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How to confirm that your Maine Coon cat is purebred without pedigree papers (and more)

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How to confirm that your Maine Coon is purebred without pedigree papers (and more). Note: this is not a Maine Coon but the picture is here from the Wisdom Panel video for illustrative purposes only. It shows a saliva swab being taken which is sent to the laboratory. Wisdom Panel provide a DNA testing service by mail. The business certainly operates in the USA and the UK and possibly other countries. You apply for a testing kit online. In the UK it currently costs £58.49 p. At the moment they are giving out free WHISKAS samples with every order.  They say they scan for 70+ breeds and populations, 45+ health tests and 25+ trait tests. So it is a comprehensive testing of your cat's DNA which they assess through a swab of their saliva.  You send this swab to their laboratories and they will send you the report in the post and/or perhaps online in an email as well. It's as straightforward as that. Click on this link to go to the UK website for the service . If you live in the USA I...
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Why are Maine Coons so expensive? Are they?

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Are Maine Coons really so expensive? Some people think they are because they ask Google this question. But every product in the world has a price which is dictated by market forces. The person sells a product at the price that they can get for it. It doesn't really matter whether it's good value for money or not. That is what the market dictates. Not the most expensive And this philosophy comes into play with cat breeders because the Maine Coon cat is not the most expensive breed. The F1 Savannah cats which are not actually a formal cat breed are far more expensive than a classy Maine Coon. These F1 Savannah cats can sell for well over $20,000 . And the Internet tells me that the Toyger, which is a cat breed developed to look like a miniature tiger, can sell for upwards of about $5000 . This will be generally more than the cost of a Maine Coon which is around $1200-$1500.  Quality and who's buying? But the price depends upon the quality of the cat. And it depends upon wheth...
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Difference between Maine Coon and domestic long hair

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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...
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Caveat emptor when you buy from a Maine Coon breeder. Some thoughts.

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It did not take me long to find a story on a pet forum about a person who bought a Maine Coon kitten from a breeder which went badly wrong. They did visit the breeder before buying and they found her facilities to be substandard but nonetheless they proceeded to buy a Maine Coon kitten (as stated).  The kitten had an amazing personality, but he died five months later from feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) a killer disease. A dreadful experience for cat and human. Note: if the facilities are poor walk away. Is she healthy and purebred. Image: Reddit.com. I expect that this breeder said that they had carried out all the tests and that the kitten was healthy. Another person on the same forum also bought from a Maine Coon breeder. This breeder advertised that her Maine Coon kittens had been tested for HCM and were negative. They went to the breeder's home to pick up their kitten and once again they found the conditions substandard.  The buyer said that they should have walked aw...
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Maine Coon mix kitten versus genuine Maine Coon kitten

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In earlier articles I have gone over what a genuine, purebred, pedigree Maine Coon cat and kitten should look like . They have a distinct look if they are purebred. The picture below shows you a good example. This is a tabby Maine Coon kitten for sale in England for £1,800 at the date of this post (Nov 22, 2022). The kitten is registered with the GCCF, which is the premier cat Association in the UK. Genuine Maine Coon kitten from England. Photo: Breeder based in Streatham, London. Below is a photograph of what a breeder tells us (on pets4homes.co.uk) is a male tabby Maine Coon adult cat as the father and a black Ragdoll cat as the mother. I have also published a photograph of one of their kittens. Photos: the breeder on pets4homes.co.uk who claims the parents are a Maine Coon father and Ragdoll mother. The first point to note is that the Ragdoll is a pointed cat, and you don't get solid black Ragdoll cats. So, this mother is a random bred cat in my view. And the offspring looks lik...
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Any chance he’s got Maine Coon or Savannah in him? He’s 15 lbs!

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This social media user asks the following: " Picked up this guy as a kitten and he never stopped growing, he just turned 1! I’m 6 foot 2 for reference. Any chance he’s got Maine coon or savannah in him? He’s 15 lbs!" Those were his words. Sorry for the lower-case spellings which are incorrect. It is natural to ask but if you have to ask, he isn't purebred. Any chance he’s got Maine coon or Savannah in him? He’s 15 lbs! No. Image: u/Bid325 on Reddit.com A lot of people ask if their cat is a purebred cat. Sometimes they ask if their cat is a purebred-mix cat. The latter is a moggie anyway so not much point in asking that question. This applies to this guy incidentally and in any case, he is holding up (in the wrong way 😒😉) a ginger tabby male cat of random bred origin which means a moggie to you and me.  No criticism intended. I feel that they have a good relationship. His cat looks like a moggie too. And I love moggies. They are the best cats in fact. Some random bred c...
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Can Maine Coons have short hair?

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Absolutely not; a purebred, pedigree Maine Coon cannot have short hair because the cat associations' breed standards always insist that the coat is "heavy and shaggy". I'm referring to the Cat Fanciers' Association's breed standard in this instance but they'll all be very similar. The CFA standard goes on to state that the coat should be "shorter on the shoulders and longer on the stomach and britches. Frontal ruff desirable. Texture silky with coat falling smoothly." Decent-looking Maine Coon complying more or less with the breed standard. Although the ruff could be more prominent. The coat is very shaggy which is desired. It is like a shag pile carpet! Photo in public domain. In the 'general section' of the breed standard it states that a distinctive characteristic of this cat breed is its "smooth, shaggy coat". A shorthaired cat cannot have a heavy, shaggy coat. The two are incompatible. Therefore, Maine Coons can't h...
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Maine Coon mix kittens for sale on Gumtree are a rip-off

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There is a lot that is wrong with the so-called Maine Coon cats and kittens which are advertised for sale on the website Gumtree. Firstly, many if not all are not purebred cats. They are labelled 'Maine Coon mix' or even Maine Coon but they are not.  In one example the advertiser tells us that her cat Bella gave birth to 7 kittens and that Bella is a Maine Coon but 'she does have a little bit of Norwegian Forest from her great-grandparents'. In other words this person is advertising Maine Coon kittens but when you read through the advert you know that they are not purebred but Maine Coon mix cats; essentially moggies. Yes, all her kittens are moggies because they are effectively random-bred, in a strict sense.  Maine Coon mix cats for sale on Gumtree are a rip-off. Photo: Gumtree. The word purebred contains the word "pure". If the genetic line, the bloodline is not pure, as is the case with Bella, the cat can't be purebred and if the mother is not pureb...
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The extreme Maine Coon face

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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...
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Maine Coon Size - this is a huge one!

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  Enormous Maine Coon with a head bigger than the person holding him. Pic: in public domain. Maine Coon size is very important to both breeders of this cat and the public. I sometimes think that the public is more obsessed with Maine Coon size than the breeders are. The bigger the Maine Coon the better. There is a fascination about it and I confess that there is nothing much more impressive than a huge Maine Coon. They've been bred like this through selective breeding but please remember that they weren't always like this. The original Maine Coons were regular farm cats in the state of Maine in 19th-century and before. They were robust, rugged, medium-longhaired moggy cats but impressive nonetheless. Their impressiveness led to breeders deciding to breed them which in turn led to the breed being accepted by the cat associations and then to win cat shows and become perhaps one of the most famous breeds in the world. The breed standard for the Maine Coon as provided by e.g. Cat F...
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Average lifespan of Maine Coon cat

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How long do Maine Coon cats live for? What's the average lifespan? Do they live shorter lives than the average random-bred family cat? These are difficult questions to answer accurately. In fact, I don't think we can answer them accurately because nobody has been counting. Nobody has a database or carried out a full-blown survey and therefore you will read anecdotal evidence i.e. statements by breeders or people who think they know the answer and these answers get repeated on the Internet. I am not sure that they are accurate. Picture of a Maine Coon who looks like a middle-aged man. Photo: Pinterest. My research indicates that people believe that Maine Coon cats live between about 10 and 15 years old. Some may live longer than that and some may live shorter lives. One well-known Maine Coon, Rubble, lived for 31 years and was at one time the oldest domestic cat in the world. But there will always be exceptions and this article is about the mean or the average although these ...
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Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6 weeks and 6-years-of-age

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This is a cross-post as the image is so damned good. It is amazing because the cat is amazing. To put the same cat at different stages of their life in the same photograph is a nice idea especially with this Maine Coon (MC) who has an amazingly heavy face. It is so mightily masculine to be almost unbelievable. He has a priceless expression on his face too. Very serious compared to the innocence of his face when he was 6 weeks old. He looks a bit coy when 6 weeks old and a slightly grumpy middle-aged man when 6 years old. Comparison of a black smoke Maine Coon at 6-weeks and 6-years-of-age. Image in pubic domain. No doubt he is huge too. You get a clear sense of that in the image. There is a serious and less impressive side to this image. It's the backstory that people don't really want to read about and discuss or in fact do anything about: heart ( HCM ) and joint disease. The bigger and heavier the MCs are the more predisposed to heart disease they are. Here is the posts on...
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Are Maine Coons illegal in some countries, states or territories?

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One Maine Coon website asks if Maine Coons are legal? My initial response was that it is a bizarre question (second thoughts below), but I'll answer it in my way. I say that it is a bizarre question because the Maine Coon is an entirely domestic cat by which I mean NOT a wild cat hybrid and therefore there is no reason whatsoever to declare it illegal in any jurisdiction unless that there is some other fanciful reason to ban the cat (there might be - see below). Are Maine Coons illegal in some countries, states or territories? No, to the best of my knowledge. Image: MikeB I know of no jurisdiction anywhere in the world that bans Maine Coons which makes sense. Conversely a similar sized domestic cat, the F1-F2 Savannah, is illegal in many jurisdictions (states, territories and countries) because it is a wildcat hybrid. The cat has some wild cat DNA which some legislatures consider to be detrimental to human health and welfare and to the conservation of wildlife (if the cat escapes t...
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5 Maine Coon transformations from kitten to adult (video)

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Maine Coon kitten and his adult self. Photo: Robert Silka. This is a series of photographs by the very famous Maine Coon photographer: robert_sijka. I think he presents his photographs too dark as there is not enough information in the photographs for my liking but he takes great photographs of great Maine Coon cats. In this series he photographs a kitten and their adult version. Each individual cat is a wonderful example of the Maine Coon breed. I can count five examples. In my experience, these Google Blogger videos only work if you click the centre play button and then, immediately afterwards, the play button bottom-left! It sounds bad but the short video is worth watching.
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Tortoiseshell Maine Coon with split-face

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Maine Coon with "split face". Photo: Screenshot. This is a very impressive Maine Coon. As you can see she is a tortoiseshell and as you probably know almost all tortoiseshell and calico cats are female. There are a few male tortoiseshell cats (and this might be one of them). Their sex is caused by a genetic aberration because the genetics of tortoiseshell cats dictates that they are almost always female. About one in 3000 are male as I recall. Also, it is not that unusual to see this extreme pattern on the face which creates the appearance of a "split-face". This is not what is called a "chimera" but a normal variation of the tortoiseshell pattern. Sometimes you do see what some people call "two-faced" cats with this sort of face due to a sharply defined pattern down the middle of the face. But the genetics behind that is different to this normal tortoiseshell variation. This is a particularly extraordinary looking Maine Coon cat. Not all Maine C...
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Eerie picture of a Maine Coon sitting like a human on a chest of drawers

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This is a slightly scary picture according to those who've seen it. One social media user said it was the devil and "If I walked into a room and saw that, I would assume some shit is about to go down". There is a ghostly stillness and sinister feeling about the image. 'Eerie' is a better description. This attractive cat appears to be completely at ease and comfortable sitting on top of a chest of bedroom drawers. The lighting from below (deliberate?) enhances the eerie effect. It seems possible that this is a photo-edited image but if so, it has been done with great skill. However, I don't think this is Photoshopped. Rethink: to be honest, the more I look at the picture, the more I feel that this is a photo-edited image. It is just too unnatural to be real. Although some domestic cats get themselves into some very strange positions. Maine Coon calmly sitting just like a human on a chest of drawers. Picture source unclear. Image deemed to be in the public d...
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A mightily beautiful orange Maine Coon

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Orange cats seem to feature in films more than other types of domestic cat . Is it because they have good, balanced characters? I am discussing the possibility of a link between coat type and color and character. A big call. A longshot. But possible. I discussed it in another post - click here if it interests you .  So, we love orange cats. They are undoubtedly one of the more popular cat coat types. And that is one reason why this Maine Coon is so damned attractive. What a combination: the size and presence of the Maine Coon, the world's largest domestic cat breed , and the orange tabby coat ( the friendliest cats? ) A mightily beautiful orange Maine Coon. Photo: Pinterest. I think this sort of domestic cat is the most desirable. You would be hard pressed to adopt a better cat but the best ones to adopt are the unadoptable, elderly, black rescue cats languishing in a shelter somewhere . A bit about the orange cat Cat breeders tend to refer to orange as red. The general public r...
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Today's Maine Coons are much larger and longer than the original

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There was a time, during the early years when the Maine Coon's popularity was in decline that the cat fanciers struggled with writing what they believed to be the correct breed standard. There was competition between what Richard H Gebhardt describes as a "progressive standard" or one which was designed to "describe and preserve an existing cat" i.e. fix the appearance. At this time this cat breed was much more a standard looking cat which is probably why it failed to catch the imagination of the cat loving public of America. Maine Coon. Photo in public domain. A progressive standard is one which allows breeders to constantly "refine" the appearance as they might describe it. But this can lead to extreme breeding and extreme appearances such as is evident in the Persian and Siamese. There was a time, then, went Richard H Gebhardt says that cat fanciers asked, "is the Maine Coon cat simply the long-haired variety of the domestic, or American, sh...
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