Your Maine Coon Guide

Sometimes people think that Maine Coon cats are expensive and they ask why. They could ask the same question about any purebred cat although there is some variation between them in terms of price. For example, the first filial Savannah cats are far more expensive than any other purebred cat. And within the Maine Coon cat breed you will see a variation of prices. Why should the price vary; sometimes considerably? Why are Maine Coons expensive? Are they?  The price of purebred cats including Maine Coon cats depends on market forces essentially. And the better the quality of the Maine Coon cat the more expensive they are. Because market forces dictate the price, the price is always right! It is always correct. 🤔👍Anyway, what are you measuring the price of a Maine Coon against? Of course, there are expenses to cover for a breeder. They have overheads to meet which provide a baseline above which they can start to make a profit. That said, nearly all Maine Coon breeders are hobby breed...

The experts including cat show judges sometimes refer to the Maine Coon as a 'natural breed' but this descriptive phrase is an oxymoron as all cat breeds are unnatural as they are the products of artificial selection which is the opposite to the method by which new species are created: natural selection. In case you don't know the word, an oxymoron is a phrase in which the words conflict. In this instance the word 'natural' conflicts with the word 'breed'. There is nothing natural about cat breeding. It is all very contrived and unnatural. It is quite brutal in many ways; keeping studs in cages all their miserable lives and procreating from time to time and doing nothing else. And the females forever pregnant. All organised and managed by a person. All Maine Coons originate from moggie barn cats in Maine and the east coast of the US. The forerunner of the Maine Coon were not breeds. They were your standard random-bred cats imported from England with the Euro...

Firstly, the tufts of hair sticking out of the top of a Maine Coon's ear flaps are named after the lynx wild cat as they have them in abundance. The tufts of hair on the lynx wild cat are believed to have a function but we don't know as yet what it is! Perhaps a communication tool via body language. They are likely to be functional to improve survival as almost everything that evolves is designed to improve survival. Maine Coon lynx tips on the ears are purely decorative. Image: MikeB But for the Maine Coon cat these impressive tufts of hair are decorative . They enhance the ear. They decorate the ear as if decorating a sofa with cushions 😎💓. Same thing. There is a rules-based reason: the breed standards insist on them. I've quoted the CFA breed standard in the infographic on this page. The standard allows for breeder discretion which is why you see large variations in the length and density of lynx tips depending on the breeder. The breeders create them over generations ...

In the world of purebred cats, the Maine completely dominates in suffering from hip dysplasia. No other breed or non-breed comes near in terms of prevalence. The right hip is more likely to be diseased compared to the left. The disease can make Maine Coons aggressive and lose interest in human attention (presumed due to the persistent discomfort) which is sad as this cat is calm and friendly when healthy and well cared for. The disease was first mentioned in 1974. This article sets out information about a large number of Maine Coon cats which suffer from hip dysplasia. I will present the information in bullet form below: There were 2732 individual cat participating in this study of which 99.9% were Maine Coons (2708). The youngest Maine Coon cat with feline hip dysplasia (FHD) was four months of age. The oldest was 60 months of age. Of the 2708 Maine Coon cats with hip dysplasia, 2548 had non-borderline symptoms which meant it was full-blown hip dysplasia. Hip dysplasia was more common...

According to a Maine Coon cat breeder, Debbie, in The Netherlands, developing within the cat fancy and among Maine Coon breeders, there is a 'new-style' Maine Coon. This is unofficial. It is in breach of the breed standard or should I say breed standards because there are several leading cat associations with their own breed standard but with respect to this breed, they are similar. Siamese cat But the concept of "new-style" compared to "old-style" comes from the Siamese cat. The Siamese cat has many different appearances from the "Applehead" (more cobby features) to the "old-style" (more classic looking) and the 'Modern Siamese' (super slender) as I have referred to it . There is also the Thai cat which is also a Siamese cat which is meant to be the same as the original version. Push boundaries The point I'm making is that breeders tend to go their own way and push the boundaries of the breed standard and go beyond those boun...

Stunning flame coloured Maine Coon. Photo:  Катерина Силантьева. Bred in Russia. What are the ethical standards like in Russia? Any different to anywhere else?  This is a provocative question and a statement that implies that all cat breeders are bad people. This is incorrect and unfair. It is generalizing far too much. Breeders including Maine Coon cat breeders are not bad people. If you met one - usually a middle-aged lady - you'd probably like them and get on just fine. They are just people who normally don't see the problem with cat breeding in terms of the following two overarching issues: When you breed an individual cat such as a glorious Maine Coon kitten which will be bought by somebody, in effect you take away the possibility of adoption of one rescue cat in one shelter somewhere. That is somewhat theoretical but the equation is obvious. A person adopting a Maine Coon cat might have adopted a beautiful, large rescue cat with medium-length hair instead, that's been...

The difference between a Maine Coon cat and a domestic longhaired cat comes down to the fact that the former has been artificially bred (selective breeding) whereas the latter has usually procreated according to natural selection. Natural selection is random breeding and therefore the domestic longhair is a random-bred cat whereas, selective breeding produces a purebred, pedigree cat registered with a cat association.  Difference between Maine Coon and domestic long hair. Infographic by MikeB. And because each individual Maine Coon cat is registered with a cat association, if they are in genuine Maine Coon, their appearance should comply with the association's breed standard . The breed standard tells breeders what their Maine Coon cats should look like in order that they can win cat show competitions if they want to enter their cat into these competitions. And so, as the appearance of Maine Coon cats is moulded to the guidance of a breed standard (see a section below from the...

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 ...

I have seen some very misleading articles on this from leading websites including Maine Coon Central. 'Ear tufts' refer to the long, stiff hair strands that sprout from the tip of the ear flap. It is hair outside the ear flap and therefore plays no part in preventing dirt and debris from entering the ear canal as stated by Maine Coon Central.  Fantastic ear tufts on a young ginger tabby and white Maine Coon. Photo: Facebook (believed). Debris is stopped by what the cat fancy call 'ear furnishings' which is the hair inside the ear flap.  Ear tufts are purely decorative for the domestic cat and the Maine Coon. All domestic cats have ear tufts but for nearly all of them they are very slight and hardly visible sometimes. So why do Maine Coons have enlarged ear tufts? It is because the breed standard insists on them. Here is the CFA breed standard: EARS : Shape: large, well-tufted, wide at base, tapering to appear pointed. Set: approximately one ear’s width apart at the base...

Malocclusion is the imperfect positioning of the teeth when the jaws are closed. There are various versions of it. The lady who cares for this extreme-bred, ginger Maine Coon says her cat has an underbite. It is hard to see in the photo. It means that the lower jaw protrudes further out than the upper jaw. It looks relatively slight in this cat. Ginger Maine Coon with underbite (malocclusion). Cause? Probably inbreeding. Photo: u/jourdanlc  She writes on Reddit: Vet thinks he’s around 4 or 5 years! Yeah, he was dumped out in our neighborhood last Christmas 🥺 we’re in Alabama so tbh it’s not surprising. The animals laws here are practically non-existent. I’ll look that up! He’s definitely been a great kitty! She doesn't have a great regard for animal welfare in Alabama 😉. I am sure that she is right. Imagine dumping a genuine Maine Coon. And one with a great character. Really careless and callous I'd say. And rare too. Very few Maine Coons are abandoned. But what about the u...

On the left is GC, BWI, DW NEKOLAND XOXO XANDER BRIGHTMAN from the 2019-20 cat show season: International: Best of Breed. A brown tabby & white, male Maine Coon Cat. A top-quality MC. On the right is a cat from Pinterest which has probably be bred in Eastern Europe or Russia. I have mentioned this before as you might know. Extreme Maine Coon muzzle versus CFA International Best of Breed muzzle. Image on left: CFA. On right: Robert Sijka. The difference is reflected in the different approach to selective breeding in the US and in Eastern Europe. Or perhaps this 'extreme' Maine Coon was bred in the US which the objective of creating a European style Maine Coon. And the difference is very clear. The muzzle should not be as unnatural as we see on the right. Naturalness must count for a lot in breeding. The Cat Fanciers' Association make this clear in their breed standard: MUZZLE/CHIN: is visibly square, medium in length and blunt ended when viewed in profile. It may give t...

We know that about 30% of Maine Coon cats have a genetic mutation which makes it likely that they will develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a thickening of the muscle walls of the heart. It leads to heart failure and other complications. It is an inherited disease in Maine Coon cats, one of several. It is a shame that this highly popular cat breed, which is increasing in popularity, has the stain of inherited diseases against its reputation. RELATED:  Gene mutation troponin-T (TNNT2) implicated in HCM in Maine Coon cats . HCM in cats. Note thickening of heart muscle and decrease in lumen size of the ventricle. Gif: CVCA. Mavacamten (MYK-461) is a drug which is about to emerge as a treatment for HCM in humans. In 2020 MyoKardia was purchased by Bristol-Myers Squib for $13.1billion. The price was based in part on this new drug which has been shown to improve heart function in 37% of humans suffering from HCM compared to 17% who improved taking a placebo. In 2014 MyoKardia with ...

In 1999, a group of scientists decided to take one Maine Coon cat suffering from familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHCM) and from that "proband" (an individual serving as the starting point for a genetic study of a family) they created a colony or family of HCM sufferers by mating the proband with related cats.  Image: Pixabay. To be clear, the scientists created an inbred family of Maine Coons who all suffered from HCM. The purpose? To determine the mode of inheritance, phenotypic expression and natural history of HCM to better understand the disease in humans. To a cat advocate, this is an abuse of domestic cats and unusually a very popular purebred cat, the Maine Coon. They concluded that HCM in this family of Maine Coons that they had created resembled the human form of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. As a consequence, the research should prove to be "a valuable tool for studying the gross, cellular, and molecular pathophysiology of the disease". Th...

Having looked at thousands of pictures of Maine Coon cats and studied the CFA breed standard I've become somewhat obsessive about the muzzle of this ever-popular cat breed. It is an important and distinguishing characteristic of the breed. I am beginning to sound like a member of the cat fancy when I am very much an outsider. I have to say that the muzzle on this individual is very pretty if I am allowed to use that adjective. German bred Maine Coon has a perfect muzzle for me. The cat is described by the breeder (Viktorija ShadowMeadow) as blue-cream tortoiseshell. The cat is 8-months-old. I think it is very well balanced. And that is an important factor in the breeding of these cats. Maine Coon cats should have a visibly square muzzle with a blunt end to it but it should not be bred to extreme to the point where it becomes out of balance with the rest of the face.  I have seen extreme muzzles and although they look interesting and impressive to some people, I don't think t...

CFA breed standard for ears: EARS: Shape: large, well-tufted, wide at base, tapering to appear pointed. Set: approximately one ear’s width apart at the base; not flared. Well, yes, it is the hallmark of the Maine Coon that their ears should be large and well-tufted. That and the muzzle distinguishes them from the common cat! 😏 No cat is a common cat but you'll take my point. The ears and muzzle are what makes them what they are plus their size and shaggy coat. And this smoky beauty has those ears. Breeders focus on them. They mould the appearance genetically. I must say I am not a great fan of selective breeding (artificial selection as opposed to natural selection). It is humans playing God. I prefer leaving nature alone as nature knows best.  Humans can go wrong if they think they are better and bigger than nature. Look at climate change. Nature is telling humankind to get a grip and to stop destroying the planet. Global warming is like a Maine Coon slapping down a person who...

This ginger-and-white Maine Coon is all ears and paws surrounding a strong muzzle. Well, that is what I see when I look at the photo. It is an unusual Maine Coon photo. It is like two very tall ears with a ton of 'ear furnishings' (hair in cat fancy language) at one end and large paws at the other. In the middle is cat face with an exaggerated muzzle. Every part of this young, male Maine Coon that makes him a member of this cat breed has been exaggerated through careful artificial selection (selective breeding).  Maine Coon is all ears and paws with a strong square muzzle in-between. Photo: Pinterest. The breeder has taken the breed standard, highlighted the bits which distinguishes this cat from the others and said, 'Let's makes those elements stronger and more noticeable'. And they've succeeded. The ginger gene ' O ' is sex-linked, so I know that this is a male cat. There are some female ginger tabbies (all gingers are tabbies) but they are sterile....

The classic response to the question in the title is that ultimately, the Maine Coon cat is from Europe. At that time, in the 1600s, they weren't Maine Coon cats but longhaired European cats. They were brought over on ships with European settlers starting around the 1600s. The ships landed in Maine and down the eastern seaboard including it seems New York state. Silver tabby Maine Coon kittens. Photo: Helmi Flick. Over the intervening 400 years or so these longhaired cats became farm and barn cats and then they became the first show cats in the middle of the 1800s. In order to become show cats, they were then selectively bred. The winning cat of the first formal American cat show at Madison Square Garden , New York, was a Maine Coon tabby cat. Also, during mid-late 1800s breeders selectively bred the cats which was the beginning of the journey to them losing their connection with their origins. So, when you ask where Maine Coon cats come from, I think the best answer now is to s...

DNA testing has shown that the cat breeds can be separated but only over the past 150 years or so. The point about this DNA testing is that it shows that extensive selective breeding by purebred cat breeders has taken the cat breeds away from their origins.  So, for example, the Persian is meant to come from Persia but none of the Persian cats in existence today have any connection to Persia, now Iran. Selective breeding has distanced the current breeds from their origins and this applies, I would argue, to the Maine Coon cat. Maine Coon from South America. Photo: Dani. You would have thought that all the current Maine Coon cats in America had their origins in the state of Maine in America. You would have thought that these cats had been brought over by European settlers in the 1600s to the state of Maine on the East Coast, become farm cats and then refined into show cats at the end of the 1800s. A DNA test should be able to establish that the current Maine Coon cats in America ...

It is fairly obvious to me why a lot of people regard the Maine Coon cat as special. They are the biggest domestic cat breed and the biggest domestic cat barring the top end wild cat hybrids such as the F1 Savannah cat. Size counts in the world of cats.  What makes Maine Coon cats special? Size is the answer and this is one of many huge MCs on the internet. They seem to be quite common nowadays. Picture: in  public domain. And there are some fascinatingly huge Maine coon cats featured on the Internet. They look like large dogs. There is a kind of obsession with big domestic cats. But size in any context is important and normally it is big that is better than small.  So it is about humans playing God. It is artificial selection or otherwise known as selective breeding. Nature wouldn't have done this. The original Maine Coon cats would have been like any other domestic cat with medium-long hair. They would have been quite non-descript relative to some of the day's super out...

This is an example of extreme breeding. This is a Maine Coon but this cat is an extreme and rare example of this breed. This is not the way they look normally. This face is almost like an aggressive robot with the piercing eyes and the huge muzzle.  Or like a lion's head. The head looks enormous and very heavy. It looks unreal. But it also looks very impressive.  And purchasers like impressive-looking domestic cats. But this not the face of a Maine Coon that wins cat show competitions as it does not fit the breed standard as accurately as the more moderate winners (see below).  In fact, the CFA standard is clear in that the cat should have a balanced appearance although this cat was not bred under the CFA breed standard as I understand it (see below).  Click here for more on the kind of MC which wins at shows . Maine Coon selectively breed to have an extreme face. Image in the public domain. And the Maine Coon is meant to be a large cat, the largest domestic cat b...