Why do Maine Coons take longer to reach adulthood compared to other cats?

-

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).

Why do Maine Coons take longer to reach adulthood compared to other cats?
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 the lifespan of a moggie because of one clear reason: the MC suffers from a range of inherited diseases such as HCM, a heart disease which can kill. And another MC inherited disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) shortens lives too.

Bundle in the inherited health issues linked to this breed and the lifespan is shortened to the point where it is no longer than average.

But the development to adulthood is the same as if their lifespan was going to be longer because they are bigger. The disease interrupt this equation.

They say MCs reach adulthood at around 4-years-of-age. If they live to age 16 their development period is 25% of their lifespan.

Taking the human, they are adult at the age of 18. A male child born in the United States today will live to be 74.5 years old on average. 

The development time for American humans is 24% of their lifespan. Not much different to MCs. 

The MC has a development period of a human in percentage of lifespan terms but a lifespan of a slightly unhealthy cat.

Study referred to: Charnov EL. Life History Invariants: Some Explorations of Symmetry in Evolutionary Ecology. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1993.

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 breed and there
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