Do all Maine Coons have extra toes?

-

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
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 couldn't win cat shows if they had extra toes and as I recall they were disqualified. I guess, therefore, that cat breeders who were affiliated to the Cat Fanciers' Association changed their selective breeding practices to ensure that there are no polydactyl cats within their breeding lines.

RELATED: Polydactyl Cat Record Holders.

This resulted in a reduction in the percentage of polydactyls within the breed. So I'll have to guess what the percentage there is today. I would guess that it is somewhere near 10% of today's Maine Coons are polydactyl. That is a wild guess but it will be a figure which is relatively low. Notwithstanding this lowish percentage, the Maine Coon is famous for having extra toes on their feet. This primarily occurs at the front.

Beth Hicks, considered one of the foremost experts of the breeds stated:

"I don't know if you are familiar with it but there was a study done by someone connected with a university in the 1950s which showed that 40% of the Maines were polydactyls. Now, this was before they came back on the show circuit."

She was communicating with Susan Grindell MSc, who I believe was a Maine Coon breeder. Susan wrote that "it appears that this trait is being bred out of the Maine Coon simply to fit in with the dictates of the show world".

She believes that early literature about the breed indicated that polydactyl cats were always intended to be accepted for showing and they were never viewed as being deformed or that the mutation was detrimental. Note: it is a safe mutation not carrying any detrimental associated health problems or rarely so.

RELATED: I’m getting a polydactyl kitten this week. Aside from extra toes, are there any other things I need to worry about?

As I recall, a competing cat association The International Cat Association (TICA) accepts polydactyl Maine Coons under a fresh heading. In other words there will be a Maine Coon polydactyl breed standard.

To conclude, therefore, not all Maine Coons are polydactyl but a good percentage were and even today a reasonable percentage are polydactyl. And historically this breed is known for their polydactylism. No other breed has that reputation.

Genetic mutation

It is believed that polydactylism (the more accurate word is 'polydactyly') is caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation. We should also remind ourselves that it occurs in humans as well. In fact most of the research available online concerns people. And because it is due to a genetic mutation it is going to be inherited. That's why I mentioned breeding lines above. If within a cat breeder's breeding line there is a polydactyl Maine Coon then you're going to see this mutation pop-up over generations. 

Grindell writes: "The polydactyl gene in the Maine Coon breed is the standard benign autosomal dominant gene for polydactyly, Pd. This gene has been identified following the sequencing of the cat genome."

Apparently, in humans polydactyly is the most common type of congenital hand deformities. Wikipedia says that polydactyly is associated with different mutations. They state that in the case of Hemingway cats i.e. the cats at Hemingway's home at Florida keys, some of which were Maine Coons, the mutation is a "cis-acting mutation approximately 1Mb upstream of SHH gene has been implicated".

That does not mean anything to me but it might mean something to you 😢.

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 b...
Read more

No part of a Maine Coon cat should be exaggerated

-
Image
It is interesting to read that the premier cat association, the CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association) - the cat association which really dictates (with TICA) how Maine Coons should look - makes it clear that no part of the cat should be exaggerated, and the cat should be "well-proportioned and balanced".  In other words, any form of extreme appearance such as a particularly heavy muzzle or particularly large ears with extra-long lynx tips are not going to be seen as advantageous in terms of winning cat shows or in terms of having an ideal appearance. As soon as I read that no part of a Maine Coon should be exaggerated, I immediately thought of the extremely large, extreme-bred Maine Coon cats that often come from Russia. These cats have very heavy muzzles.  Lion-faced Maine Coon with exaggerated features. Image in public domain now. In fact, their heads look like the heads of lions. I get the impression that breeders have selectively bred their cats over years to look like male...
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

Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6 weeks and 6-years-of-age

-
Image
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. 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...
Read more

Parisian Maine Coon 'crème et blanc'

-
Image
PARIS: This is a handsome Parisian Maine Coon described by his human caretaker as: "My little lynx Jiyuu of Roswell Maine Coon crème et blanc 19 mois mâle". The translation is: his name is Jiyuu of Roswell. His coat is cream and white. He is 19 months old. Oh, and his is damned handsome. The photo is by his guardian: Lunatique- girl . Cream and white Maine Coon living in Paris, France. Photo: Lunatique Girl. It is a really nice Maine Coon photo of a really nice Maine Coon with an interesting coat colour. I think the main colour is more milk chocolate, cappuccino or fawn! Anyway, super-looking cat. Is he a cream tabby? I think so.
Read more

Maine Coon size versus dog size?

-
Image
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 ...
Read more

2 top Russian Maine Coon cat breeders which ship internationally

-
Image
I am writing this from the West; specifically, near London, UK. There will be quite a few people living in the West who'd like to adopt a Maine Coon cat and they would like to adopt one from a Russian breeder because they do have a certain style.  I sense, although I don't have hard evidence to support this feeling, that the top Russian breeders of Maine Coon cats might be superior to breeders from other countries.  I am putting aside Putin's invasion of Ukraine when writing this article. Some people might object to dealing in anyway with a Russian business on account of that barbaric and illegal invasion. We should remember that Russia has quite a strong cat fancy. They like their cats and they love their purebred cats particularly the Maine Coon. It is in fact a cat breed which is quite naturally suited to the Russian way of life and climate. There's lots of space in Russia with a relatively low population and therefore there are going to be houses with large grounds ...
Read more

5 Maine Coon transformations from kitten to adult (video)

-
Image
Maine Coon kitten and his adult self. Photo: Robert Silka. This is a series of photographs by the very famous Maine Coon photographer: robert_sijka. I think he presents his photographs too dark as there is not enough information in the photographs for my liking but he takes great photographs of great Maine Coon cats. In this series he photographs a kitten and their adult version. Each individual cat is a wonderful example of the Maine Coon breed. I can count five examples. In my experience, these Google Blogger videos only work if you click the centre play button and then, immediately afterwards, the play button bottom-left! It sounds bad but the short video is worth watching.
Read more

Difference between Maine Coon and domestic long hair

-
Image
The difference between a Maine Coon cat and a domestic longhaired cat comes down to the fact that the former has been artificially bred (selective breeding) whereas the latter has usually procreated according to natural selection. Natural selection is random breeding and therefore the domestic longhair is a random-bred cat whereas, selective breeding produces a purebred, pedigree cat registered with a cat association.  Difference between Maine Coon and domestic long hair. Infographic by MikeB. And because each individual Maine Coon cat is registered with a cat association, if they are in genuine Maine Coon, their appearance should comply with the association's breed standard . The breed standard tells breeders what their Maine Coon cats should look like in order that they can win cat show competitions if they want to enter their cat into these competitions. And so, as the appearance of Maine Coon cats is moulded to the guidance of a breed standard (see a section below from the...
Read more