When a Maine Coon's head is as big as their human's

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The infographic on this page is about all there is to know about big Maine Coons. There is a fascination with the enormous. Until I'd seen such large feline heads on equally large domestic cat bodies, I would never have envisaged a domestic cat's head being the same size as that of their owner. It demonstrates the power of selective breeding from foundation stock that includes a massive male Maine Coon.

You could argue that it has got out of hand a little as the CFA breed standard does not insist that Maine Coons need to be huge or even large. The standard does not state that. 

The cat show winning Maine Coons are not huge. They look quite normal. In fact, the breed standard says that quality should not be sacrificed at the altar of massive size. Point made.

What kind of Maine Coon wins cat show competitions? Instructive.

Like almost all others, however, I like big Maine Coons as long as they are healthy. There is an issue here as the bigger Maine Coons are more likely to develop hip dysplasia (HP). This is a debilitating, congenital disease with a high prevalence in Maine Coons because of careless selective breeding.

HP should not exist to the extent it does in Maine Coons.

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