Your Maine Coon Guide

This applies to all domestic cats. Maine Coons probably have slightly shorter life spans than moggies. And their health is compromised by inherited diseases which are been well documented. These probably affect their effective breeding lifespan. But in short, the general answer to the question is a very long time. Male cats have been known to produce offspring at the advanced age of 16 years. This is something like a human being in his 70s. Maine Coon family. Image copyright Helmi Flick. Female cats have been known to give birth when 12 years of age. There is a recent story on the Internet about a 30-year-old cat giving birth! That obviously is an exception (unique actually) and the cat was not a Maine Coon. In fact, I can't recall any Maine Coon living to the age of 30. That would be an incredible rarity. A 12-year-old cat is probably the equivalent of around the mid-60s for a human female. There is a story on the Internet of a woman giving birth at the age of 70. So there seems t

Well, this is very strange. Never heard a cat making a sound like this. Just after licking a small amount of a cat treat this Maine Coon makes a chomping sound. The video is courtesy Furry Fritz on TikTok. Maine Coon makes weird chomping sound after tasting a treat. Screenshot. It can only be because he/she continues to taste the treat. The mouth movements probably spreads the fragments of the tasty cat food paste or some other food, perhaps human food, around his mouth so he can continue to enjoy the taste. That's a reasonable theory.  I can't see anything wrong with it. I am sure there are no health connotations. It's just an idiosyncrasy of one Maine Coon cat. As we all know domestic cats have their own characters and foibles. This is an example. He probably makes the same chomping sound every time he tastes this particular treat. Here is an infographic touching on cat personality:

Polydactyl paw of a dog. Screenshot. One aspect of the Maine Coon that helps to make it a famous cat breed is that it is predisposed to polydactylism. This almost totally benign genetic mutation was more common in the past than it is today as the breeders (some or all?) have selectively bred it out of their breeding lines as it disqualifies cats in CFA cat shows but not TICA cat shows where they have a special polydactyly Maine Coon (MC) category.  Back in the day when the MC was a barn cat say in the early-mid 1800s I bet there were a lot more polydactyl MCs. I questioned whether certain dog breeds experienced the same genetic mutation and Ben the Vet on TikTok tells me that there are. He does not specify dog breeds but a quick internet search found the following breeds predisposed to the genetic mutation: Norwegian Lundehund The Great Pyrenees The Beauceron Akita Anatolian Shepherd Rottweiler Jindo The Catalan Sheepdog Shiba Inu The Estrela Mountain dog Australian Shepherd Korean

In a show of strength and contempt for the Russian invasion of Ukraine VivatCoon a Maine Coon breeder in Kharkiv, Ukraine is still inviting potential adopters of their cats to visit the cattery despite The Guardian newspaper in the UK reporting that "Two women have been killed and 10 wounded in a strike on a museum in Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region." Perhaps she just can't get around to amending the home page which would be understandable. Larysa Bekuzarova, a Maine Coon breeder in Kharkiv, Ukraine is according to her website continuing as normal. Image: Bekuzarova  I'd expect under normal conditions she may well receive visitors from abroad. There'd be none at present and I wouldn't expect any from within Ukraine either. Not a good time to adopt a cat in Ukraine which is sad. Fighting is ongoing around Kharkiv and this lady is still operating her cattery seemingly as normal.  I wonder if she is and how the war as affected her. She is a breeder of huge, Europe

The CFA breed standard guides breeders on the appearance of the breeds registered with that association. It is the same with the other breeds and associations. They award points for each aspect of the appearance with the overall total being 100. This allows judges to give an overall figure which is a percentage. The MC has a double coat of downy undercoat and a top coat but the coat is made up of three types of hair strand: down hairs (wool hairs), bristle or awn hairs and guard hairs . Technically there is a fourth type of hair: the whiskers. Maine Coon coat is the single most important part of the cat's appearance. Image: MikeB The aspect of the Maine Coon appearance (anatomy) to which is attached the most points in the coat. A show cat can be awarded a maximum of 20 points (20% of the total) for their coat in comparison to 15 for the head shape and 15 for the body shape. This 20% figure does NOT include body colour and pattern. The coat is therefore the most important single as

In human terms it is sexist to select one sex over another and I feel slightly uncomfortable doing it but this article should interest people who are thinking of adopting a Maine Coon cat (MC). 2 reasons why female Maine Coons are better than males. Image: MikeB HCM If you are thinking of adopting you probably know by now that the MC is predisposed to several inherited diseases, one of which is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). It is a serious heart disease and ultimately a killer. It can start at a very young age . A breeder says that a cat predisposed to HCM should be tested for the disease yearly. How do you check ? This disease is present in the general domestic cat population and in other breeds at a higher prevalence e.g., the Bengal cat at around 15% of all Bengal cats. It is also present in humans at 0.2% prevalence (1 in 500). However, 30% of Maine coon cats have a genetic mutation that makes it likely that they will develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cats in general are mo

I recently wrote about white cats being bad mothers ! The reasoning is straightforward: white cats are often deaf and being deaf they cannot respond in a timely way to their kitten's cries for attention. This is a barrier to being a good mother. And my mind turned to a photograph by Helmi Flick, a very well-known American show cat photographer, of a white Maine Coon cat. As I recall it was one of her first assignments as a professional cat photographer. She peached it and got a great result. It is as if the cat is floating like a cloud against a deep blue sky. She used an Olympus camera. She uses Canon nowadays or did. She lives in Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas, Texas. I'm told that this cat was or is (if still alive) deaf. That would have to be expected. The chances of being deaf depends upon whether the cat has two blue eyes, odd-eyes i.e. one yellow and one blue or both yellow.  A high proportion of all-white cats with two blue eyes will be deaf because the cochlea of the inn

It is perhaps ironic to note that it is hard to discover a celebrity who lives with a Maine Coon cat. This cat breed is celebrated all over the planet for its impressive size and appearance. They have a lovely character and they bestow upon the owner a status which arguably other cats don't.  And there are probably more celebrity Maine Coons cats that for any other breed. Bobby Flay with Nacho. Image: Instagram. But - and there is always a but with an introductory sentence like that - I can only find, at present, one celebrity who lives with a Maine Coon cat and his name is Bobby Flay. Bobby is a successful American businessman and he lives with a ginger tabby Maine Coon cat called Nacho . A search of the Internet looking at celebrities and their cats does not produce any other individual, make or female, who under the category 'celebrity' lives with a Maine Coon cat. It seems to me that the greatest followers of this breed are non-celebrity individuals, John Does. And they

This was a scientific abuse of the Maine Coon in using the cat as an animal 'model' of HCM. A study confirmed that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in Maine Coon cats is inherited as a non-sex linked dominant genetic mutation. The study found that HCM was inherited with 100% penetrance, meaning that all cats with the genetic mutation that causes HCM will develop the disease.  Image: PDSA. Thank you. Affected cats typically did not show signs of HCM until they were at least 6 months old, and the disease progressed during adolescence and young adulthood.  Mode of inheritence Of 22 offspring from breeding affected to un affected cats, 12 (55%) were affected. When affected cats were bred to affected cats, 4 (45%) of the 9 were affected, 2 (22%) unaffected, and 3 (33%) stillborn. To restate the first sentence of the above para. If a breeder mates a Maine Coon which carries the genetic mutation causing HCM with a Maine Coon that does not carry the gene, around half the kittens fro

The title is a bold statement. Perhaps too bold but the evidence today is stronger than it was before. In the scientific journal Antiquity , a scientific study has been published which confirms that the Vikings came over from Norway and set up colonies in Greenland in 985 A.D., and from there they traded with further colonies in North America and northern Europe.  Did the Vikings bring the domestic cat to North America? The cat in the picture is a Norwegian Forest cat. Image: MikeB This happened 500 years before Christopher Columbus laid his eyes upon the Americas in 1492. There's been lots of talk about the Vikings discovering America before Christopher Columbus and the evidence today is that it happened. It's been confirmed analysing the timber used to build the settlements some of which came from North America.  Microscopic analysis of the wood's structure has established that it was hemlock and Jack pine and other species. These could only have come from America. We hav

This European (Germany and France) study which was published in 2011 may surprise you. It may surprise people who know the Maine Coon cat well or they think they do.  We are, as I have said before, bombarded with beautiful pictures of beautiful and huge Maine Coon cats. These are highly exotic felines and the only thing you can say about them is WOW, they are enormous. Nice standard Maine Coon cat. Relatively recent photo. Copyright Helmi Flick. But, as also mentioned before they are rare. I think we need to keep our feet on the ground. This study does just that although it is about 12 years old. The chart below actually covers the weights of a range of cat breeds and non-purebred cats. But I am interested in the Maine Coon for obvious reasons. The data is the bottom line both for males and females. To see it a little larger please lick on the image. The mean or average weight of the 28 male Maine Coon cats weighed was 6.1 kg which is 13.5 pounds. The mean or average weight of the 22 f

 This fluffy Maine Coon's reaction to being brushed and combed is described as funny. Funny peculiar. But is it? His name is Barny and he is on TikTok. Maine Coon resists being brushed. Image: MikeB based on screenshot. If you look at the video a couple of times, you'll see three types of body language which gives the game away as to his attitude to being brushed. He flicks his hind leg He pushes himself away slightly He places his paw on the brush to stop it moving and approaching him What does that tell us? What does it hint at? P.S. He also vocalises slight irritation. That Barny does not want to be brushed by his caregiver. Why? I think because it is over-stimulating. It irritates him which is going to be a little irritating to his caregiver because Maine Coons do need human intervention on coat maintenance. Or he may find it uncomfortable based on previous sessions. @mainecoon.barny Comb number 3 and my mainecoon cat🖤 #mainecooncat #blackmainecoon #mainskamyvalikocka

Show MC cat. Image in public domain. Are declawed Maine Coon cats disqualified from cat show competitions? A fair question seeing as declawing is so prevalent in the United States despite the cruelty of the multiple amputations. I am faced with an imprecise answer from the two premier cat associations based in America. But Dr Morris, a British zoologist clears up the issue. CFA and TICA - Cat Fanciers' Association and The International Cat Association These are a couple of top cat associations. The top with the GCCF in the UK. Both as expected list the reasons why a cat might be disqualified from competition. In both examples they do not state that they disqualify declawed Maine Coon cats (MCs) or any other breed of cat. They should as it would send a clear message that they are against the operation. Perhaps they are afraid of alienating a large segment of American society. The CFA makes an INDIRECT reference to disqualifying declawed Maine Coons. Here it is: DISQUALIFY: Incorrect

Why are Maine Coon cats slow developers? We are told all the time that they are but I have never seen any reason given for this. Provided that Maine Coons genuinely do develop slowly, I'll try and provide a reason but it won't come from anyone else. It's out of my head. Here goes (feel free to criticise in a comment). Looking old before his time. Image now in the public domain. Bigger animals take longer, on average, to reach adulthood (see study at base of article). And bigger animals live longer than average because they have slower metabolism because in turn their surface area to mass is smaller therefore, they lose less body heat. That's the general reasoning for the link between shorter lifespans and smaller animals. How does this affect Maine Coons (MCs)?  Well MCs are the largest domestic cat breed. They should have longer lifespans than the average cat for the reason given above. The MC does not have a longer lifespan than normal and it may even be shorter than

There is a cost-of-living crisis in the UK and high inflation in other countries but it is coming down. It's getting more expensive to live! Maine Coon cats are expensive. Expensive to buy and expensive to maintain if you do it to a high standard. But it is not all downside. When you analyse it, Maine Coon cats can save you money if you want to look on the bright side of things. Keeping toasty warm thanks to your Maine Coon cat friend. Image in public domain. 1. Lap cat Not all Maine Coon cats are lap cats but like the general population, some are and some aren't. If you happen to live with a Maine Coon lap cat you can turn down your central heating by 1°C! That'll save you $100 per annum. Just wear some warm clothes inside your home and allow your Maine Coon cat to jump on your lap at every opportunity particularly while watching television. They will keep you warm and make up for that 1°C drop in central heating temperature. 2. Therapy A lot of people expound the advantag

Viewers are drooling over him and his oversized, multi-toed paws. When you compare them to the relatively dainty paws of a conventional domestic cat his great snow shoes look enormous.  You may know three things about polydactylism in Maine Coons: Back in the day when European settlers brought ships' cats over to Maine, they favoured polydactyl cats as they believed they could keep their balance better on deck! Or something like that. Perhaps that's a myth but it is an often stated one. It is why: It is believed that around 40% of early Maine Coons on the east coast of the US were polydactyl but: The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), America's premier cat association does not like polydactylism. As a consequence, Maine Coon show cats can't be polydactyl. If they are they are disqualified. This must have led to breeders selectively breeding the inherited condition out of the breed. There is a lower percentage today. 22-pound polydactyl Maine Coon with paws as big as a

I thought I'd try and configure the ideal home-based lifestyle for the Maine Coon cat. I think pretty well everyone would agree that this has to be a lifestyle that is built around the home because the Maine Coon should be captive in their home but that does not mean that their lives have to be sterile and lack stimulation and fun. I'd consider these lifestyle factors to make an ideal home environment. All this will be pricey but ideals always are. Input from others is always most welcome. These thoughts are mine alone. Enclosed backyard/garden A backyard (garden) which is comprehensively fenced using customized fencing guaranteed to keep a cat in the garden is a vital aspect of an ideal home lifestyle. This is the point though: it is an ideal and ideals are expensive.  Maine Coon in a garden enclosed by a cat-proof fence. Image: MikeB To fence a half-acre garden or perhaps an acre garden is going to cost about $10,000 at a rough guess and the equivalent in pounds sterling an

Maine Coon cats and arthritis. Image: MikeB One website dedicated to the Maine Coon cat tells us that the breed can be affected by the following forms of arthritis based on vet advice: Immune-mediated arthritis  - this is arthritis caused by joint inflammation which in turn has been caused by the cat's immune system going wrong. I will presume that it is an auto-immune disease leading to various symptoms one of which is arthritis. Septic arthritis  - this is arthritis caused by a bacterial infection and the toxins produced by the bacteria which enter the joint cavity via the bloodstream. Osteoarthritis  - this is also known as degenerative joint disease arthritis. Cancerous arthritis  - this apparently is the results of synovial cell sarcomas. These are tumours of the synovial cells in the joint. This is a malignant tumour which can spread to the cat's lungs in 25% of the cases. That looks terribly bad. And it may be painting an overly negative picture of this breed. However, t

Image: MikeB The words of the title come from social media. It is written in the first person. I'll recite the story in the third person. This is a story about a woman who lives with two Maine Coon cats. One is a female tortoiseshell who has 'catitude'. I think you know what I mean by that. Tortoiseshell cats are known to have a certain personality which is independent-minded. They know their own mind and will do their own thing. It is a slightly obstreperous attitude but I think a very nice one as well. And the other Maine Coon cat that this woman lives with is a male. If he gets too close to his female 'friend' (love) she attacks him but he never fights back. He just sits up on his hind legs with his front legs up in the air as if about to box. He is a sweet boy in the long tradition of sweet boy Maine Coons! And I think he loves and accepts her cantankerous personality. He may even like her character. On one occasion the woman was leaving her home to take the fem

The answer to the question in the title is that you won't know unless you have carried out due diligence checks yourself. However, the one advantage is that they shouldn't be a scam breeder. That's pretty basic but there are scammers out there. You want to select a Maine Coon cat breeder as you have decided to adopt. How do you select a breeder? It is a big decision because it affects the quality of the cat bought. It is a decision which will impact the next 15+ years of your life. " CFA and TICA don't protect buyers of Maine Coons from breeders listed on their websites" - MikeB CFA and TICA don't protect buyers of Maine Coons from breeders listed on their websites. Image: MikeB America's two biggest and best-known cat associations are the CFA and TICA. You probably know that. They are the Cat Fanciers' Association and The International Cat Association respectively. Both have a very similar policy with respect to the Maine Coon breeder listings. CF

What can I say? Not a lot unlike some other websites because there is no such cat breed as a Lykoi Maine Coon mix. If it did exist it would be either a purebred hybrid if registered or a moggy if the cat had not been registered with a cat association. But a discussion is rather pointless because this is hypothetical. This is speculative. There is no such cat as a Lykoi Maine Coon mix. Update: please read the comments below. In short, there is a breeder of Maine Coon cats and Lykoi cats on social media (TikTok) who claims to have created this hybrid but the video accompanying this claim does not show what I would have thought would be Lykoi hybrids. So, at the moment, I do not believe that this hybrid exists as yet. The man calls the hybrids 'Lycoons'. Maine Coon breed standard And there won't be such a cat because under the breed standard for the Maine Coon, no outcrosses are allowed to either non-purebred cats or purebred cats. This is to preserve the blood lines and to p

We know that Maine Coon cats are predisposed through inheritance to develop hip dysplasia. It is a major problem with this breed. However, there is another but slightly different hip disease called Perthes disease. It is also called 'Legg-Calvé-Perthes Disease'. It is a hereditary disease and it affects humans as well. It affects children.  Maine Coon broke his hip twice in 2 weeks. They are susceptible to Perthes disease. This is the cat. Sad. I hope he improves after surgery. Image: Reddit.com. If the blood supply is cut off to the hip joint which describes what happens in Perthes disease, the head of the femur which goes into the socket of the hip degenerates and the bone dies as does the surrounding cartilage. The joint can't function anymore because of the misshapen femoral head and this is, as mentioned, Perthes disease. Like I said, it is very similar to hip dysplasia. As I understand it, they are to different diseases however but the symptoms are going to be similar

I believe that I can answer the questions in the title with some certainty. Having surfed the Internet for 15 years about cats I think it is fair to say that Maine Coon cats do indeed cross their forelegs when resting more than normal. It seems to be a Maine Coon cat trait.  The observation comes from an owner in America who is the caregiver of three Maine Coon cats and she has noticed this characteristic which got me thinking about it. Note: this is a cross-post. Do Maine Coon cats cross therefore legs more than normal and if so, why? Image: Reddit.com. Why do Maine Coons cross their forelegs? The lady didn't explain why her Maine Coon cats do it. I've come to a common-sense conclusion about this. Maine Coon cats cross their forelegs because it's more comfortable. Normally, this is the exact reason why humans do it. It allows the crossed leg to hang loose which takes the pressure off the foot and the leg. And so, the muscles are relaxed. The relaxed muscles send a signal b