Your Maine Coon Guide

As I have more or less run out of new topics for this website as there are already over 800 pages, here is a short story about a longhaired cat from Europe. These longhaired cats were the forerunners of the Maine Coon cat today. So let's celebrate these early feline immigrants as without them there would be no Maine Coon today unless you believe the Vikings imported Norwegian Forest Cats into North American hundreds of years before the European immigrants. Let’s embark on a journey back to the year 1750 , where the salty sea air mingles with anticipation, and the creaking wooden hull of a ship carries secrets across the Atlantic. Our protagonist is a long-haired European cat , her fur as dark as midnight and her eyes as green as the emerald forests she once roamed. Whiskers on the Wind Chapter 1: The Maiden Voyage The S.S. Seafarer cut through the waves like a blade through silk. Captain Ezekiel Hawthorne stood at the helm, squinting against the sun’s glare. His cargo was unlike ...

The first mention of the Maine Coon is in a book that I have: The Book of the Cat by Frances Simpson. It is a reprint and almost unreadable because of the poor reproduction quality. It is like a poor photocopy. Although Simpson was a classy writer. She was one of the early leaders of the cat fancy. Frances Simpson writes about "Maine Cats" in Chapter 28. She starts off that chapter with the following words: From my earliest recollection I have had from one to several long-haired cats of that variety often called Maine cats. As to how and when they came, I would say, like Topsy they just "growed" for their advent reaches far back beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Our own family circle was never complete without one or more cats - not always longhaired, but that variety always held the place of honour. As early as 1861 my younger brother and myself owned jointly a beautiful long-haired black, pointed with white; he bore up for several years under the remark...

It's hard to believe now but at one time just after the beginning of the cat fancy in America and the early formal cat shows, the Maine Coon cat's popularity declined rapidly because of the importation of highly exotic new breeds (as they were seen at the time) such as the Siamese and Persian. Please read on.... In the early years of the cat fancy in America, the Siamese and the Persian were exotic breeds which eclipsed the Maine Coon forcing a decline in the Maine Coon cat's popularity to near extinction of the breed. Image: MikeB A bit about the Maine Coon cat history before their popularity declined There are many theories about the history of the Maine Coon cat. You make up your own mind about it but in my personal viewpoint, the common-sense argument is that the Maine Coon cat history started with the introduction of longhaired and medium-longhaired European cats into the east coast of the United States of America with the settlers from the late 1600s onwards. Click to...

This is a very complicated area. Some parts of the answer might seem straightforward but the whole issue tricky. And it can't really be simplified. It is about DNA analysis ultimately. But there are some clear connections. Maine Coon. Image in public domain. Norwegian Forest cats I am going to have to criticise the number one website on Maine Coon cats which is Maine Coon Central. It is a horrible site; it is written for 14-year-olds with a ton a waffle to pad out boring pages. I don't want to but they answered the question in the title and the author produced her usual huge amount of waffle and came to the conclusion that the Maine Coon cat is related to the Norwegian Forest Cat. And that is about it. The connection between the two is probably/possibly because there are stories about the Vikings bringing across from Norway longhaired cats hundreds of years before the European settlers emigrated to America. Are Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest cats related ? It is possible alth...

It is obvious that the word 'Maine' - in the name of this cat - comes from the name of the state of Maine but it is a rather strange name as it might as well have been 'Main'.  Early Maine. Image as per credit at top of image. Why has the 'e' been added to the end?! Incidentally the 'Coon' section possibly originates in the misconception that the cat was a cat/raccoon hybrid! The belief was based on the similar appearance (ringed) tail apparently. The poor souls believed it. Or a certain Capt. Coon (or 'Koon') imported long-haired cats as ships' cats into the state.  It is a bit of a mystery as is the origin of the word 'Maine'. When you think about it the name is peculiar for a number of reasons. The name for the state was 'fixed' in 1665 by the British King's commissioners when they ordered the region to be called the 'Province of Maine'. The word 'Maine' might originate: In the name of a small village ca...

Settlers to New England. Image: MikeB The Maine Coon is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America's New England area and has been around since the late 1800s. The pre-Maine Coon cats (forerunners of today's Maine Coon) from that area were probably hybrids of shorthaired domestic cats and longhaired cats from overseas, specifically longhaired cats from Europe and the UK brought over with immigrants (inc. pilgrims) who landed in New England including the state of Maine. Maine in 1890. Image in the Although that answers the question it is rather vague. I'll add a little bit of detail. But before doing so I think it is fair to say that the Maine Coon cat is from America as the cats that made the breed were in America for 400 years as random bred cats before breeders took some of the early pre-Maine Coons and created the breed through selective breeding.  Let's say that the Maine Coon is America's domestic cat. Back in the day when the first settlers to the conti...

The title is a bold statement. Perhaps too bold but the evidence today is stronger than it was before. In the scientific journal Antiquity , a scientific study has been published which confirms that the Vikings came over from Norway and set up colonies in Greenland in 985 A.D., and from there they traded with further colonies in North America and northern Europe.  Did the Vikings bring the domestic cat to North America? The cat in the picture is a Norwegian Forest cat. Image: MikeB This happened 500 years before Christopher Columbus laid his eyes upon the Americas in 1492. There's been lots of talk about the Vikings discovering America before Christopher Columbus and the evidence today is that it happened. It's been confirmed analysing the timber used to build the settlements some of which came from North America.  Microscopic analysis of the wood's structure has established that it was hemlock and Jack pine and other species. These could only have come from America. We hav...

The first mention of Maine Coon cats in a literary work was in 1861 in Frances Simpson's The Book of the Cat (1903). I have a copy of that book! It is a terrible copy, as if it has been photocopied and bound together. It is hard to read. Simpson was the leading writer about the cat fancy at that time. For those who are interested in cat history particularly American cat history and the Maine Coon cat I will recite verbatim what she said about the first major cat show held in the Madison Square Garden, New York, on May 8, 1895. She does say that in the state of Maine they had cat shows well before this one. These must have been fairly informal.  Comment : Maine Coon cats in those days were called 'Maine Cats'. Several cats brought over from England died after the show. I find this shocking. Frances Simpson does not explain why they died. She does mention that there were very high temperatures in the showroom and it may be that they fell ill because of these high temperature...

What is the American Shag ?! No, it is not describing a passionate encounter between two Americans. I think that's why the name was dropped 😃. You might be able to guess that it is an alternative name for the Maine Coon . The Maine Coon cat actually has a lot of different names in its history such as the: American Coon Cat Maine Trick Cat American Longhair American Forest Cat American Snughead It appears that in the early days, somewhere between the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the cat fancy struggled a bit with how to name this cat and they eventually settled on the "Maine Coon", which surprises me greatly because it is a horrible name (by today's standard at least).  Shaggy coat of the Maine Coon inspired the American Shag name. Image in public domain. Well, the first bit of the name is good but the second bit is ridiculous and the name as a whole now has become objectionable because of the second part, which has racist connotations. Anyway, the second part mig...

The name "Maine cat" was an early version of today's 'Maine Coon cat'. It was used by Frances Simpson in 1902 in her book, " Cats and All about Them ". It is perhaps the earliest fully fledged book on the domestic cat and the breeds. She also edited "The Book of the Cat" which I believe was published in 1903. In this book she commissioned and collated the writing of breeders, naturalists and veterinarians. The quote below comes from the former I believe. "From my earliest recollection I have had from one to several long-haired cats of that variety often called Maine cats . As to how and when they came, I would say, like Topsy, they just “growed,” for their advent reaches far back beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitant." Personally, I would have to say that the earlier version of the name is much better than the later version particularly now in a woke world where any mention of the word "coon" is uncomfortable. For the l...

This article refers to the very early days of the Maine Coon Cat in the US state of Maine. I'm referring to that precise moment when longhaired cats in the state of Maine became purebred cats and show cats. The original longhaired cats of Maine at around the late 1800s had various names one of which was the Maine Angora. The description "Angora" meant at that time longhaired cats in general. And they were very popular as they are today. So, as I see it, the Maine Angora referred to longhaired cats from the state of Maine. Portland, Maine, USA in 1890. Photo in public domain (assessed). The Maine Angora was popular at this time in this state. Sometimes they were called the 'Maine Cat'. They were exhibited at local cat shows before the cat fancy took off. The "cat fancy" means the breeding and showing of purebred, pedigree cats essentially. So, the early cat shows were informal and local, and 'Maine Cats' were shown at them. And remarkably, an indu...

This is mainly about the origin of the name 'Maine' in Maine Coon. Although, it may interest some to know that Pinterest and TikTok do not allow searches for 'Maine Coon' as it is impolite and unacceptable today due to the woke movement to use the word 'Coon'. I understand that. But if you want to search for 'Maine Coon cats' you have to search for 'Maine cats' instead. Times have changed and the cat fancy should change in line with modern thinking and culture. 'Maine Coon' named after a French river and the raccoon. This is the Maine River fronted by a Maine Coon! Image: MikeB Maine Obviously 'Maine' comes from the US state of Maine which is believed to be named after the French province in the north of the country called 'Maine'. The province is named after the Maine River that runs through it. And the name of the river originates in 'Ce maine ', from the Latin Cenomania , from the name of the Gaulish Cenomani tr...

When did the Maine Coon come into existence? The short answer is in the 1860s on the east coast of the US particularly the state of Maine and further north. In the 1860s they were barn cats called 'Maine cats'. They were long-haired cats and moggies. I guess they were semi-domesticated or sometimes fully domesticated.  But the lifestyle of the domestic cat was different then. There was no talk of keeping cats indoors all the time for example and pet food was hardly heard off and the same could be said about cat litter.  The picture below is of a barn cat, not a Maine Coon, but I suspect that this is how the Maine Coon looked in the 1860s before they were selectively bred. Barn cat that looks like a Maine Coon might have looked before selective breeding. Image in public domain. It was all very natural and by today's standards quite slapdash. And of course, veterinary services were much less professional than they are today. And these semi-longhaired cats first came to the co...

Screenshot from video below. This is a classic case of a domestic cat, in this instance a beautiful Maine Coon, copying the sounds of their human caregiver to their advantage. It seems that the cat is speaking English but for the cat it is simply mimicking the sound made by his owner but with a purpose. As people like to hear cats speaking English, the video has garnered a lot of viewings. All domestic cats are good at observing their owners and copying if it is beneficial to them. This normally means activities such as opening doors or making a sound that triggers the correct response from their owner.  The evolved meow/baby cry that some domestic cats have mastered is another good example. Some cats understand that when babies cry for their mother there is an instant response. Very effective, they think, why not use it to my advantage! They modified their meow to add a hint of baby cry. And the same is more or less happening here. The Maine Coon has learned that he/she is more li...

Technically it is possible that the Maine Coon is descended from Norwegian Skogkatts but there is no hard evidence. There's been a lot of discussion on the Internet about whether the Vikings "discovered" North America before Columbus and there is now evidence on my reading of the research that the Vikings had a settlement in North America about a thousand years ago and well before Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas.  Comparison between Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest cat. Image: MikeB from pictures taken by Helmi Flick (with her permission). RELATED: Comparison between Maine Coon and Norwegian Forest cat . Scientists used new dating techniques to analyse tree rings which provided evidence that the Vikings occupied a site in Newfoundland, Canada in 1021 A.D. It seems that they went as far south as a place called Vinland where grapes were grown but not as far south to what is Maine today. It is unclear exactly where that place is but it is probably the area surrou...

Despite the similarity in appearance of the Norwegian Forest Cat and the Maine Coon, there is no hard evidence, to the best of my knowledge, which supports the view that Maine Coon cats are descended from Norwegian Forest Cats. The idea for this suggestion mainly comes from the story of Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) who tried to escape France during the French Revolution. She was imprisoned with King Louis XVI in the summer of 1792. At that time Captain Clough was the captain of a ship called The Sally which sailed between Le Havre and the state of Maine. The ship was docked at Le Havre and therefore it was an ideal means to escape to take the king and Marie Antoinette and her possessions to America. Unfortunately, they failed to engineer her escape and both Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI were executed by guillotine. Marie Antoinette by Joseph Ducreux. Image in the public domain. However, her possessions and apparently her cats had been loaded onto The Sally in preparation for her ...

Looking at their behaviour and how well loved they are, and cared for, and how much they enjoy those pleasures, it's pretty certain that Maine Coons like to be pets and if given the choice to be a pet or a barn cat they would almost always choose the former. There will be some variation between individuals because each has their own character. Maine Coons come from medium-longhaired barn cats on the east coast of America, mainly in the state of Maine. So that's their origin and it is a philosophical question as to whether they would prefer to be living their life as they did hundreds of years ago; free of human attentions hour-by-hour. How a Maine Coon should enjoy the outside. Image: The Discerning Cat. But, the answer to the question in the title is pretty obvious because, like humans, domestic cats including Maine Coons will migrate towards their comforts and the major comfort for a Maine Coon cat is a food source. Where there is food that's where you will find a domesti...

In 2022 the Maine Coon (MC) is in the top 3 most popular cat breeds and rightly so. They have a great appearance and big is best for a lot of people who are in the market to adopt a cat companion.  It is hard to believe that in the mid-20th century (1950) the breed was declared extinct! That was probably a guess and an exaggeration but clearly there were very few Maine Coon cats in the USA at the time. Maine Coon. Showing the ruff around the neck, the lynx-tipped ears and the general size. This is a tabby Maine Coon which are very popular. The ruff is amazing on this cat. The photograph is in my opinion in the public domain. Before that moment, the last Maine Coon to win at a cat show was in 1911, 40 years earlier. This sharp decline is all the more mystifying because at the first North American cat show held at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 8, 1895, a female tabby MC, Cosey, won the best in show.  Cosey was owned by Mrs Fred Brown who was presented with a silv...

Not really. Maine Coon cats like any other domestic cat would enjoy life more being outside because it's a more natural environment ( depending on how their indoor environment has been enriched ). Also, the history of the Maine Coon cat is very much one of being an outside cat. These were originally barn cats and therefore semi-domesticated. They are built physically to endure harsh conditions. This is noted in the breed standard. And therefore, anatomically speaking they are quite definitely indoor/outdoor cats. Maine Coon on a lead by Ruffians. But, and there is always a but, they are also very popular cats and they have a distinctive appearance. A lot of people recognise the Maine Coon cat. Therefore, you can't let them go outside unless they are supervised. And the only way to do that realistically is to leash train your Maine Coon.  Or you might have 5 acres of land at the back of your house and pots of money. You could then build a cat confinement fence around the entire ...

There are about a dozen different stories as to the origin of the Maine Coon. Some are fanciful and some are more realistic and plausible. Perhaps the Marie Antoinette Norwegian Forest cat story is somewhere between these extremes. It goes like this. Marie Antoinette. The face of a cat lover! Image: BBC. Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution sent to America her Norwegian Forest cats when she hoped to escape to the New World. RELATED:  Maine Coons are non-native to the USA. Discuss . It is plausible that the French Queen might have owned Norwegian Skogkatts because one of her most devoted admirers at the French court was the Swedish diplomat Count Axel von Fersten. He would have had access to Scandinavian random bred cats (as they were at that time) from Norway and they might have been beautiful cats.  He might have offered her some as an exotic gift. However, there is no evidence to back this up. It is speculation as many of these Maine Coon origin stories are. RELATED...