Maine Coon cat breeding - 2 tips

-

Richard H Gerardt is a former president of the Cat Fanciers' Association and a distinguished cat show judge. He also bred cats and therefore knows a lot about it. He makes one or two interesting points about cat breeding in his book The Complete Cat Book.

The first point he makes which is of interest to me is that (and I'll quote him verbatim): "Male cats produce an especially high proportion of abnormal sperm cells, 25% on the average, compared to males in other species."

Beautiful Maine Coon
Beautiful Maine Coon. Photo in public domain

He said that if a bull had such a low level of sperm quality they would not be a suitable prospect for a stud. And he goes on to state that the more inbred a male cat is the more abnormal his sperm also is. This, then, makes him less useful as a stud. Therefore, a new breeder of cats should not select a male "that is too closely bred, that is, one with the same cats appearing over and over in his pedigree."

The second point that he makes, and which I find heartening and very important, is that cat breeders should provide their male cat with best home that they possibly can. I'll explained what I mean. A male breeding cat is destined to be in a cage for the rest of his life because they spray urine everywhere to mark territory and to attract females. The females find the urine smell attractive but of course humans detest it. They must be confined and their quarters cleaned and disinfected daily.

The living arrangements should be as good as possible because of this confinement. The only reason why they're confined is because a person decided that they should be stud cats. Therefore they deserve as large an enclosure as possible with a cat tree and shelves to climb. There should be plenty of room to play and jump, and natural light. Ideally the breeder should provide a stud male with an outside run. The stud male should be allowed to behave as naturally as possible.

When I visited A1 Savannahs in Oklahoma many years ago (they breed high quality Savannah cats) it frankly upset me to see how breeding cats live, even though the enclosures were quite large, I suppose, by some standards. They are confined all their lives like zoo animals. They're confined like this to please people and make money. Is this morally acceptable? Particularly when bearing in mind the millions of unwanted cats in the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please share your Maine Coon experiences.

Popular posts from this blog

The extreme Maine Coon face

-
Image
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 breed and there
Read more

Eerie picture of a Maine Coon sitting like a human on a chest of drawers

-
Image
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
Read more

Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes

-
Image
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
Read more

Parisian Maine Coon 'crème et blanc'

-
Image
PARIS: This is a handsome Parisian Maine Coon described by his human caretaker as: "My little lynx Jiyuu of Roswell Maine Coon crème et blanc 19 mois mâle". The translation is: his name is Jiyuu of Roswell. His coat is cream and white. He is 19 months old. Oh, and his is damned handsome. The photo is by his guardian: Lunatique- girl . Cream and white Maine Coon living in Paris, France. Photo: Lunatique Girl. It is a really nice Maine Coon photo of a really nice Maine Coon with an interesting coat colour. I think the main colour is more milk chocolate, cappuccino or fawn! Anyway, super-looking cat. Is he a cream tabby? I think so.
Read more

No part of a Maine Coon cat should be exaggerated

-
Image
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
Read more

Maine Coon size versus dog size?

-
Image
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 larg
Read more

Should a Maine Coon cat be neutered later than regular cats because of their slow development?

-
Image
The general consensus is that Maine Coon cats take up to 4 years to become adults. And also, the general consensus by veterinarians is that neutering of male cats is best done when they are 6 or 7 months old. Puberty in regular male cats occurs between 4-7 months of age. Note: this is about male cats because the word 'neutering' applies to that gender. Females are spayed. Although, as you might know, the word "neutering" can also apply to general sterilisation. 6 months old male Maine Coon. Image: u/CZinvester on Reddit.com At puberty the male cat develops secondary sexual characteristics such as barbs on their penis and jowls (a chunky looking face). It is suggested that puberty in Maine Coon cats occurs a bit later than for regular cats because of their slow development and it might occur between 7-9 months of age. There is a certain degree of flexibility. You won't find a precise time. So, let's presume that if a Maine Coon cat is neutered at six months of
Read more

Dwarf Maine Coon cat?

-
Image
No, you won't get a dwarf Maine Coon cat. There is no formal cat breed which is a dwarf Maine Coon (MC) although there are about a dozen dwarf cat breeds which is strange because most people haven't heard of them. It would be a travesty of the distinguished Maine Coon cat breed to create a dwarf version. But is there is someone online discussing a Maine Coon x Munchkin mix. Well, I hardly read it because I can't see the point. Note : One study on Google Scholar reports on a Maine Coon kitten in Germany born with inherited dwarfism called metaphyseal chondrodysplasia. This is very rare as I understand it. This individual cat was a dwarf Maine Coon. The cat also suffered from rickets and other health issues. This was unplanned and unwanted. Fairly normal-sized Maine Coon. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick. Think about it. The MC is known to have a large and distinguished bearing. They are meant to be outstanding in that way. It is their raison d'etre. To cut them down to a s
Read more

2 top Russian Maine Coon cat breeders which ship internationally

-
Image
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
Read more

5 Maine Coon transformations from kitten to adult (video)

-
Image
Maine Coon kitten and his adult self. Photo: Robert Silka. This is a series of photographs by the very famous Maine Coon photographer: robert_sijka. I think he presents his photographs too dark as there is not enough information in the photographs for my liking but he takes great photographs of great Maine Coon cats. In this series he photographs a kitten and their adult version. Each individual cat is a wonderful example of the Maine Coon breed. I can count five examples. In my experience, these Google Blogger videos only work if you click the centre play button and then, immediately afterwards, the play button bottom-left! It sounds bad but the short video is worth watching.
Read more