A lot of people think that their tabby cat is a Maine Coon cat but there are some big differences

On many social media websites, you will see people asking whether their cat is a Maine Coon cat. Many people have the idea that the standard brown or gray tabby cat is a Maine Coon cat because they associate the tabby pattern with Maine Coons. In fact, you see people advertising cats for sale as 'Maine Coon mix' that are not half-Maine Coon as they are just mixed-breed tabby cats. They want to sell the cat at a higher price.

And it's true that the classic tabby pattern looks very good on a Maine Coon cat. That's because the historical ancestor of the Maine Coon cat is the barn cat living in the state of Maine and in other places along the east coast of America. And these barn cats are normally tabby cats.

But just because a random-bred domestic cat ('domestic longhair' or 'domestic shorthair') is a tabby cat does not mean that they are a Maine Coon. You need a lot more. Also, you can't just rely on the appearance of the cat. You have to have the paperwork i.e. the documentation to prove the family tree (the lineage) from purebred foundation cat to your cat over several generations which should be purebred as well proving the breeding is as per the breed standard.

Standard tabby moggie and not a Maine Coon I am afraid. Image: Reddit.com (u/Saurabh09bot)

The picture on this page, above, shows a beautiful, classic, shorthaired, brown tabby random-bred cat. And the owner of the cat said that they discussed the cat with the previous owner at the time of adopting him. And the previous owner said that he is a Persian cat. And then she did some research and decided that this cat is a Maine Coon cat. She asks whether she's correct. 

She is incorrect, sadly!

This cat is neither a Persian nor a Maine Coons cat. This is a beautiful, standard tabby cat. And just going by appearance, the cat that we see on this page does not have the Maine Coons muzzle which is much more pronounced and squarer. The muzzle on the cat that we see is a beautiful standard muzzle of a random bred cat. By comparison to the Maine Coon muzzle, it is much more delicate and refined.

Also, the ears of the cat on this page are those of a standard random-bred cat. The Maine Coon cat ears are larger, they sit taller and as we all know that on the tips of the ear flaps you'll see long tufts of hair called lynx tips.

And also, thirdly, the cat on this page is a standard-sized domestic cat. This cat is too small to be a Maine Coon. The head is too small and delicate.

So there's three things which tell me that this cat is not a Maine Coon cat judging by appearance alone. There will be other appearance details that don't fit too, such as no tufts of hair sticking out between the toes and a plumed tail. Shorthaired moggies have neither of these features.

And as mentioned there will be other factors to deal with such as the documentary evidence that you are buying a purebred cat from a registered breeder with one of the big cat associations. You need that lineage, that family tree to prove the cat is purebred and a bona fide Maine Coon cat. Moggies don't come with that paperwork!