Your Maine Coon Guide

This may help people who are in the process of adopting a Maine Coon kitten. It is an infographic which highlights the basic health factors to assess when buying a kitten. You should really visit the seller's home to assess the kitten before buying. This is going to be ruled out if you buy online and at a distance. You could, however, insist on a contract that states that you have the right to reject the kitten if it does not meet the standards as stated in the infographic although I would expect that to be very rarely demanded. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE IT LARGER IF YOU LIKE Buying a Maine Coon is about quality; the quality of the kitten, the services provided such as guarantees, the aftercare provided and above all the quality of the parents and the standard of the breeder. All these factors increase the cost of the kitten from under $1000 to something in the order of $5000. A big difference but if you can afford it, I'd go for the quality option as you are guaranteed to adop...

Pretty Maine Coon with lion cut. Image in the public domain. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General said this about global warming: "The only surprise is the speed of the change. Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning. The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived." Relative to America, air conditioning is quite unusual in most of Europe. The Washington Post recently reported that only 20% of European homes have air conditioning, and it's rare to find it in schools or offices. I've argued that in some American states such as Texas it would be unfair to have a Maine Coon as it'd be too hot . There are many Maine Coon cats in Europe. And further, July is "virtually certain" to be the hottest month on record globally by a significant margin, the United Nations and a European science agency have said. July's first 23 days averaged a record 16.95°C globally. You might have read about the wil...

This is a cross-post. I hope that it helps to explain hip dysplasia in Maine Coon cats. The x-rays that we see are not very helpful in terms of understanding the disease. So, I decided to produce a very compact and succinct infographic which I hope people will find useful because a lot of people look at websites on their smartphones. They are looking for speed. As I have said before, it is a great shame that this beautiful cat breed suffers from four serious inherited health problems one of which is hip dysplasia. The diseases don't come about exclusively because of artificial selection i.e. selective breeding but inbreeding is a major contributor to this disease being so prevalent at around a quarter of all Maine Coons. I can think of three others immediately: spinal atrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and patella luxation. The first concerns the spine gradually atrophying i.e. becoming weaker, the second regards a serious heart disease in which the muscle thickens. It begins wit...

As the Maine Coon (MC) is the largest domestic cat breed and as they CAN weigh around 20 pounds, I'll attempt to work out an answer on the basis that the owner has a large MC at 20 pounds in weight. That's convenient for me because I have prepared an infographic which sets out the minimum and maximum cost for ONE YEAR for dry, wet and raw cat foods in the United States to feed a 10 POUND cat. Here it is: So, if we rather crudely double the cost for a MC we arrive at the following. Note: doubling the food intake for a cat double the weight is a bit simplistic but I believe a good starting point. In feeding a Maine Coon, the cheapest dry food for one year, the cost would be twice the $86 (the cost for a 10-pound cat) which makes $172 and for the most expensive dry food it would be $704. Feeding the same MC with the cheapest wet food would using the same double cost produces $892 per year for the cheapest wet food and the most expensive would be $4214. Feeding a raw diet, the cos...

Maine Coons in general have shorter lifespans than the domestic cat population because of inherited diseases. Generally, with exceptions, there are more 'disabled' Maine Coons than in the general domestic cat population too because of the same reason. The infographic highlights some pointers that can make things a little better for elderly cats. It is a little strange to me to think that Maine Coons (MCs) become adults later than most domestic cats. I am not sure why but we are told that it might take until the age of 4 to become adult. By that time, they may have a heart murmur due to HCM.  Lifespan And we are also told that their average MC lifespan is around 12.5 years. The average moggie might add another 5 years to that. This is 40% more! Weird. Perhaps the data is slightly inaccurate.  But what is accurate is that MCs will be older earlier than normal in general - there will of course be exceptions. This I think makes the infographic useful. There is another usefulness. ...

Long-haired breeds — such as Persians and Maine Coons — may be at greater risk for developing hairballs than are short-haired breeds. Some cats are, by nature, more fastidious than others in their grooming habits. Those are the words of the Cornell Feline Health Center. On that premise I'd like to present an infographic which may interest some readers who live with a Maine Coon cat. They are famous for their shaggy coats. infographic by MikeB at PoC. Hairballs are an actual problem or a potential one in many domestic cats although my shorthaired cat has never had them. An advantage of living with a shorthaired moggie. Cats deal with hairballs with ease normally as a cat's stomach is designed to handle hair and cats are highly proficient vomiters.  But despite that, some cats accumulate hair in the stomach and rather than passing onwards to the intestines it is vomited up usually at the exact point where you don't want to see it. It is normal for a cat to regurgitate hairbal...

If you like it and want to illustrate a webpage or print it out for some homework or something, feel free. Don't download this version as it has been compressed. Download the original which you can see by clicking on this link . When you get to the page, right click on the infographic and select 'save as'. Bingo.  It has to be very compact on detail as infographics have limited space. The salient points are covered.  At one time the Maine Coon was almost extinct as a breed. It is hard to imagine now as it is in the top three most popular cat breeds. The reason? Their impressive size and overall appearance supported by some amazing individual cats who've been bred to extreme.  The breed standard does not insist that this breed be huge but some breeders have struck out and made them as big as the wild lynx. Their popularity is mainly about their impressive appearance but their temperament is good. You can tell by the photos of them on the internet. Thousands of photos of ...

This is an infographic which examines the CFA breed standard for the Maine Coon in relation to the muzzle. An important part of the cat's anatomy. It is very important for the breeders as the muzzle is one element which distinguishes the Maine Coon from other at breeds. The breeds have to look different for obvious reasons. The cat fancy achieves this with selective breeding. Historically the Maine Coon is a regular, medium-longhaired moggie that was a barn cat. When you see the original Maine Coons from over 100 years ago, they look like rescue cats! They wouldn't pass muster today because of the evolved breed standard. The muzzle and the lynx tipped ears are probably the two most distinguishing features combined with the cats 'solid and rugged' appearance. Those are the words of the CFA. No mention of size. The cat show winner in the infographic must be female and is quite delicate, interestingly. The muzzle is pronounced however.