Your Maine Coon Guide

This is a very glamorous looking Maine Coon. He/she caught my eye on my travels around the internet. The ruff is curly which is unusual. The 'ear furnishings' as the cat fancy call them (ear hair) are copious and exorbitant. If he is male he is a prince among Maine Coons and if a female a princess. The face is very neutral making it hard to tell is this cat is male of female. Sometimes it is easy to tell the difference. -------- Please excuse the occasional typo due to preparing these articles at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I don't have a proof reader.

Well, this video is from the respected and loved (💓) Ben the Vet. He is good. He's very sensible and honest. It can be hard to talk about the cat breeds in a very honest way and not dress things up as a lot of website do.  My style to present truthful information as best I can in the interests of buyers. They need to know what to expect. I don't like the video 😓. But the information is useful I hope.  This is Zak, a Maine Coon that used to live with Helmi Flick a cat photographer. I took the picture in my bedroom at her house. Handheld. He's cute isn't he? Great cat. So nice. He looks like he has a nice character and he did. The pic was taken around 15 years ago so he must be dead by now. RIP. The video says that the average life of the random-bred cat is around 14 years. The Maine Coon lifespan is 11 years according to this video which I am sure is based on a study that Ben has read. There are a lot of studies on the cat breeds and many on medical issues and touching

Note: I don't wish to put people off buying a Maine Coon. They are amazing. But I just like addressing reality. A reality check to make sure adopters know all there is to know before diving in because it is expensive and you want to spend wisely and know what the overall cost over say 14 years will be for a Maine Coon (a lot 😓) The Mail Online has, I believe, helped people who are considering adopting one of the popular purebred cats. People want to buy a purebred cat need to think hard about the purchase - and it is a purchase with quite a lot of money being handed over - in terms of the health of the cat that they are buying and not so much the appearance. That advice in fact comes from the RSPCA who claim, correctly, that cat breeders tend to focus too much on appearance to try and create a cat which fits exactly cat association's breed standard rather than focusing on the health of the animal that they are creating. Ultimately, in the long-term, health is more important

NEWS AND COMMENT: This comes from the UK, specifically the town of Exning, Suffolk. A lady who lives there, Julie Boucher, has a beautiful tabby Maine Coon cat called Kanji. He weighs 7.5 kg which is about 16 pounds. Kanji. Photo: Julie Boucher One day he became seriously unwell. It said that he "managed to return home". This clearly implies that he was allowed outside to roam around freely, unsupervised. That's okay if you are okay with it but some people would disagree with allowing a large Maine Coon cat outside unsupervised and it's been proved true in this instance. As mentioned Kanji became mysteriously ill. They checked him and couldn't find anything wrong with him. Boucher took him to the vet who checked him over and they couldn't find anything wrong with him either. A few days later he was more poorly and Boucher thought that he might be dying. She rushed back to the veterinarian who re-inspected him and decided to operate and they found a pellet insi

It is not a video masterpiece! But if you are thinking about adopting a Maine Coon or are curious about this cat breed, which in the top three most popular, this short TikTok video may amuse you for the 11 seconds that it plays. 😀. They are gorgeous Maine Coons. They get on really well which may indicate that they are siblings. Although I am not a TikTok fan or a fan any social media platform, you will see a lot of Maine Coon cats paraded on that social media website which is useful if you are thinking of buying one.  Particularly if you are a first time buyer. And note you you'll have to buy a Maine Coon from breeder rather than adopt one from a rescue centre. They can cost upwards of $5,000 for a top quality cat  in the USA. My unusual choice of cat breed for the first-timer buyer is the Havana Brown! You might not have heard of the breed. Take a look at the article which I have just published: Which cat breed should a first-time owner pick ? Here is the Maine Coon video. It has

Frances Jonas is, as you might expect, devastated at the loss of her tabby Maine Coon cat. It cannot be said that the cat is categorically lost but she was last seen around midday on November 25, 2023 in Russet Road, Weaverham, Cheshire, UK. The cat's name is Lagertha. She is a magnificent tabby Maine Coon. Images: Frances Jonas Note: the story was published 12th December 2023 and therefore things might have changed but we don't have an update. Frances Jonas said that Lagertha had been out for the day before but she's never been missing like this before. She said that she was devastated and that she has "not slept for weeks. Some people might say it's only a cat but she's my cat. It's affected me massively. I run a shop - The Orchard on Lime Avenue - and my head is just not in anything." She said that she did nothing for Christmas with her husband. She added that she can't focus on anything and she's just wondering about where her cat is. She

Neoplasia is the uncontrolled abnormal growth of cells or tissues in the body and can be benign or malignant. It is the fourth most common cause of death in cats according to veterinary records in England, UK. The disease accounts for up to 25% of deaths in the older cat population. This information comes from a study about skin tumours called: "Retrospective study of more than 9000 feline cutaneous tumours in the UK 2006-2013". The word "cutaneous" means affecting the skin. The scientists looked at 219,083 feline samples. 4.4% of the sample had cutaneous tumours. The four most common types of cancerous growths in the skin were basal cell tumours, fibro sarcomas, squamous cell sarcomas and mast cell tumours. Mast cell tumours These are tumours consisting of mast cells. They are very common in dogs. The most common malignant skin tumour and dogs in fact. Mast cell tumours contain granules filled with substances which can be released into the bloodstream and potential

I have been digging around Google Scholar studies as I like to do sometimes! I was looking for some more information about Maine Coon cats and bumped into a study published on August 21, 2020 which investigated an inherited disease which results in an increased tendency to bleed.  The disease is called 'dysfibrinogenaemia' and it causes 'afibrinogenaemic haemorrhage', which had been previously reported in a Maine Coon cat. The scientists in this study concluded that:  "Dysfibrinogenaemia was identified in clinical cases and their healthy relatives, suggesting that this may represent a hereditary condition of Maine Coon cats. Clinicians should be aware of the increased potential for non-haemostasis in this cat breed and consider assessing clotting function before (elective) surgery." My interpretation of that statement is that some Maine Coon cats might inherit this disease which can cause increased bleeding which, in turn, would interest Maine Coon cat breeder

I am being a bit strict here. Very strict perhaps? And uncommercial? But I'm thinking of the cat. I'm thinking of the Maine Coon cat particularly because in one way they get a raw deal. Whereas the majority of less desirable cats are normally allowed to free-roam outside the home (although this is gradually changing), the default M.O. for Maine Coon cat caregiving - or it should be - is that they are confined to the home full-time. And the reason is the obvious one namely that they are too glamorous and desirable to be allowed to go outside unsupervised where they might be stolen. In the modern world theft is more prevalent than it used to be as far as I can see. And so this great and wonderful cat, full of energy and with the usual feline desires is often confined to a home which is insufficiently environmentally enriched if I may say so without being too critical. I understand the problems of enriching one's home to make it more cat-friendly and entertaining but there is

Mango happier with Hera after becoming depressed due to isolation post-pandemic. Screenshot from video below. There is a story online today (Newsweek) about a ginger tabby Maine Coon cat called Mango, living in Romania, who became depressed after the pandemic. The signs of depression were pretty obvious. He became immobile essentially. He lost interest in his favourite treats which she normally adored. He didn't even like being petted according to his caregiver, Mady Mondan, a 34-year-old therapist. She took him to the vet who said that he was healthy. Yes, he was physically healthy but it wasn't possible to say same thing about his mental state. He had become depressed. Some people don't think that cats can become depressed. I take that from the comments under the video of Mango on TikTok. Without being critical in any way, there is a lack of awareness sometimes about the range of emotions that domestic cats can experience. They can certainly experience the basic emotions

As a Maine Coon cat caregiver you almost certainly know that the breed is genetically predisposed to developing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In my view, this disease, which can start early in life, is the reason why Maine coon cats have, on average, a shorter lifespan than they should otherwise have. One study says that their lifespan, on average, is 11 years .  It's a great shame that through suboptimal breeding, this majestic cat breed is so predisposed to this serious disease. Omar an overweight Maine Coon cat who's probably predisposed to HCM. Image: Screenshot from a YouTube video. Omar lives in Australia. The study that I'm referring to observed certain anatomical characteristics of Maine Coon cats that were predisposed to HCM. They decided this because the Maine Coon cats in their cohort (group) of 63 cats that had HCM commonly had these anatomical characteristics. They are as follows: Older: This is to be expected. Older Maine Coon cats are more likely to hav

Image: MikeB This is a post that may help a Maine Coon cat owner whose cat is suffering from bad diarrhoea and the vet has been unable to get to the bottom of it. In the title I have referred to a  Trichomoniasis foetus infection . First point: it seems that there are four acceptable spellings! These are the other three as I understand it: Trichomonosis Tritrichomonas Trichomonas I have mentioned this for the sake of clarity. So what is this infection? It is a protozoan parasitic infection of the bowel causing colitis - a large bowel parasitic infection. Fortunately I have found a case study of this disease affecting a Maine Coon.  RELATED:  Characteristics of feline diarrhoea, likely cause and locatio n Case study This is a case study of a two-year-old, 4.2 kg, spayed female Maine Coon. The cat was the subject of a scientific study. She suffered from the aforesaid parasitic infection together with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Perhaps the two go together, one causing the other. Th

Maxie is one of those social media Maine Coon celebrities. His preferred platform is Instagram. What I like about this tabby MC (Maine Coon) is that he always greets his human companion with a very distinctive head butt. 'Maxie' Maine Coon always greets his human with a big head butt scent exchange. Screenshot. So what's going on? In the cat world, this is scent exchange. He is depositing his scent from his scent glands under the skin in his head onto his 'owner', the guy who makes the videos. While Maxie deposits his scent onto his human, he simultaneously picks up the scent (body odour) of his human as it is deposited on his head. RELATED: Cat skin glands for kids So human and MC merge their scent and become one. They are together. It reinforces the relationship. They become a 'unit' in the world of cats as cats use body scent as a way of identifying others, cats, dogs or people. I think cats use the smell of another as a way of confirming that they are wh

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is a story about allowing your desirable Maine Coon cat to go outside the home unsupervised whenever they want to. This would be unusual because the Maine Coon cat is an impressive companion animal. There is a reasonable likelihood that your cat will be stolen particularly in a world where theft is on the increase; certainly so in the UK anyway. If anyone spots Lagertha, please call Mike on 07592 392 673. Lagertha. Photo: Frances Jonas. The headline is that a couple of Maine Coon owners have made a desperate appeal to find their missing cat. The owners are Frances and Mike Jonas. The cat's name is Lagertha. She is a classic and beautiful brown tabby Maine Coon cat. They live in Weaverham, UK. The last time they saw Lagertha who is two years old, was about midday on November 25, 2023. They adopted her on Valentine's Day 2022. The owners said that Lagertha had been out for the day and hadn't returned. She's never been missing this long they said imp

Ukranian guy has a love-in with his Maine Coon on camera. Screenshot. This is the title in Ukrainian and it means 'I love you': Я тебя люблю. The video shows a very large and attractive grey tabby Maine Coon making biscuits (kneading) and pressing his head against the head of his caregiver which is buried into the bed! It is looks a bit weird but they sure as hell love each other bigtime. @gelicoon I love you💛 Я тебя люблю💛 #cutecat #mainecoon #sweethome #peace #catlovers #purr #kitty #family #мейнкун #котик #любимыйкот #семья #милыйдом #любовь ♬ оригинальный звук - GeliCoon There is an obvious intensity in this relationship which looks great especially with such a large domestic cat but this kind of bonding between cat and person is pretty common. Nice video though as I always like to see cats genuinely loved. If the caregiver loves their cat only good can come from it and you can guarantee that the caregiving will be excellent with one caveat: avoid to