Your Maine Coon Guide

There are two potentially big mistakes that a person who wants to purchase a Maine Coon might make and about which they should have some knowledge. They both concern the health of this cat. The problem with the popular Maine Coon cat breed is that the cats can inherit serious health conditions and a purchaser needs to know whether there have been DNA and other tests carried out to identify whether the Maine Coon cat in question carries the genetic mutation which gives the cat the disease. Three major inherited diseases So, for example, the Maine Coon cat is predisposed to inheriting the genetic disease known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). It's a condition which can affect Maine Coon cats but there is a test available which can isolate this mutation. For example, Langford Vets advertise on the Internet their Molecular Diagnostic Unit, where a PCR-based assay can be carried out to quickly and accurately identify the SMA mutation in Maine Coon cats. Read about SMA in Maine Coons by...

This is a brief article on the man who rapidly became known on the Internet for being a Maine Coon cat photographer. His images and slow-motion videos of amazing Maine Coon kittens and adult cats started to appear on the internet a couple of years ago (for me) and we were all impressed by the cats which I have learnt are bred by his wife and that is how he became a Maine Coon photographer. One of his photos of an amazing black smoke Maine Coon kitten called YOGA. Image: Robert Sijka. For me the image is too dark. The darkness of the image is for effect but I prefer more visual information. My eye searches for visual information but it is too dark to find. Although he is known for these stunning Maine Coon photos (too dark for me by the way) he is a nature and pet photographer.  He lives in Hong and Guangzhou, China but is an international photographer. By the way Guangzhou is in the south of China and is known for the region where cats and dogs are mercilessly abused before being k...

The question is asking whether you can expect your Maine Coon cat to keep the mouse population down inside and around your home. I reluctantly have to say that the question is little bit misguided and I'll explain why as I see it. Are Maine Coon cats good mousers? It depends on the individual cat more than anything else. Image: MikeB The Maine Coon cat, as we know, is a domestic cat. They happen to be the largest domestic cat breed but that doesn't change in any way the fact that, in general, they have the personality of a typical domestic cat. And with respect to being keen predators, all domestic cats are pretty keen about chasing rodents because it is in their DNA. They inherit this desire. It's all instinctive. But, the desire to hunt mice varies somewhat from individual cat to individual cat in the general domestic cat population and it will vary somewhat within individual Maine Coon cats. So, the answer to the question is Maine Coon cats, in general, will probably be...

Boby Flay and Nacho. Image: screenshot from the video on this page which is from Twitter. Here is a nice little video which is on Twitter X of the celebrated and much loved, ginger Maine Coon, Nacho , who recently passed over the rainbow bridge. His caregiver who survives him is Bobby Flay who is as celebrated - or more so - than Nacho. Mr Flay was devastated . The celebrity chef and entrepreneur founded his premium cat food brand in 2021 and named it after his beloved Maine Coon. RELATED POST:  American celebrity chef Bobby Flay named his pet food business after Nacho, his ginger tabby Maine Coon . There are a couple of points worth making at this time: Firstly, Nacho was the tender age of 9 when he died - the average lifespan of cats of this breed is 11 years . Nine years is about half the lifespan of a standard moggie cat. I have not seen the reports on the cause of Nacho's death as yet. If you have, please leave a comment. If not, I will speculate and say that it was almost ce...

Well, I love this male cat show judge. He's and colourful and I say that with the greatest of respect because I think he is great. He's extravagant and very confident and he knows his cats inside out. And, so, he delivers to his enthralled audience the key appearance aspects of the Maine Coon cat. He talks of the breed being a natural or native breed.  What he means is that this magnificent purebred cat was once a moggy barn cat living in the state of Maine and in other states down the east coast. The Maine Coon was selectively bred meaning moulded and created out of large, sturdy moggy cats living in barns in the state of Maine. People observed this moggie and thought that they looked great so they decided to turn them into a breed show cat and it has taken about a hundred years for this breed to become one of the world's most popular and for that I think we can mainly thank social media such as this video on TikTok and YouTube and Facebook. Cat show judge assesses a Maine...

His name is Chas and I have exaggerated a little about his size but he is enormous and he is only a kitten. Let's say he is about the size of a bobcat! He is extraordinary. Here is a screenshot and you can see the video by clicking on this link . There are a gazillion super huge Maine Coons on the internet these days but this fella takes the biscuit. There are some MCs which are larger but not many. Size is not everything. Quality and compliance with the breed standard is more important for the breeders but size seems to be almost everything for people who want to purchase one of these cats.

This female tortoiseshell Maine Coon caught my eye on the Internet and I discovered that she is for sale in Berlin. She was created by a Berlin Maine Coon breeder. The breeder is registered and has proof of expertise according to paragraph 11 of the Animal Protection Act in Germany. I suspect that this means that in Germany there are basic requirements for cat breeders and that they must be registered with the local authorities. This breeder is registered she says. She says that her cats are fully socialised and that they have two girls currently available. They were born on 7 June 2023 and "have the colour black tortie and blue silver ticked". Wanda is a black tortie - red spots on her black fur make her like flames of fire in the night. She is a bright curious kitten and loves to play. Her price is €1000. I believe the picture above shows Wanda. The other female kitten is name Wassa she ticked in blue silver. Our colour is described as looking like a "waterfall in the ...

Bobby Flay and Nacho. Image: Instagram Boby Flay is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and reality television personality. He is also known for being the caregiver of Nacho and a cat lover. He is one of those celebs who owns a Maine Coon. There aren't that many on my reckoning. It is with an absolute broken heart that I report Nacho has passed away peacefully. He announced on Instagram five days ago the passing of Nacho. And he really, really loved this cat. It went deep so he is badly cut up by Nacho's passing. It is very sad to read the story. But what I immediately noticed was Nacho's age when he died: 9! This is about half the age of a moggy with a good lifespan. We are not told the cause of death but I can guess: HCM. Heart disease to which this very popular breed is genetically predisposed and they should not be. It is a travesty that Maine Coons should be dying at 9-years-of-age. This is far too young. He should have had many years ahead of him. My...

It goes without saying that Maine Coons should not be aggressive. They are not known for their aggression. In fact, all domestic cats should not be aggressive and the Maine Coon is no different from any other domestic cat in this respect. So, if your Maine Coon cat is aggressive something is wrong. One remote reason for purebred cat aggression is that the cat is not socialised but this would be highly irregular for a Maine Coon because breeders create Maine Coons under controlled conditions. Is there solemn duty to ensure that their kittens are socialised before they are sold to clients. The chances of a Maine Coon cat being unsocialised is highly remote.  A person might adopt a Maine Coon mix thinking that their cat is a purebred Maine Coon. Some Maine Coon mix cats might be unsocialised because they might have been born in a home where the owner is engaged in informal breeding and the cats are unregistered.  He or she may do a bad job of socialising their kittens and then se...

Both the Maine Coon and Ragdoll cat breeds include individual cats who are very affectionate. In fact, all cats of these breeds are bred to be affectionate. The cat breeder has that duty and they achieve it through socialisation and through careful breeding using good foundation cats. Breeders select foundation cats for their appearance and their personality. Appearance is more important than personality for breeders. Affectionate Ragdoll. Image: MikeB So, the cats inherit their personality but it is also coloured by the environment in which they live and their life experiences. Therefore, each individual cat from either of these two breeds will have slightly different personalities which means that some will be more affectionate than others. All should be affectionate but some more so than others as mentioned. If you rescue a Maine Coon cat which would be rare you take a bigger chance on their personality because they might have been through a traumatic time with their previous owner ...

A person on social media asked: "Why are Maine Coon cats so friendly?" They asked that question with confidence. I can think of a few topics to discuss in response to the question. Socialisation Maine Coon cats are purebred cats. Purebred cats are bred by cat breeders. Cat breeders know that they have an obligation to make sure that their kittens for sale are fully socialised to humans. This means that they will be friendly towards humans from the get go. The breeder achieves this by making sure that the kittens that she has created in her breeding programme are underfoot in her home, meeting members of her family and even strangers. In this way the kittens become acclimatised to being around people. This means that when they meet their new owner, they get along with them and are not frightened of them. That's why Maine Coon cats are so friendly. It is down to the efforts of the cat breeder and socialisation. Unfriendly Maine Coon? Sometimes a Maine Coon cat might not be ...

This is another medial article on the Maine Coon. I seem to be getting very proficient on medical topics because the Maine Coon does have a collection of inherited health issues which is disconcerting. The more I research Maine Coon health the more I realise that this popular cat breed could and should be healthier. Please use the search tool at the top-right of the page (desktop) to find other articles on Maine Coon inherited diseases. Maine Coon. Image in the public domain. I was doing some research on whether Maine Coon cats are predisposed to haemophilia. For those who are unsure, haemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. I discovered that Maine Coons are predisposed to a different kind of haemophilia which can affect domestic shorthaired cats. That kind of haemophilia is called haemophilia a and B. It appears that more work needs to be done on 'Haemophilia of Maine Coons' but it is believed to be an autosomal (meaning not sex ...

You may have heard of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in Maine Coon cats. It is one of those inherited diseases, several of which affect the Maine Coon, and as indicated in the title the muscles of the back become weakened which interferes with their normal activities such as jumping and walking.  These are not Maine Coons. Image in the public domain (believed). The cause is due to a loss of neurons in the first few weeks of life. The weakness becomes apparent at 3-4 months of age. Kittens walk with a strange gait and their hocks nearly touch the ground. The hock is the area from the end of the foot to the first part of the leg. RELATED: 15 facts about spinal muscular atrophy in Maine Coon cats. There should be no difficulty in diagnosing SMA being present in a Maine Coon cat. The disease is inherited as an autosomal (non-sex-linked) recessive mutated genetic trait. Genes come in pairs. If a Maine Coon cat has one copy of the mutated gene and one copy without the mutation they are re...

Do Maine Coons have a temper? This is a question asked on one of the top Maine Coon websites which Google favours. And I've got to say that it is a slightly stupid or misleading question. That might sound arrogant of me but I will explain myself. No domestic cat has a bad temper unless they are ill. Although they might be suffering from audiogenic reflex seizures or other environmental problems. I'll look at illness first.  Pain When a cat feels pain inside their body, they may be quiet about it. They might go quiet. They might sleep more than normal and find a quiet corner in the home. But you don't really know what's going on at least initially. So, you pick up your Maine Coon to give him a cuddle. They are very cuddly. Your Maine Coon companion cries out and strikes out at you as if in retaliation. You don't understand. You might think that your cat has suddenly developed a bad temper but he hasn't.  He/she has simply responded to feeling pain when you picked...

This person likes beautiful things and it extends to beautiful cats. She is the caregiver to a stunning calico female Maine Coon with high contrast, vibrant tortoiseshell blotches and an equally stunning soft grey and white Ragdoll and thirdly a traditional Persian. And they are all best friends. They have no idea that they are so gorgeous. Not a clue. They don't let their beauty affect their behavior as humans do. These three breeds are in the top five most popular cat breeds at Oct 2023 as I recall. The picture provides us with a nice comparison of these three breeds. Photo: Reddit user: u/WarmEffort2308. The Maine Coon is the largest domestic cat breed while the Ragdoll is the second largest domestic cat breed. The Persian is one of the oldest cat breeds. It has been around since the beginning of the cat fancy. A Maine Coon won the first American formal cat show in 1895 at Madison Square Garden. It is very unusual for a person to own cats of these three breeds at the same time. ...