Your Maine Coon Guide

Planning permission for a hobby Maine Coon breeding facility at a home refused by planning authorities. Image: MikeB Goole cat breeder plans refused after complaints from neighbours about “noise and smell”. The Western Area Planning Sub-Committee of East Riding Council, UK rejected the proposal for a site on Western Road, Goole, which was intended to accommodate a total of 12 cats. While council officers advised approval of Jekaterina Jermakova's plans, two councillors and a self-proclaimed cat hater, Councillor Thomas Robson, deemed the complaints to be overstated.  Conversely, Councillor Nick Coultish of Goole North reported that several neighbours had raised concerns about the noise and odour from the large cats, comparable in size to medium-sized dogs, that were to be bred on the premises. The design for the breeding facility, partially constructed already, included provisions for housing nine cats in the backyard at any given time. Councillors were informed that the owner inte...

You might ask a wider question rather than just looking at the beautiful Maine Coon cat and ask whether all small cats have similar tails. The answer is that they don't. And I'm talking about the wild cat species as well as the cat breeds and the moggies. I think this is 'Oscar' an Australia Maine Coon and what a tail. Perfect. Image assessed as being in the public domain on social media.  There is a variation among wild cat species in tail length which is due to evolutionary pressures such that, for example, the snow leopard has a beautifully long rope-like tail to aid balance while it chases prey (blue sheep) on 40° escarpments high up in the Himalayas while the American bobcat has a very short tail as has the lynx because they don't want their tails to drag in the snow ! That's the suggested reason and the underlying reason is always evolutionary pressures in order to boost survival. The typical domestic cat has a standard looking tail of medium length but t...

A study found that no matter where the Maine Coon was born they have a very similar chance of developing hip dysplasia. Here is the chart: What does this tell us? Well for me it tells us that around a quarter of Maine Coon cats develop hip dysplasia (Feline Hip Dysplasia - FHD) anywhere in the world. The same genetic problems exist in all these regions. The breeders are making the same errors in all countries. It is possible to stop the inheritance of FHD; you remove foundation breeding cats from the blood line if they carry the genetic mutation which produces offspring with the disease. But the breeders won't do it because it would change the cats' appearance detrimentally as per the breed guidelines (the standard). Here is a quote from the study mentioned which is: "Demographics of hip dysplasia in the Maine Coon cat". The overall prevalence of FHD was 24.9% (635/2548), and was slightly higher in males (279/1023 [27.3%]) than females (356/1525 [23.3%]) (P = 0.025)....

Maine Coon breeders can take several steps to minimise the incidence of inherited diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), hip dysplasia and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). In my view, the quality of a Maine Coon cat breeder depends on how energetically they adopt the following strategies which I don't claim is a complete list. As a purchaser of a Maine Coon kitten I'd ask some pertinent questions when meeting the breeder as to how they deal with these aspects of their operation. Genetic testing: the competent and committed Maine Coon breeder will engage in genetic testing. They will in fact prioritise it to identify carriers of specific diseases. They want to know if there foundation cats are free of inherited diseases. If they carry the genetic mutations which create these diseases. And there are DNA tests available for the three diseases mentioned above. These are the major inherited diseases. Breeders will select breeding pairs that are free from these genetic mu...

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 ...

This is a slightly black, depressing article but the idea came to me a moment ago. The reason why the Maine Coon cat breed is in the top three most popular cat breeds in America and perhaps around the world is because the people who buy Maine Coon kittens from breeders are enamoured of the breed's appearance while apparently ignoring an aspect of this breed which is more important namely their health. And their health is not good. You might argue that this breed's health is dire. You might argue that it's shameful that such a handsome cat breed with such a fantastic history has been brought low through irresponsible and unethical breeding. I don't need to remind you about the health of this cat. But I will just touch on a few points. If you want to look into the health of this breed more, I would ask you to use the search facility at the top of the page. Or if you like click on this link because that will take you to the majority the articles about Maine Coon cat healt...

A study discovered that Maine Coon cats are 12 times more likely to develop "slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). So, what is it and is this important? Maine Coon cats are 12 times more likely to develop "slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). Image: the study referred to (background). The overall image is by MikeB (Canva). It may interest Maine Coon cat owners and those who want to purchase a Maine Coon to know that this cat breed - in addition to inheriting a predisposition to hip dysplasia - also appears to inherit another hip joint condition which, as I understand it, can sometimes lead to hip dysplasia and this other condition is called slipped capital femoral epiphysis . It affects the hip joint. RELATED:  Infographic on hip dysplasia in Maine Coon cats . The study was published in 2016. It is online. You can read it if you wish by clicking on this link . The study was conducted in Austria. The interesting and perhaps disconcerting conclusion of the study, as me...

Red and ginger The title refers to 'ginger' coated Maine Coons. Firstly, the word 'ginger' means 'red' in the cat fancy. The word 'red' is used by the cat fancy and 'ginger' or 'yellow' is used by owners! Both the solid red coat and the red tabby coat are listed under the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) breed standard and are therefore both accepted by this premier cat association in the US.  Red (ginger) tabby Maine Coon. Image in the public domain. Breeders So, it's just a question of finding a breeder who is breeding solid red or red tabby Maine Coons from foundation cats that are red tabbies. And in searching for such a breeder it might be true that there are few breeders creating red Maine Coons.  I don't know how many breeders are breeding the red and red tabbies. If there are very few then the answer to the question in the title is that they are rare! But it will only be because breeders don't want to breed them. Ho...

If you love cats living with a Maine Coon cat is great. They have an impressive appearance and an attractive personality. Please read on... If you asked a hundred different people living with a Maine Coon cat what it's like you will probably receive a hundred different answers because each of those individual cats will have their own character. And this is the point: Maine Coon cats are like any other domestic cat in many respects.  You could say that 90% of a Maine Coon cat's character is the character of the domestic cat while the remaining 10% will be the character selectively bred into Maine Coon cats by breeders. And the overarching factor is, as mentioned, each individual cat's character. Image copyright Helmi Flick. I'm not going to describe the general domestic cat character because this page really is about the Maine Coons cat character; at least partly because another aspect of living with a Maine Coon cat is their size. A third major aspect is their shaggy co...

Strange huge Maine Coon with abnormally small ears with no lynx tips. Image: Instagram This should be an interesting picture to Maine Coon aficionados. When you look at this enormous Maine Coon who is very impressive it gradually dawns on you, I hope, that there is something dramatically wrong about the cat's appearance if you are into this cat breed and know a bit about the breed standard. The ears are inordinately small on this individual cat and very positively not in line with the breed standard. And it does not matter what breed standard we are referring to because all of them require that the ears are large and triangular and at the tip of the ear flaps there should be tufts of fur sticking out which are called "lynx tips". The phrase as you probably know comes from the lynx wild cat species which has tufts of fur sticking out from the top of their flaps. But just look at this beautiful Maine Coon cat with a very strong muzzle which is in line with the breed standar...

I am or was slightly bemused by this Maine Coon video. She is a beautiful Maine Coon cat and she is kneading a fluffy cover of some sort. The cover is made of a white fabric probably fleece. Fleece doesn't normally come loose.  Maine Coon has the most amazing 'tufted paws' that you'll ever see. Screenshot. I say that because this female Maine Coon has so much fur on her feet that it makes me almost believe that she has picked up some of the fabric from the cover that she is kneading. I don't know but have you ever seen so much fur on the feet of a Maine Coon cat?  We know that the Maine Coon is known to have a lot of fur sticking between their toes. It is one of the signatures of this popular domestic cat breed. But if you look at the video carefully you will see an inordinate amount of it the stuck to her feet which does not seem plausible. I don't see how it can be like that. It seems impossible. But she is a hairy Maine Coon cat! And that is the reason why sh...

This is a very short note on an interesting topic as it concerns the weight of the Maine Coon which is important to Maine Coon afficionados. Although Maine Coon kittens have a birth weight which is higher than that of other breeds e.g., Maine Coon kittens 115 grams, Norwegian Forest Cat kittens 106 grams, Birman kittens 97 grams, Siamese kittens 92 grams and Persian kittens at 82 grams, the weight of Maine Coon kittens relative to their mother's weight tended to be lower than for the other breeds mentioned. Lithuanian Maine Coon kitten. Image: the breeder. For instance, Maine Coon kittens' weight relative to their mother's weight was 2.3% in this study. For the Norwegian Forest Cat kittens, the percentage was 2,7%, Birmans 2.8%, Siamese 2.8%, Exotic Shorthair 2.9%, British Shorthair 3.1% and Persians 3.2%. Incidentally this tendency is seen in puppies i.e. smaller birth weight for the larger dog breeds. For comparison the study states that the kitten to female mature weight...

The answer to the question in the title comes from Google's AI computer Bard. Here it is. It is flawed. There are errors which I mention below the answer. For those of you who I have never heard of Bard, it is Google's version of an artificial intelligence chat box. You can ask it questions and it provides a good answer, written in good English at the moment.  Fictional depiction of Google's Bard. Image: DALLE E. It is in a developmental stage but it can be used as you can see on this page. It is going to change the way Google presents its search results. It is an attempt by Google in fact to take more control of the Internet in my view and I have questioned whether this development is fair and right in another article which you can read by clicking on this link . Bard's response to the title question Whether or not breeding Maine Coon cats is cruel is a complex question with no easy answer. On the one hand, Maine Coons are a relatively healthy breed with a lifespan of ...

This applies to all domestic cats. Maine Coons probably have slightly shorter life spans than moggies. And their health is compromised by inherited diseases which are been well documented. These probably affect their effective breeding lifespan. But in short, the general answer to the question is a very long time. Male cats have been known to produce offspring at the advanced age of 16 years. This is something like a human being in his 70s. Maine Coon family. Image copyright Helmi Flick. Female cats have been known to give birth when 12 years of age. There is a recent story on the Internet about a 30-year-old cat giving birth! That obviously is an exception (unique actually) and the cat was not a Maine Coon. In fact, I can't recall any Maine Coon living to the age of 30. That would be an incredible rarity. A 12-year-old cat is probably the equivalent of around the mid-60s for a human female. There is a story on the Internet of a woman giving birth at the age of 70. So there seems t...

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...

The Maine Coon x Siamese mix is a popular cat. Or at least it is discussed a lot on the Internet. But these are informal hybrid cats. They are not accepted by the Cat Fancier's Association (CFA), the premier association in the American cat fancy.  It is just breeders or individuals experimenting it seems to me. They like the idea of a hybrid of a cross between them Maine Coon cat and a Siamese cat. And it is quite a nice hybrid. Lynx point Siamese x Maine Coon hybrid. Image: Reddit.com user: u/chance_tyler11 However, it is a hybrid which is rejected by the CFA breed standard. You will note a couple of references to the pointed cat coat of the Siamese in the CFA breed standard which indicates this rejection. RELATED: Lynx point Siamese . Disqualification Firstly, in a paragraph concerning Maine Coon cats that should be disqualified at cat shows it refers to both the kinked tail and crossed eyes . In other words, any Maine Coon cat with a kinked tail or crossed eyes will be disquali...

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...

 A woman on social media is asking for help. It's quite a strange question. She has two Maine Coon cats, one male and one female. Their ages are 12 months and 9 months respectively. The male cat is calm and fine. The female is aggressive whenever she tries to brush or pick her up.  She hisses, growls, swats and nips her owner. She can't handle her cat and is at her wits end. She is asking for advice as to what to do next. Annoyed MC. NOT the cat in question!! This is probably a male Maine Coon. Image: YouTube. I must say I find this peculiar because an adopter buys a Maine Coon cat from a breeder or that is the normal route unless somebody has given you one or the cat has been owned previous to you. If you buy a Maine Coon cat from a breeder, they should be fully socialised and ready to be integrated into their new home. That is the duty of the breeder. They should spend a considerable end of time achieving a well socialised kitten. This cat appears to be unsocialised to a cer...

I think that it is always useful to go to science to examine the behavioural traits of any single cat breed. In this instance, a Finnish study titled: 'Breed differences of heritable behavioural traits in cats', looked at 5,726 individual cats through a questionnaire given to their owners.  Ginger tabby and white Maine Coon chilling. Image in public domain. Maine Coons participated in study as did other breeds and non-purebred cats. They were looking at whether selective breeding of Maine Coon cats and other breeds controlled to a certain extent the cat's character. And they found some correlations between genetic inheritance and behaviour. I have always said that in any chosen breed you can't say that all the individual cats are going to have the same character. That is impossible and it doesn't make sense. That's because there are two influencing factors: inherited character and environmentally altered character through experiences. Also, there are many breede...