Study says more than 1 in 5 Maine Coon litters have stillborn kittens

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Maine Coon newborn
Maine Coon newborn. Image: MikeB

A study conducted in France concluded that, out of 15 different cat breeds, a little more than one in five Maine Coon litters had at least one stillborn kitten. The exact figure is 23.4% of the litters. Of the 15 breeds, the Maine Coon was the third worst in this regard. Litters with a stillborn kitten leads to the other kittens being slightly less heavy than if there was no stillborn kitten within that litter (see link below). As expected, despite this, the Maine Coon came out top in terms of birth weight. The Egyptian Mau was the worst in terms of percentage of litters with a stillborn kitten at 32%. For humans living in the USA, one in 160 birth of stillborn.

RELATED: Birth weights of 15 cat breeds compared and other useful information.

Image: MikB from data from the study referred to.

The number of stillborn kittens in litters appears to be high among the purebred cats but my research on dogs indicates numbers which are not that dissimilar. On average, about 11% of puppies per litter are stillborn.

Scientific studies are useful but they are not cast in concrete. They are not necessarily 100% correct but they do provide useful information and guidelines which also help to provide some background information about the cat breeds.

The study: Birth weight in the feline species: Description and factors of variation in a large population of purebred kittens. If you'd like to delve into the heavy language and science of the study, please click this link.

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