Your Maine Coon Guide

A blue tortie-and-white female Maine Coon kitten at a cat show being shown off to adoring fans. I've seen this guy before in the show ring discussing the show cats that he judges. 'Blue' in this instance means a dilute tortie-and-white. The coat has a slightly faded appearance that many find attractive. The 'blue' relates to the greying up of the black element of the coat. He says some interesting things about the Maine Coon (MC). The breed should be super-super long in contrast to the Siberian cat which looks a little similar and which may have similar origins. The Siberian is relatively quite stocky (in cat fancy language 'cobby'). We know he is right about the MC being super long because the only cat breed to win the Guinness World Records longest domestic cat award is the Maine Coon. He emphasises the desired feral appearance of the MC. That's interesting. I believe that he is judging a TICA cat show as opposed to a CFA cat show as the former like th...

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...

Calico Maine Coon kitten. Image: Reddit user: u/Aaalyaaa A woman on social media is asking other users for their help because she is in the process of purchasing a female Maine Coon kitten who is a calico kitten i.e. tortoiseshell and white but her husband thinks that she is ugly and it seems that he is pressing her to adopt this kitten's brother who has a shyer temperament. The wife thinks that the female will get on better with her four-year-old child because she is more outgoing. But the central point is the disagreement between wife and husband on whether this female Maine Coon kitten is ugly or not. Below is my response on the social media site concerned namely Reddit.com. What do you think? Well, I am with you. You think she is unique and attractive. She has an interesting appearance which is worth a lot in terms of attractiveness. To me she looks like a tortoiseshell-and-white (calico) under all that fur! And don't forget she is a kitten. It'll take time to see her f...

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 pape...

This is a really pretty Maine Coon. Such a delight for tired eyes. A real beauty. She has got to be a dilute ginger tabby. Delicate features but not to the point where she falls foul of the breed standard. Maine Coons are not meant to be delicate but robust-looking to reflect their barn life existence in their pre-show cat days in the 19th century on the East Coast of America. This looks like the Florida Keys or some other part of that sunny state to me but I am not that familiar with that neck of the woods. But it does look like a sunshine state for a sunshine Maine Coon. Even her coat is radiant. She is so definitively female. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference but not in this case. Now, if you are thinking of buying a Maine Coon you could do a lot worse and to go boating with her like this it makes it all look so delightful, so right. The cat is getting all the excitement they need and the caregiver is getting the company and the satisfaction from knowing that they are...

By 'no ears' I mean no visible ears. This is a nice photo showing the very sharp difference in the head profile of the Maine Coon and the Scottish Fold. In terms of the anatomy of the ear flap they are at extremes of the spectrum. The Maine Coon (MC) has big and often tall triangular ear flaps topped off by stiff hairs (lynx tips) which make the ears look even bigger. MC ears are one of their hallmark or defining anatomical characteristics . Maine Coon and Scottish Fold. Image: Twitter. The only anatomical characteristic which defines the Scottish Fold (Folds) is the flattened ear flaps. You can adopt Folds which have normal ears because that is how breeding has to take place. But without the flattened ear flaps straight Scottish Folds looks like any other non-purebred cat In order to avoid dire genetically created and debilitating cartilage problems breeders can't breed Fold to Fold which means half the litter are non-Folds. Which also means that you'll see "Scott...

This video is nicely instructional for people interested in adopting a Maine Coon. Here we have a very nice little video. It shows an Australian lady (an amusing woman) interviewing an Australian woman who is a Maine Coon cat breeder. The interview appears to have taken place at a cat show where this beautiful 10 kg (22 pounds) male Maine Coon cat has won two titles that day at this cat show.  RELATED: Here's a list of Maine Coon breeders in Australia and some extra information . And as is so typical of Maine Coon cats he sits there completely chilled out minding his own business while they talk about him. This is a strange place to this cat but no problems. He just wants to sit down and chill. Australian Maine Coon breeder talks through the breed in an interview at a cat show in Australia where this cat won twice. Screenshot. How many times have we seen Maine Coon cats chilled and super-calm like this? I've seen them all the time. And it must point to a personality for this br...

Fast Eddie a great looking cat show Maine Coon. Screenshot. Fast Eddie, a superlative ginger-and-white Maine Coon show cat impresses at a CFA cat show. I think Fast Eddie came second in this CFA cat show in the United States to a copper-eyed, pure white Persian but he has been the best cat in other shows. I think he was the best Maine Coon at the show.  If you want to know what a great Maine Coon looks like as per the CFA standard, this is your boy. He's purrfect.   It is nice to see what the top cat association thinks the Maine Coon should look like. Potential adopters can get a little distracted by the huge Maine Coons on social media. The show judge makes a nice remark as she talks through the judging of Fast Eddie (who's anything but fast as he is incredibly calm and static which is great at this juncture of the show). She says that Maine Coons should have a balanced body conformation. They should not be extreme as some Maine Coons are. The character of the Main...

Maine winters The state of Maine in the United States has a cold winter climate. I'm told that the cold season lasts for 3.3 months from late November to early March with an average daily high temperature below 34°F which is just above freezing point. The coldest month of the year in Maine is January with an average low of 8°F and a high of 23°F which is well below freezing. In the snow! Image: MikeB. Adaptations over 400 years in Maine The point of the introduction is that if we agree that the Maine Coon cat originates in the state of Maine which it almost certainly does, we can suggest that this cat breed developed physical adaptations in its coat primarily for survival in harsh winter climates. Maine in the late 1800s. Image in public domain. Coat The coat is shaggy and has a water-resistant top layer of fur. The downy undercoat is like a duck down filling for a duvet. Shaggy coat! Image in public domain. Hind legs The hind legs have thick fur down to their hocks. This gives the...

The little Infographic below tells you the essential information that you need to know in deciding whether the longhaired cat that you have acquired is a Maine Coon mix or not. The basic default situation is this:  If you've 'acquired' a longhaired cat such as a tabby and you don't know whether he or she is a Maine Coon mix or even a fully-fledged purebred Maine Coon, then your cat is NOT a Maine Coon and it is not a Maine Coon mix. That's the starting point. You have to beat that DEFAULT situation. Infographic my MikeB at PoC. And the only way to beat it is to have a DNA test done (I don't think they are available) which is rather pointless and it will obviously cost a little bit of money. Or your cat might show some genuine appearance characteristics strongly indicating that they are a Maine Coon mix or even a purebred Maine Coon. Personal viewpoint In my personal view there is not much point knowing if you cat is a Maine Coon mix because all you are proving i...

It sounds as if interior decoration is being discussed. 'Furnishings' normally means the furniture, fittings, and other decorative accessories such as curtains and carpets, for a house or room.  But in the great family of cat fanciers, it means ear hair 😊 and Maine Coons have lots of it. Sticking out of the top of the ear (lynx tips) or sprouting from inside the ear and fanning out like water sprinklers on a football pitch. Cat fanciers love it. I like it too but I find it strange because for humans it is the opposite. Men ask their barber to shave the inside of the ear to remove their ear hair. Well, the barber asks first and the client always says 'yes'. After all ear hair is unattractive 😎. So why is it attractive when it is on domestic cats? Maine Coon ear furnishings. Image by MikeB Well, I can think of one reason but there might be others. Cats are covered in fur, millions of hair strands. How many hair strands are there on a domestic cat? I tried to count them ...

There are at least 2, possibly three and more,  core Maine Coon features. It depends on your point of view. The three I have chosen are important. The third - the feet - are important to me because the Maine Coon (MC) is famous for polydactyl feet and they are part of the history of the breed which makes it very odd that the CFA do not accept polydactyl show cats. Polydactyl cats are great. Fortunately, TICA does accept them. TICA is more open minded and less stepped in tradition than the CFA. Polydactylism is benign. It is said that the ships' cats that were brought over with early immigrants to the USA were often polydactyl because the sailors believed that they could maintain their balance with greater certainty than non-poly cats. A reason why they were chosen as ships' cats. As I said it is an important part of the MC history and should be featured. The Boston area on the east coast of the USA is famous for a preponderance of polydactylism in domestic cats. In addition to ...

I will start this discussion by saying that the UK has its own celebrity, super-sized, Maine Coon cat who is enormous, weighing 24.3 pounds at only 12 months of age. His name is Murphy, and he lives in Worcester, and he is 41 inches long. He's become a media star as you might expect and has been featured in the Mail Online. Here he is: Placid-faced Murphy carried by his owner in an unnatural way. Image: Emma Trimble SWNS. But the photographs of Murphy on the Mail Online website indicate to me that he has a very placid temperament. The key to this discussion is that I have seen many Maine Coon cats featured on social media and in the news media being handled in ways which might provoke slight irritability and discomfort in the domestic cat, but it never happens with the Maine Coon. Every time you see a Maine Coon cat being handled like you see in the photograph on this page (incorrectly) they look totally relaxed and placid. I suspect, by the way, that this lady was asked to hold t...

A little bit of imagination is needed to see the hint of gargoyle in this majestic, tabby Maine Coon with the floppy ear furnishings, but it is there, and I have created a montage to help you. I hope I am not being disrespectful of the Maine Coon and of this individual cat. I am having a bit of fun and making a statement that breeders should not breed to extreme - please. Maine Coon with a hint of gargoyle. Image: MikeB based on (left) Amazon image and (right) Tomaso Gargoyle costing £109.99 on Wayfair.co.uk. So why is there a hint of gargoyle in this Maine Coon (if you agree with me)? It is all about extreme breeding which is what it says on the box. Breeders, through selective breeding, alter the anatomy of the Maine Coon to create 'extreme' more pronounced facial features. In essence without wishing to be unkind, the breeder distorts the cat's facial anatomy and exaggerates it. The gargoyle always has exaggerated features. That's what they are. And they are a bit gru...

This social media user asks the following: " Picked up this guy as a kitten and he never stopped growing, he just turned 1! I’m 6 foot 2 for reference. Any chance he’s got Maine coon or savannah in him? He’s 15 lbs!" Those were his words. Sorry for the lower-case spellings which are incorrect. It is natural to ask but if you have to ask, he isn't purebred. Any chance he’s got Maine coon or Savannah in him? He’s 15 lbs! No. Image: u/Bid325 on Reddit.com A lot of people ask if their cat is a purebred cat. Sometimes they ask if their cat is a purebred-mix cat. The latter is a moggie anyway so not much point in asking that question. This applies to this guy incidentally and in any case, he is holding up (in the wrong way 😒😉) a ginger tabby male cat of random bred origin which means a moggie to you and me.  No criticism intended. I feel that they have a good relationship. His cat looks like a moggie too. And I love moggies. They are the best cats in fact. Some random bred c...

One website author says that Maine Coon cats (MCs) are so popular because they have great personalities. True, but I believe that it is not the first reason for their popularity. All domestic cats, provided they are socialised to people and other pets and are treated nicely, have good personalities. Maine Coons are popular due mainly to their appearance and this photo tells you why! Image: in the public domain. In my experience of living to an advanced age, the MCs are popular because of their impressive appearance. The first thing most people are attracted to is appearance. This applies to almost any 'object' living or inanimate.  Humans mainly live visually. The dominant sense is vision. And humans love nice looking things.  They like to have attractive possessions. This observation is supported in all manner of contexts. Cars come to mind. For most people, particularly women, whether they buy a particular car or not is down to its appearance. And most people who make the de...

I'm sorry but this is not about Maine Coon cats because I have temporarily run out of things to say about that beautiful cat breed 😎. This is about something which is very human and it is the failure to recognise your own cat. A woman in Canada thought that she had lost her cat, George, and believed that she had spotted him on the road as she drove up to her house.  She grabbed the cat and placed him inside her car. When she got home her cat was there and realised that she had "stolen" someone else's cat. People on TikTok told her to put him back where she had bound him. Which she obligingly did. Although both the cat that she 'stole' and her cat are tabby cats. She believes that the other cat is a community cat but judging by the appearance it looks as though he or she isn't and is someone's pet.  In typical TikTok fashion a lot of people liked the video but I don't think it is worth that much in terms of adulation. Perhaps it was the woman's...

Maine Coon kitten and his adult self. Photo: Robert Silka. This is a series of photographs by the very famous Maine Coon photographer: robert_sijka. I think he presents his photographs too dark as there is not enough information in the photographs for my liking but he takes great photographs of great Maine Coon cats. In this series he photographs a kitten and their adult version. Each individual cat is a wonderful example of the Maine Coon breed. I can count five examples. In my experience, these Google Blogger videos only work if you click the centre play button and then, immediately afterwards, the play button bottom-left! It sounds bad but the short video is worth watching.

A brilliant and pretty dilute tortoiseshell Maine Coon. It looks like Russia. They breed some amazing Maine Coons in Russia. Brilliant dilute tortoiseshell Maine Coon. She is very pretty to. This is a fantastic cat.Photograph: Reddit.com This is a very pretty Maine Coon with a super, dilute tortoiseshell coat. Perhaps strictly speaking this is a tortoiseshell-and-white cat and in American cat fancy language that is a calico Maine Coon cat. You can see that this is a dilute version of the tortoiseshell coat because the colours are washed out except, interestingly, for the orange tabby patch on the face and between the eyes. This gives a brilliance to the face. The muzzle is great. Just a very good-looking cat which caught my eye and demanded that I share the picture on this website. Dilution Robinson's Genetics provides some information about dilution. The symbol genetically is dd . They say that the: "dilute or maltese locus produces a factor essential for even distribution...

In Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) cat shows, Maine Coons are disqualified if they have a "delicate bone structure". The antonym (opposite word) of "delicate" might be the word 'heavy' or 'indelicate' or 'rough' or 'coarse'. I prefer the word "heavy" in this instance. So, if a delicate bone structure disqualifies a Maine Coon, then the opposite might make them winners, which is why I have said in the title that Maine Coon should have a heavy bone structure. Heavy bone structure. Photo in public domain. And this is what we get with the very large Maine Coons that we see so much of nowadays. The Maine Coon need not be large but the breeders want them to be large. They should be solid, rugged and have the ability to endure a harsh climate which is all in line with the idea of being heavy boned.  But they've got to be well proportioned and balanced in appearance. This points to avoiding extreme breeding which can tend to...