bred (selective breeding) whereas the latter has usually procreated according to natural selection. Natural selection is random breeding and therefore the domestic longhair is a random-bred cat whereas, selective breeding produces a purebred, pedigree cat registered with a cat association.  Difference between Maine Coon and domestic long hair. Infographic by MikeB. And because each individual Maine Coon cat is registered with a cat association, if they are in genuine Maine Coon, their appearance should comply with the association's breed standard . The breed standard tells breeders what their Maine Coon cats should look like in order that they can win cat show competitions if they want to enter their cat into these competitions. And so, as the appearance of Maine Coon cats is moulded to the guidance of a breed standard (see a section below from the...
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What is the activity level of the Maine Coon cat?

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Laid back, golden-eyed silver tabby Maine Coon looks down on their slave. Image in the public domain. One well-known Maine Coon cat website asks whether Maine Coon cats are hyper? And they go on to state that Maine Coon kittens are a little hyper which, as it happens, is typical of all kittens of all domestic cat breeds and random bred cats. It is just the nature of young kittens in the same way that it is the nature of young humans. But the word "hyper" is very far from the behaviour of the adult Maine Coon cat. My impression is that it is the opposite pretty well. One very obvious sign that Maine Coon cats are in general calm individuals is that you see many photographs on the Internet of Maine Coons cat owners holding up their cat to show them off to the camera and the expression on the cat's face could not be any calmer. They take it all in their stride. There is no struggling or wriggling to signal that they want to be put down as quickly as possible. I have a strong...
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2 top Russian Maine Coon cat breeders which ship internationally

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I am writing this from the West; specifically, near London, UK. There will be quite a few people living in the West who'd like to adopt a Maine Coon cat and they would like to adopt one from a Russian breeder because they do have a certain style.  I sense, although I don't have hard evidence to support this feeling, that the top Russian breeders of Maine Coon cats might be superior to breeders from other countries.  I am putting aside Putin's invasion of Ukraine when writing this article. Some people might object to dealing in anyway with a Russian business on account of that barbaric and illegal invasion. We should remember that Russia has quite a strong cat fancy. They like their cats and they love their purebred cats particularly the Maine Coon. It is in fact a cat breed which is quite naturally suited to the Russian way of life and climate. There's lots of space in Russia with a relatively low population and therefore there are going to be houses with large grounds ...
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Maine Coon size versus dog size?

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People want to know how the size of the Maine Coon compares to the size of a dog. You probably realise that it is impossible to answer this question because dog size varies enormously. This is due to selective breeding over about 20 years or more. And, it has to be said, the size of the Maine Coon also varies considerably.  A Beagle versus a large Maine Coon comparing size. Image: MikeB based on images in the public domain. Here is another image comparing a Beagle and a standard Maine Coon from a YouTube video: Standard Maine Coon versus a Beagle comparing size. Screenshot. Small-to-medium-sized dog compared to a Maine Coon size. Image in public domain. This looks like a small Maine Coon. And here is a Golden Retriever and Maine Coon playing. This dog breed is quite large: People get the impression that all Maine Coons are always huge but they are not. Maine Coons can be a little larger than standard domestic cats (small female for instance) but in general they are considerably ...
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Maine Coon with a hint of tiger

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This Maine Coon's appearance has a hint of the tiger. The coat reminds me of the tiger's and the relaxed way the cat is lounging adds to the impression. The face is definitely tigerish. This is a super-looking Maine Coon with a grey, striped tabby coat. A very relaxed and confident face. There is a cat breed which is designed to look like a tiger and you may have heard of it. It is the Toyger a.k.a. the toy tiger . The appearance of the Maine Coon is protected by the cat associations because breeders cannot outcross their Maine Coon cats. Outcrossing means breeding with cats of a different breed or random bred cats. This tends to dilute the appearance and takes the appearance away from the breed standard but it is incorporated into breeding to ensure the health of the cat. The tiger and the Maine Coon are almost identical in all respects except for their size and differences in appearance . You probably know by now that the original Maine Coons were barn cats in the 1800s in...
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