Comparison: CFA Grand Champion Maine Coon 2019-20 and an example of extreme breeding

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I think that it is useful to compare a CFA grand champion (the latest), a male tabby cat, whose name is
GC ABIZAQ MARQUIS OF CONYERS CAT, and another Maine Coon which I consider to be bred to an extreme. The extreme breeding has produced this enormous muzzle. Essentially, with extreme breeding you take the basic anatomical elements or features of the cat and enlarge them to make them more outstanding. And one of the important features of the Maine Coon is the muzzle which should be quite noticeably square. Another feature are the ears. You can see them very big with huge lynx tips.

Comparison: CFA Grand Champion Maine Coon 2019-20 and an example of extreme breeding
Comparison: CFA Grand Champion Maine Coon 2019-20 and an example of extreme breeding. The photo of the champion is by Larry Johson (believed). The extreme bred cat photo is in the public domain.

The CFA grand champion looks quite petite and genteel compared to this huge lion-faced alien creature on the right-hand side in the photograph. But they are both Maine Coons. I'm not sure who bred the extreme Maine Coon but I think it is a breeder in Russia. The grand champion was bred in America. You will see this normal sort of Maine Coon being bred in America and in the UK.

Cat breeders can tend to drift towards extreme breeding in an attempt to create outstanding examples of the breed. It is a tendency that affects all people in all walks of life: to make things bigger and better and more outstanding. But it can lead you down the wrong path. The best is sometimes the simplest, most straightforward and most elegant.

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