Dwarf Maine Coon cat?

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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
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 short-legged cutey is a bad idea. It is contrary to everything the MC is meant to be.

You will, however, find relatively small MCs. These might be females in the 10 pound range, which is standard sized. Not all MCs are large (some are huge).

The cat associations don't specify a certain minimum size for MCs in terms of kgs or pounds. TICA say they should be 'substantial' (large in cat fancy language) but large is an elastic concept and relative. A domestic cat that weighs 12 pounds could be described as large by many people.

The point I am getting at is that MCs are not alway very large. So anyone looking for a relatively small MC may be lucky. Make some enquiries of MC breeders to see what you come up with.



Maine Coon bred in The Netherlands and fairly normal sized
Maine Coon bred in The Netherlands and fairly normal sized. Photo; Dani.


Google search produces female MCs at 8 pounds at the lower end of the scale. Not large more like standard-sized.

There is perhaps a slight obsession about MC size. The pictures that we see on the internet are invariably of large to very large cats of this breed. Many come from Russia breeders but there are many breeders creating fairly normal-sized MCs with non-extreme features. You can hardly distinguish them from regular cats.

If you want to see the range of dwarf cat breeds please click here. Remember that there are a couple of potential health issues with dwarf cats which you can read about by clicking here.


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