Could my cat be part Maine Coon?

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Yes, your cat might be part Maine Coon but why do you want to know? What's the point? A "part Maine Coon" is a moggy. This is a mixed-breed cat. This is a random-bred cat. You might as well go to a rescue centre and adopt a cat that needs a home than go in search for a part Maine Coon cat. Perhaps you did adopt your cat from a rescue centre. Perhaps they told you that the cat is part Maine Coon. So, what is a part Maine Coon cat?

It is not a purebred cat. On the face of it, it should be a cat whose parents are a purebred Maine Coon and a moggy. Or a Maine Coon and a moggy might be the grandparents of a part Maine Coon cat. Sometimes they are referred to as "Maine Coon mix" cats.

You might see quite a few of them on cats for sale sites. The person who placed the ad decided that the cat that they want to rehome looks a bit like a Maine Coon. Rather than describe the cat as a random-bred cat or a moggy, they add a bit of spice to the advert and describe the cat as a part Maine Coon. This instantly makes the cat more desirable because Maine Coons are a popular cat breed. However, you don't have a Maine Coon cat when you have a part Maine Coon cat. As mentioned, you have a moggy.

Maine Coon cats must be purebred or nothing at all. There is no in between state. You either have a Maine Coon or you do not. And if you do not then they are moggies. I've said that too many times.

The picture on this page, below, is of two "half Maine Coon kittens. That is the same thing. What the advertiser is saying is that they are first filial offspring of a Maine Coon and a moggy. These kittens are tabby kittens. They don't look like Maine Coon kittens. They look like standard tabby kittens.

The only way that you will find out if your cat is part Maine Coon is to have a DNA test taken. Although I don't think or I'm not sure that will work in any case for the reasons stated below the picture.

The person who advertises these "fluffy half Maine Coon kittens" does not provide any evidence that they are what they are. It is very easy to make that statement. It may be true but it may not. It is likely to be untrue. If it is untrue, it is a misrepresentation. 

A misrepresentation is a legal concept. It is a statement which induces a person to enter into a contract when the statement is false. It is actionable. If the purchaser of these kittens had a DNA taste done and found out that they were not half Maine Coon kittens then they could go back to the seller and ask for their money back and they would return the kittens to the seller. You return things to the way they were.

There are probably thousands of breaches of contract like this on the Internet every day. No one minds and nobody cares really. The bottom line is that if you are interested in Maine Coon cats then you should try and find a rescue Maine Coon cat or adopt one from a cat breeder. 

They will be expensive but you must insist on all the requisite documentary evidence in the form of a pedigree of the cat you purchase as proof that it is a purebred cat and a genuine Maine Coon. That is the only way to know what you got other than DNA testing which people very rarely do anyway. And there is certainly no point doing a DNA test on a part Maine Coon cat.

Another description for a part Maine Coon is a "Maine Coon cross". The cat below is described as a "Maine Coon cross". Once again, this beautiful cat looks like a random-bred moggy. And the cat is exactly that.

Maine Coon cross looks like a standard tabby kitten
Maine Coon cross looks like a standard tabby kitten. Advertised on the freedads.co.uk website.

Sometimes, just sometimes, a cat that does not have any pedigree papers which looks exactly like a purebred Maine Coon might indeed be a genuine Maine Coon. These rare cats but it is just possible that a Maine Coon was lost and rescued and then rehomed. 

The registration papers are missing and the adopter is left with a cat that looks like a Maine Coon but there is no evidence to support it. You don't know what you have got. You might have a purebred Maine Coon and you might not. It's all down to the paperwork as provided by the cat Association.

The cats below are described as "2x Cute Fluffy Half maine coon kittens for sale". They didn't even capitalise Maine Coon. The advert is on Gum Tree.

2x Cute Fluffy Half maine coon kittens for sale
2x Cute Fluffy Half maine coon kittens for sale. True or false? Gum Tree ad. They look like tabby moggies.

I'm not even sure that DNA testing would confirm a cat is part Maine Coon. I'm not sure that a test actually exists. There are DNA tests to check for certain diseases in Maine Coons such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). It's much easier to test for the disease it is to test for a breed using DNA.

UC Davis, Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, provide a cat ancestry DNA test. They state that this test "traces the lineage of your cat and provides results for common physical traits of coat colour, fur length and coat type". The test determines if an individual cat has descended from one or more of the eight ancestral groups which means groups from certain regions of the planet. They then compare those results with 29 breeds of cat "to determine if the cat has similarities to any of the reference breeds".

My reading of that is that they cannot with complete confidence say that a cat is a Maine Coon or is part Maine Coon based upon DNA testing. Their testing will indicate that there may be some Maine Coon in a cat. Perhaps that is about as far as they can go.

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