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
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 that:

Maine Coons with HCM more likely to be older, neutered, heavier, more obese and have longer humeri bones

Hip dysplasia and patellar luxation are genetically inherited but I wonder if the extra weight of the huge MCs exacerbates hip joint problems. It is hard to eliminate these diseases from breeding lines as it means outcrossing which would reduce the quality the appearance of the breed. Appearance is everything for the MC. It's what makes the cat standout different to all others. The breed standard bans outcrossing for that reason. But there is a high incidence of these diseases in MCs. Read 15 facts about hip dysplasia.

Comments

  1. Anonymous13 November 2022 at 12:00

    Is there a smaller breed Maine moon cat? I want the black with gray but small in size?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael Broad LLB, ARPS18 November 2022 at 18:45

      Yes, most Maine Coons are not massive. They are just larger than average. Go see one at a breeder and see what you think. If you are not particularly fussed whether the cat is a Maine Coon, you'll have to see if you can find a rescue cat with this coat. But this coat is quite rare I am afraid. It is unusual.

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