Can Maine Coons breed with regular cats? This is not as straightforward as you think.

-

By 'regular cats' I presume that the questioner means non-purebred cats or moggies. From a practical, genetic and anatomical standpoint the answer is most positively yes because Maine Coons are domestic cats just like moggies. They are exactly the same species. No problem there.

Size difference between Maine Coon and standard domestic cat. This is Omar on the right.
Size difference between Maine Coon and standard domestic cat. This is Omar on the right. Photo: Instagram.

However, from a cat breeder's standpoint it's a no-no. This is because the cat associations prohibit out crossing Maine Coons to other breeds and non-purebred cats. This is in order to maintain the genetic integrity of the breed to, in turn, ensure that the breed maintains its appearance. This is a very special and distinct appearance. It needs to be maintained.

Below are the exact words from the CFA breed standard for this cat:

Maine Coon Cat allowable outcross breeds: none.

That's pretty clear although they don't mention random-bred (moggies) cats because they wouldn't. They don't need to because common sense dictates that you don't mate a purebred Maine Coon with a non-purebred cat. That would be introducing moggy genes into a purebred cat.

RELATED: 40 facts about the Maine Coon cat.

There is a health reason why you might do it because you refresh the genes. Maine Coons are inbred like all purebred cats. This makes them a little less healthy than moggies. So there's probably a health need to introduce moggy genes into a Maine Coon breeding line but the breeders can't and won't do it. 

In the cat breeding world appearance trumps health to a certain degree. It happens in all the breeds. If there is a competition between the health of the cats in a breeding line and the appearance of those cats, the breeder will go for the better appearance at the expense of health up to a certain point. 

RELATED: Maine Coon Health Problems.

There are many examples and perhaps the classic examples are the Siamese and Persian cats. Both have quite a long list of health problems which are described as genetically inherited health problems.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please share your Maine Coon experiences.

Popular posts from this blog

The extreme Maine Coon face

-
Image
This is an example of extreme breeding. This is a Maine Coon but this cat is an extreme and rare example of this breed. This is not the way they look normally. This face is almost like an aggressive robot with the piercing eyes and the huge muzzle.  Or like a lion's head. The head looks enormous and very heavy. It looks unreal. But it also looks very impressive.  And purchasers like impressive-looking domestic cats. But this not the face of a Maine Coon that wins cat show competitions as it does not fit the breed standard as accurately as the more moderate winners (see below).  In fact, the CFA standard is clear in that the cat should have a balanced appearance although this cat was not bred under the CFA breed standard as I understand it (see below).  Click here for more on the kind of MC which wins at shows . Maine Coon selectively breed to have an extreme face. Image in the public domain. And the Maine Coon is meant to be a large cat, the largest domestic cat breed and there
Read more

Eerie picture of a Maine Coon sitting like a human on a chest of drawers

-
Image
This is a slightly scary picture according to those who've seen it. One social media user said it was the devil and "If I walked into a room and saw that, I would assume some shit is about to go down". There is a ghostly stillness and sinister feeling about the image. 'Eerie' is a better description. This attractive cat appears to be completely at ease and comfortable sitting on top of a chest of bedroom drawers. The lighting from below (deliberate?) enhances the eerie effect. It seems possible that this is a photo-edited image but if so, it has been done with great skill. However, I don't think this is Photoshopped. Rethink: to be honest, the more I look at the picture, the more I feel that this is a photo-edited image. It is just too unnatural to be real. Although some domestic cats get themselves into some very strange positions. Maine Coon calmly sitting just like a human on a chest of drawers. Picture source unclear. Image deemed to be in the public d
Read more

Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes

-
Image
Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes. Photo: Instagram. OMG, this is a Maine Coon with an amazing face. His full name is "Richie du Mont d’Even". I think he has a black smoke coat which has created this black face with the assistance of other genes (polygenetic influence?) and ears with piercing, diamond eyes. This is a very special cat. Richie looked very interesting but relatively plain as a kitten. Image: Instagram. His paws are balls of fluff. He has a mane that goes over his head like a halo. He's angelic and other-worldly. The lynx tips on the end of his ears are smoky grey which makes them stand out. They are a bit like the opposite to the black lynx tips of the wild caracal.  He lives in France with his human: Adriana Piraino. He was born on 7th November 2020. He is still very young. They say Maine Coons reach adulthood at around the age of 4. He is going to be enormous as well. Richie with Adriana. Photo: Instagram Richie was bred b
Read more