Can Maine Coons be small?

Absolutely yes, Maine Coons can be relatively small. They can't be small in an absolute sense such as around 8 pounds in weight because they are meant to be big under the breed standard which is the guidelines that breeders follow if they want to create cats which are in line with the correct appearance. But not all Maine Coons are huge. Perhaps, we've become accustomed to seeing these gargantuan Maine Coon cats on the Internet looking more like lynx wild cats in terms of size.

Here is a nice neat female Maine Coon looking not much larger than a typical house cat:

Female ginger tabby MC looking relatively small. Photo in public domain.

These huge Maine Coons are exceptional and I would argue relatively rare. The typical Maine Coon is larger than the average purebred cat and they are, as I have stated numerous times, the largest domestic cat breed. This means that they can weigh around 15 pounds, if you adopt a female and if the breeder is not breeding very big Maine Coons. These domestic cats are likely to be slightly bigger than average -  see weight range.

It's an interesting question because most often people who are considering adopting a Maine Coon want to adopt a large cat but this is clearly not always the case. Others love the appearance of the Maine Coon but don't really want a huge domestic animal wandering around eating them out of house and home! Everything's got to be bigger: the food budget, the litter tray and the poop!

Also, the very large Maine Coons, I would argue, are more likely to suffer from joint problems and this breed does have a history of patella luxation and hip dysplasia. They also can suffer from HCM which is a heart disease. But the heavier the cat the more likely these joint problems will develop as the cat enters middle-age and therefore there is a practical and medical argument for adopting a smaller, female Maine Coon, bred by a person who is not targeting very large sizes.