Your Maine Coon Guide

This domestic cat is not so much a Maine Coon as a hairy monster from another planet. An extraordinary cat right up there will the other rare and amazing Maine Coons that we see on social media. Screenshot from video below. It is almost as if there is a competition going on with breeders. The prize? The weirdest Maine Coon and the biggest. On a more serious note that can lead to problems as breeders try to out-compete each other. What do you think about this cat? Please comment. There are two versions of the same video as one is uploaded and the other embedded. The latter is a little better quality but embedded videos from social media sites tend to disappear after a while which is why I have the uploaded one as well. That will not disappear. @anakin_and_arya Giga Cat 🗿😼 #catsoftiktok #mainecoonsoftiktok #gattiditiktok #mainecoon #catlover #kittenlove #mainecooncat #expensivecat #mainecoonlovers #cattok #gatti #gigacat #gigachad ♬ original sound - Logan Chitwood He...

Viewers are drooling over him and his oversized, multi-toed paws. When you compare them to the relatively dainty paws of a conventional domestic cat his great snow shoes look enormous.  You may know three things about polydactylism in Maine Coons: Back in the day when European settlers brought ships' cats over to Maine, they favoured polydactyl cats as they believed they could keep their balance better on deck! Or something like that. Perhaps that's a myth but it is an often stated one. It is why: It is believed that around 40% of early Maine Coons on the east coast of the US were polydactyl but: The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), America's premier cat association does not like polydactylism. As a consequence, Maine Coon show cats can't be polydactyl. If they are they are disqualified. This must have led to breeders selectively breeding the inherited condition out of the breed. There is a lower percentage today. 22-pound polydactyl Maine Coon with paws as big as a...

A stunning Maine Coon cat. That's about all you can say. The contrast of the black detailing and the snow-white coat with some smudges is what does it for me and of course the impressive size. You can see the faint, ghost tabby markings which I presume have been washed out by the dominant white gene. Strangely the eyes are not blue. Normally white cats have blue eyes or odd eye colour because the gene that removes the pigment from the hair strands does the same thing to the irises of the eyes or one eye. That leaves the eye blue due to the refraction of white light passing through the eye.  RELATED:  Why are kittens’ eyes blue ? It is the 'nose leather' as breeders call it (the end of the nose) that is black. Actually, there is a bit of unpigmented nose leather there as well but a stunning cat. Just a great cat. Another one. We see a lot of super impressive Maine Coons on the internet. We are spoiled for choice. I have no idea where the photo was taken. It is probably Ameri...

The picture highlights the size of the big Maine Coons. In some ways it is a bit deceiving because I'm sure that this Maine Coon weighs a lot less than the girl. This is partly because the cat is covered with shaggy, long hair. Visualise what the cat would look like naked and he'd be quite a bit smaller 😉. There is also a perspective issue as the cat is nearer to the camera than the girl and the photo was taken with a wide-angle lens which magnifies the perspective effect. It is not meant to be a direct, precise, size comparison. It's just a nice picture which brings home to us the extraordinary size of these very large Maine Coons which have become so popular. Maine Coon the size of a girl. This is a silver tabby by the look of it. Photo: Pinterest. On a minor point, it has to be added that the girl is holding this cat in an entirely incorrect way. I've seen this before with Maine Coons and kids. Maine Coons appear to be very accepting of being mishandled like this...

Not only is Figaro enormous at 28 pounds in weight, he is extremely placid. He is pliable and accepting. I get a clear sense that he is a very evenly-balanced domestic cat companion. The best kind really. And what is interesting is that every time I look at videos of really big Maine Coons they generally tend to be of the same character. I'm not sure what is going on here. Perhaps they all originate in one, single, super-placid enormous Maine Coon from about a hundred years ago.  And those genes have come forward to the present day. That is more than speculative, it is probably a bit crazy but perhaps not as far-fetched as it sounds. All Bengal cats for instance come from just a few individual cats. @thejexxi My Maine Coon Figaro—He weighs 28lbs 😻 #mainecoon #cat #longboi #fyp #foryourpage #bigcat ♬ original sound - Jessi Figaro a 28-pound black-and-white super-placid Maine Coon. Screenshot. Black-and-white cats are, as you know, bicolour cats which is another way o...

This is a nice photograph of a very large Maine Coon (yes, another wonderful-looking cat companion). What struck me immediately was the chiselled appearance of the smoke coat down the right foreleg of this cat. You can see the white parts of the hair strands below the dark tip. This to me is the classic smoke appearance. The top part of the hair strands are dark while underneath there is light coloured fur. The smoke coat and how it is created is very evident in this photograph of a beautiful Maine Coon cat. You can see the white under colour and the black tip. The photograph is from Twitter. I've lost the name of the contributor; sorry. The title explains how the smoke appearance is created as described by the authors of the book:  Robinson's Genetics for Cat Breeders and Veterinarians . They also state that: The action of I in producing white undercolor is clearly seen in this variety. (The symbol I is for the inhibitor gene). You might also see ghost tabby markings of ...

This handsome, all-white, male, giant Maine Coon likes to cuddle his female human companion a lot. He doesn't like to be alone and he follows her around wherever she goes. This includes going to the bathroom together which is normal for the domestic cat.  The bathroom is full of the smells of the human! Cats love that. It is like 'in-your-face' human presence. He lives in Moscow, Russia. You will see a lot of very large and highly impressive Maine Coons in Russia because the breeders tend to do an amazing job with their cats . They sometimes breed more impressive Maine Coons than the Americans which must be a bit galling to the Americans because this is an American cat or that's what they like to claim. I would agree with them because although the Maine Coon originates in the European cats they've been in America for 400 or more years. Do all Maine Coons like to be cuddled and be that close to their human caregiver? No, not all of them as each cat has their own i...

This fella, an enormous tabby Maine Coon, is snoozing on a hard metallic shelf. It looks uncomfortable but it isn't to him. I think the video is nice as it gives us a really nice feeling what it is like to live with one of these massive Maine Coons. The video was made on his birthday. He is 2 years old (not fully grown) and weights 26 pounds which is about 2.5 times the average weight of a domestic cat (about 10 pounds) .  Note : This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it. You have to think of a different kind of food budget. Everything is bigger. Most litter trays are going to be too small and you have to get the litter tray size correct to make sure they like it . Big Maine Coon snoozing in an unlikely place (video). Screenshot. I'd hope that he's been leash trained. Although I doubt it but it is the only way you can let this sort of im...

The young girl is holding this huge Maine Coon badly but that's beside the point because what is interesting is the size difference: none! Although I see a lot of youngsters holding cats like this. I don't know why their parents let them do it. It looks wrong and uncomfortable for the cat but they tolerate it well. All the large MCs I have seen are very placid. The cat appears to be a super silver tabby-and-white with the usual massive plumed tail. This child could not pick up this cat probably because of size and weight. How to pick up and carry a cat . Maine Coon competes with five-year-old girl for size. Photo: Pinterest. The introduction ('General') to the CFA breed standard for this cat breed makes no mention of size except to state that the 'quality should never be sacrificed for size'. So quality is more important than size. But size has become a symbol of quality among some breeders it seems. The two do overlap. A lot of admirers of the breed consider...

  The guy who made the video and posted it to YouTube said: "This handsome fella visits mum daily for tickles, petting and attention. It's become a daily routine for him." So, this Maine Coon is an indoor/outdoor cat which is unusual as he is stupendous. I mean that he looks special, in which case he is a candidate for theft. But he does look as if he is guarding the house. Stupendous Maine Coon allowed outside without supervision. Screenshot. Although we are not told, it seems that the video was made in England. This sort of extreme-bred Maine Coon is quite rare in the UK. I'd be fearful of losing him if let outside. But there you are. Some people either don't see the danger or are insistent that their cat, no matter how special and valuable, is allowed outside at their own volition.

This is a cat from Eurocoons in Kansas, USA. They breed European Maine Coons. Their foundation cats come from Ukraine. Ukraine is affiliated with Russia as I see it and the Russians breed amazing Maine Coons so the pedigree is there and their cats do looks awesome. They feed them raw food with love. You can check them out for yourself because I don't know them and I can't speak for them. All I can do is repeat what they say on their websites. They are very ambitious judging by the number of websites they have. And they've deliberately focused on the European Maine Coon on the basis that it is different to the American Maine Coon. This is their 'Quiet Arya'. He looks very placid being held aloft. His coat is amazing. His face is tortoiseshell and his body looks smokey with mittens on the toes. A great looking and unusual looking cat. Note: European Maine Coons are the same breed as American Maine Coons. It is that the interpretation of the breed standard is slightly ...

NO, the Maine Coon is not the biggest cat. That accolade goes to the Siberian tiger. The Maine Coon is the biggest domestic cat breed . That is a very specific statement. To say it another way, Maine Coon cats, in general, are the largest of all the purebred cats among the approximate hundred different cat breeds . So, I am not including the random read cats i.e. non-purebred cats in that statement.  Is the Maine Coon the biggest cat? No. Image in public domain. You will get some individual non-purebred cats who are bigger than large Maine Coons but that, in a way, is not the point because this is about that general "race" of cats called the Maine Coons. They are very special in that they are bred through selective breeding to be as large as possible. In order to achieve this the breeders select foundation cats which are large and they let them mate. And then the offspring mate with the parents and in this way, you magnify the largeness of the breed in that breeding line. ...

A picture of a cat entitled: My Maine Coon compared to my 5'5" girlfriend, by the photographer who uploaded to Reddit.com. My Maine Coon compared to my 5'5" girlfriend. This is 'as is' from Reddit. The guy who uploaded the photo is rather proud of the size of his Maine Coon and rightly so. However, not all Maine Coons are this large. Some are standard-sized almost . These very large individuals have a head size which is approaching that of a human which is extraordinary. This cat is silver tabby-and-white.  He has that obligatory shaggy ruff and the lynx-tipped triangular ears. I bet he's heavy after a while on her lap in front of the computer. Photographer to girlfriend: 'Hold it there darling while I snap that. It looks great. He looks enormous.'

Say no more. The title says it all. He weighs upwards of 35 pounds. I don't know anything about him except what we see, which is impressive. It is when a cat's head looks the same size as a human head that I sit up and have a good look because it is bizarre. The reason is always selective or artificial breeding. The breeder has found a very large foundation cat male cat and mated him I guess with a very large female cat. Bingo, a gargantuan offspring. The cat's head is slightly enlarged because it is nearer the camera but not by much. Maine Coon with a head as big as his human companion's. Photo in public domain. Originally from Imgur.

This is not my girlfriend but the girlfriend of Reddit user: u/Paradisity . And he takes a good cat photograph. He's got a nice smartphone I expect. The modern phone has amazingly competent photographic qualities incorporating large sensors at around 50 million pixels and super sensitive chips able to take photos in dark conditions. They are as good as the best 35mm SLR digital cameras. Everyone can be a very competent photographer nowadays. The photo reinforces the belief that the big Maine Coons (and not all Maine Coons are huge) can be enormous will a head size that approaches that of humans. My Maine Coon compared to my 5'5" girlfriend. Words and photo by Reddit user: u/Paradisity .

This is a very interesting looking Maine Coon cat. Firstly, as expected, this is a huge cat. The size is at the very top end of Maine Coon size. They do not come much bigger if at all. The cat is a silver tabby in my opinion and perhaps the more interesting aspect of this cat beyond his size is the jet black feet.  The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) states this about the feet:  Paws large, round, well-tufted . 'Well tufted' means hair between the toes. The CFA does not show us cats like this on their website. Their champion Maine Coons are much more conventional in size. The hair between the toes, which sticks out at all angles, is black. You know, for MCs, there should be hair between the toes sticking out like this. The breeders like to see this. And it is all the more visible because of its dark colour. It contrasts very nicely with the shiny silver coat.  This cat is about the size of a Canada lynx which is remarkable because the lynx is a medium-sized wild cat speci...

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...

Lotus is well known on the internet. I don't know if he is male or she is female! It sounds like a female name so here goes. She is one of those celebrity cats and genuinely enormous. At the top end of Maine Coon size which these days does indeed mean enormous. She is the size of a bobcat but not as heavy. Bobcats are all muscle and Maine Coons are quite rangy and slender beneath all that ruffled, shaggy fur. Lotus a huge Maine Coon with a superb plumed tail as expected. Picture: Instagram. She has a succesful Instagram page which is where these pictures come from. It is evidence that the public love their large pet cats. And the Maine Coon is the largest but not all of them are as magnificent as Lotus. She is special. And being female (if I am correct on gender) makes her more special. Females are generally a bit smaller than males and yet she is as big as the biggest male. I have no idea where she lives. I really don't. It is somewhere where they experience cold and snowy ...

This is a super-shaggy, very large, grey/brown tabby, Maine Coon cat and very impressive he is too.