Your Maine Coon Guide

The kind of Maine Coon that wins in competition is the best kind of Maine Coon. They are Maine Coons which are the most desirable. This is because they match the breed standard most accurately. These are the kind of cats that people who want to adopt a Maine Coon should choose. And it is notable that they are not like the super-impressive Maine Coons that we see on the Internet, usually on Instagram or other social media platforms. These social media stars are the big influencing Maine Coons with which people are most familiar. They have their own Instagram accounts with perhaps millions of followers. It can be misleading because, as you can see in the photographs below, the classic competition-winning Maine Coon is relatively modest in appearance. They are often tabby cats (tabby-and-white is a favourite) because the tabby Maine Coon best reflects the origins of this cat breed as they were barn cats. They were working cats and non-purebred cat at one time. What kind of Maine Coon wins...

A brilliant and pretty dilute tortoiseshell Maine Coon. It looks like Russia. They breed some amazing Maine Coons in Russia. Brilliant dilute tortoiseshell Maine Coon. She is very pretty to. This is a fantastic cat.Photograph: Reddit.com This is a very pretty Maine Coon with a super, dilute tortoiseshell coat. Perhaps strictly speaking this is a tortoiseshell-and-white cat and in American cat fancy language that is a calico Maine Coon cat. You can see that this is a dilute version of the tortoiseshell coat because the colours are washed out except, interestingly, for the orange tabby patch on the face and between the eyes. This gives a brilliance to the face. The muzzle is great. Just a very good-looking cat which caught my eye and demanded that I share the picture on this website. Dilution Robinson's Genetics provides some information about dilution. The symbol genetically is dd . They say that the: "dilute or maltese locus produces a factor essential for even distribution...

His human caregiver says that 'he always asks for more'. He clearly has his own individual way of asking (see video below). It is very cute. There are a couple of interesting points. Firstly, there is some food left in the bowl so he could have finished the bowl before asking for more.  Why didn't he? In my experience cats tend to leave a bit of food in the bowl even when hungry. It may point to the fact that they have poor near range eyesight and depend on their sense of smell to detect food. As there is very little left the smell is slight. They think the food has run out. Screenshot. He has way of asking for more food. The second point is that he is being fed with Royal Canin Maine Coon dry cat food. So, what is this? Why do Maine Coons need special cat food?  You might have guessed that this is all to do with the Maine Coon's inherited health problems.  RELATED:  Maine Coon Health Problems . They inherently suffer from hip dysplasia and patella luxation. The form...

Here are 10 ways to help make your full-time indoor Maine Coon cat happy. It's probably a foregone conclusion that you will keep your Maine Coon cat indoors full-time. This is the way it should be with such a beautiful purebred cat but you will need to do what you can to keep him or her content. Here's a list of ways to achieve it. Below the list is Jackson Galaxy's video on the topic. The list comes from his video as you might expect. I have added my thoughts.  Maine Coon and owner. Photo in public domain. Galaxy is a cat behaviourist who, in general, believes in full-time indoor cats provided you do all you can to make your cat happy. Keeping your cat indoors full-time keeps them safe; the first priority of a cat caregiver. The second is to make them happy, as happy as possible and there are greater challenges to achieve this when they are confined to the indoors. That's obvious and perhaps doesn't need to be stated but I think Galaxy strikes a very nice balanc...

Bloody wonderful 😂. Somebody asked this on the Quora.com website. I think that it is a good question because it invites people to answer it. Therefore, I want people to write a comment, please. I'm desperate for comments.  I have lived with a couple of Maine Coons for two weeks. I felt treasured and privileged. Sometimes I am very tempted to adopt a Maine Coon cat. All my life I have adopted rescue cats, unwanted cats and had wonderfully loving relationships with them. But on other occasions my mind wanders to the possibility of living with a beautifully, glamorous, large Maine Coon and taking them for a walk on a leash to impress the neighbours. 'Zak' a Maine Coon I loved. Photo: MikeB My experience of living with these two Maine Coons was obviously good. One of them, Zak, really liked me and we got on so well. He was very lovable and loving. I felt the warmth from him emotionally. I miss him. He's probably passed by now and gone over the rainbow bridge because this w...

People ask, "Are Maine Coons like dogs?" And the INCORRECT response of many websites which focus on this cat breed is that they are, indeed, dog-like. These websites give the impression that all Maine Coons behave like dogs. This is obviously ridiculous. Interestingly, by the way, there are some Maine Coons which are as big as dogs if not bigger so those Maine Coons in respect of size are like dogs 👍. But this is not the point. People are asking whether Maine Coons behave like dogs. It is a poor question. It is probably a reference to playing fetch. But this is a not an exclusively canine behavioural trait (working dog trait). What does dog-like mean anyway? Does it mean that a cat is friendly and likes human company? That is normal for all, socialised domestic cats. Does it mean that they are trainable? All domestic cats can be trained using positive reinforcement. The question is poor in any case. There is an overlap in canine and feline behavior so all cats have some cani...

It is unlikely to happen but there would seem to be a reasonable argument to change the name of this very popular cat breed; the Maine Coon . The problem is this: the second word is a highly derogatory and insulting word describing people of colour. It is a word that you can never use as an insult or almost all other contexts and rightly so. And, in the woke era, where there is a much greater sensitivity towards the inappropriate use of language and attitudes, the word "Coon" has, arguably, become out of place in present society. This argument is supported by TikTok. The administrators of that massive website think that "Maine Coon" is a term or phrase which describes inappropriate human behaviour. It's true. Go to the TikTok website and search for "Maine Coon". Their custom search engine does not find anything. They put up a warning instead to say that the search is inappropriate . See the screenshot above. A sign of the times. RELATED:  Maine Coon...

Not only is Figaro enormous at 28 pounds in weight, he is extremely placid. He is pliable and accepting. I get a clear sense that he is a very evenly-balanced domestic cat companion. The best kind really. And what is interesting is that every time I look at videos of really big Maine Coons they generally tend to be of the same character. I'm not sure what is going on here. Perhaps they all originate in one, single, super-placid enormous Maine Coon from about a hundred years ago.  And those genes have come forward to the present day. That is more than speculative, it is probably a bit crazy but perhaps not as far-fetched as it sounds. All Bengal cats for instance come from just a few individual cats. @thejexxi My Maine Coon Figaro—He weighs 28lbs 😻 #mainecoon #cat #longboi #fyp #foryourpage #bigcat ♬ original sound - Jessi Figaro a 28-pound black-and-white super-placid Maine Coon. Screenshot. Black-and-white cats are, as you know, bicolour cats which is another way o...

Having looked at thousands of pictures of Maine Coon cats and studied the CFA breed standard I've become somewhat obsessive about the muzzle of this ever-popular cat breed. It is an important and distinguishing characteristic of the breed. I am beginning to sound like a member of the cat fancy when I am very much an outsider. I have to say that the muzzle on this individual is very pretty if I am allowed to use that adjective. German bred Maine Coon has a perfect muzzle for me. The cat is described by the breeder (Viktorija ShadowMeadow) as blue-cream tortoiseshell. The cat is 8-months-old. I think it is very well balanced. And that is an important factor in the breeding of these cats. Maine Coon cats should have a visibly square muzzle with a blunt end to it but it should not be bred to extreme to the point where it becomes out of balance with the rest of the face.  I have seen extreme muzzles and although they look interesting and impressive to some people, I don't think t...

This, for me, is an interesting question. You can answer the question from a technical point of view or from a practical and realistic point of view. Technically, we are told by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) that Maine Coons can live outside because the breed standard tells us that the Maine Coon is "solid, rugged, and can endure a harsh climate". That clearly states, by implication, that the Maine Coon could live outside if demanded. However, I don't think the breed standard intends to portray that possibility. Can Maine Coons live outside? Extract from the CFA Maine Coon breed standard. The statement comes from the origins of this breed. The introductory section of the breed standard under the heading "GENERAL" also states "originally a working cat". This is a reference to Maine Coons being barn cats back in the day. There are referring to the state's "Maine cats" as they were described before the cat fancy i.e. before the ...

Yes, you can get Maine Coons in Australia. In fact, you can get them in many countries other than the USA. I have a list of Maine Coon breeders in Australia on this website. You can see it by clicking on this link, if you wish .  Please note that most cat breeders are 'hobby breeders'. They are husband and wife operations. As a result, they can close down and start up fairly rapidly. The point is that any list is going to out of date at some point in time. One current breeder is Monster Maine Coons in Sydney, NSW. The kitten below is from their Facebook page. Maine Coon kitten from Monster Maine Coons, Sydney, NSW. Photo: The breeder on Facebook. These breeders will be affiliated to cat associations such as The International Cat Association (TICA) or the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) just like any other Maine Coon breeder. You want to make sure though that the cat that you purchase is from a registered breeder and that you receive all the necessary paperwork to establi...

Barivel, a Maine Coon, is the Guinness World Records longest domestic cat in the world at 2022. Things change, of course. The video below talks about him and the picture, also below, is pretty astonishing. He lives in Vigevano, Pavia, Italy and measures an impressive 120 cm (3 ft 11.2 in) in length. He got the record on 22 May 2018. Where do they measure from and to 🤔? Maine Coon 'Barivel' is the the world's longest domestic cat (2022). Screenshot. However, I have a couple of points to make about this. There is one God-like all-white Maine Coon living in Russia which I written about which I think must be as long as Barivel. His name is Kefir . He's been named after a dairy milk product in Russia 😊. But he is simply enormous and he is bigger than Barivel, isn't he? This is Kefir. Isn't he bigger than Barivel? Photo: Yulia Minina (SWNS), the woman in the picture. You just wonder whether the Guinness World Records information is correct. Much depends upon who...

I think this needs to be stated but it may be apparent to other people. You will find on the Internet "Maine Coon Rescue" organisations. They purport to rescue Maine Coons and then find a new owner for them. But it is impossible for these organisations to be viable because there are so few Maine Coons that need rescuing for obvious reasons. Maine Coon Rescue on Facebook does not rescue Maine Coons!. My message to them. No response 4 hours later. Still waiting. One such organisation is on Facebook. It is called 'Maine Coon Rescue' and it has supporters and about 27,000 followers. It is ranked highly in reviews. BUT this organisation cannot be rescuing genuine Maine Coons. They say that they rescue Maine Coon mix cats but anybody can say that. They have a calendar and featured on the calendar is a genuine Maine Coon. This is misleading. Maine Coon mix cats look like medium-longhaired moggies. And they are medium-longhaired moggies. A Maine Coon is either a Maine Coo...

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 ...

The question in the title is asking whether all Maine Coons are polydactyl. The answer is a definitive No. Some Maine Coons are polydactyl and some are not. I suppose the big question is what percentage of Maine Coon cats are polydactyl i.e. have more than the normal number of toes? Polydactyl Maine Coon. Photo: Pinterest You will find on the Internet that the figure of 40% is constantly reproduced and republished because one person is following another and the starting point in that process is the figure of 40%. That figure appears to come from earlier authors writing in books. Going back to the 1970s and perhaps earlier, some authors estimated that the percentage of polydactyls in the Maine Coon breed was originally as high as 40%. The reason why the word "originally" is used because there came a time within the cat fancy, and I'm referring primarily to the Cat Fanciers' Association, when they decided Maine Coons with extra toes were unwanted at cat shows. They...

The answer to the question in the title is, no , because some Maine Coons have an "M" on their forehead but not all Maine Coons. This is because not all Maine Coons are cats with a tabby coat. Although the Maine Coon perhaps looks its best with a tabby coat, the cat associations allow a wide range of coat colours and patterns under their breed standards. Tabby Maine Coon with the classic M Mark on the forehead. This varies tremendously in this design so don't expect a perfect M! Photo: Helmi Flick. The question in the title almost presupposes that all Maine Coon cats are tabby cats, which, as mentioned, is untrue. A lot of people prefer the Maine Coon with a tabby coat because this is a rugged, barn cat in terms of its history. So you don't want to make the cat look too pretty.  That is the theory. This is meant to be a solid, substantial and now refined purebred cat but the history of this cat goes back about 400 years to the barn cats of the state of Maine in t...

In an apparent anomaly, a study measuring beauty using the 'golden ratio' organised by the website All About Cats concluded that the Maine Coon is the 9th most attractive cat breed with the most attractive breeds being the Norwegian Forest cat together with the Russian Blue. I say "anomaly" because it is likely that the Maine Coon is today's most popular cat breed.  Russian Blue - mathematically the most beautiful. Image: Daily Mail. Explaining the difference between mathematical beauty and observed beauty In another anomaly, the Persian and the Himalayan, both flat-faced-bread cat breeds, are the least attractive under a mathematical formula called the "golden ratio". Both these breeds are popular among the cat fancy. For decades, the Persian was the most popular cat breed as recognised by the Cat Fanciers' Association (most registrations). There are three possible reasons for this anomaly. The first is that the popularity of a cat breeder is no...