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Woman posts her gripe against a Canadian Maine Coon cat breeder on Reddit.com

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This is a woman who has become thoroughly pissed off with a Maine coon cat breeder in Canada. Note: I have made the presumption that the complainant is female for the sake of convenience. She decided to advertise to the world on Reddit.com, which is a highly viewed social media website, her discontent with this breeder. It is a long post (see below) but the basic gist of it is that she bought a red Maine Coon kitten at a distance, without visiting the cattery. I guess this is going to happen in Canada where you have to travel very long distances because of a very low population relative to the size of the country.  But this story exposes the great dangers of doing that. She complains that her kitten was sick but their health is improving. She spent C$750 on a veterinary bill. The vet did diagnose a health problem from which it appears the cat is recovering. The complaining woman wants her money back. She was to return the kitten and her bill reimbursed. Maine Coon kitten. THIS IS N...
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Location: Canada
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What is a Maine Wave?

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The Maine Wave is a now a part of the history of cat breeds in that it was a new name suggested for the wavy-coated Maine coon cats which carried the Rex gene; the sort of genetic mutation that causes the curly-coated cats such as the Devon Rex and Cornish Rex.  Rexed Maine Coon in Germany. Photo: Messybeast.com The British breeder David Brinicombe bred these curly-coated Maine Coons and he said at the time: "I exhibited my three recently (billed as 'Maine Waves' or just 'Waves') and received an overwhelmingly positive reaction to them, with very few adverse comments." Not everyone in the cat fancy were so enamoured of the breed. The Rex gene was first reported to be in the Maine Coon cat by British breeder Di Everett. She commented in 1994:  "The first rexed Maine Coon in Britain was born, as far as we know, in our household in 1988. We have produced a total of four rexed kittens, from these different mothers, all mated to the same male". The par...
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Maine Coons were the first cats ever to be exhibited at competitive cat shows

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Maine coon cat shows predated the first formal cat show of 1871 in London. Desmond Morris in his book Cat World states that "Maine Coon shows had been taking place regularly before either of these". He is referring to both the first formal cat show of 1871 in London and the first North American formal cat show usually given as May 8th 1895 in New York .  "Maine Cat" - winner of America's first cat show in 1895. Picture in public domain. The early Maine Coon show cats look like today's moggies. Therefore, Maine Coons were the first cats ever to be exhibited at competitive cat shows unless the same thing was happening in England with British Shorthairs and there are no reports of that. The Maine Coon cat shows took place regularly from the early 1860s. Farmers in New England held an annual cat show at the Skowhegan Fair. He states that Maine Coon cats were brought from all over the region to compete for the title of "Main State Champion Coon Cat"...
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Location: Skowhegan, ME 04976, USA
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Is the Maine Coon the biggest cat? No.

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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. ...
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Maine Coon breeder in Kentucky charges $1000 for a European Maine Coon

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This is another little snippet of information from the Internet, this time YouTube. It comes from a YouTube channel "Life with Maine Coon Cats". The lady talks about her Maine Coon, Molly, which she describes as a European Maine Coon. She implies that there is a difference between European and American Maine Coons. I think you could add that there is a difference between Russian Maine Coons and their counterparts in both Europe and America. They are not big differences. WHAT SHOULD A MAINE COON LOOK LIKE? 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. She says that people are interested in how much they cost and I get that. The cost of a Maine Coon is constantly going up slightly year-on-year because of popularity. It's market forces and inflation, I guess. She paid $1,000 for Molly and the video is dated October 3, 2019. The price ...
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Location: United States
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Omar, celebrity Aussie Maine Coon, eats raw kangaroo meat

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Omar is Australia's celebrity Maine Coon. He's enormous as you can see in the photographs. I think he's the biggest domestic cat in Australia and in 2017 there was talk about him being the world's longest domestic cat at 3'11"! But I don't really care too much about these records because they are a bit artificial. He has a successful Instagram account - as he would - because people love big Maine Coons. I have a full page on him which is linked to below. Omar, Australia's celebrity Maine Coon cat (info and pics) Omar carried by Stephy Hirst. Photo: Omar's Instagram account. But the interesting aspect of this story is that his co-owner, Stephy Hirst, told the BBC that he eats raw kangaroo meat. She said: "It's the only meat we could find that he actually wants to eat". It's an interesting snippet of information about this celebrated cat. Sadly, we don't have more information about why Stephy put him on raw meat. It's unus...
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Location: Australia
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Should Maine Coons be bathed?

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No domestic cat should be bathed regularly, or at all, unless there is an emergency when he or she needs to be based to remove something toxic on her coat, for example. We know that domestic cats are fastidious in terms of grooming themselves. They clean themselves every day and spend a considerable amount of time doing it. Why interfere with that? They can do a better job than us. So, my response to the question in the title is no. Cat grooming themselves. This is not a Maine Coon. Photo in public domain. And I disagree with the owner of the Maine Coon Central website who is a woman. She says that you should bathe Maine Coons regularly but not more than once per month. As I said, I disagree.  Sometimes website owners copy from each other thus perpetuating misinformation. You have to go to reference books for the best information as I do and they don't tell me that Maine Coons have sensitive stomachs. There's no need to bathe domestic cats and, depending upon the individua...
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Popular posts from this blog

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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No part of a Maine Coon cat should be exaggerated

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It is interesting to read that the premier cat association, the CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association) - the cat association which really dictates (with TICA) how Maine Coons should look - makes it clear that no part of the cat should be exaggerated, and the cat should be "well-proportioned and balanced".  In other words, any form of extreme appearance such as a particularly heavy muzzle or particularly large ears with extra-long lynx tips are not going to be seen as advantageous in terms of winning cat shows or in terms of having an ideal appearance. As soon as I read that no part of a Maine Coon should be exaggerated, I immediately thought of the extremely large, extreme-bred Maine Coon cats that often come from Russia. These cats have very heavy muzzles.  Lion-faced Maine Coon with exaggerated features. Image in public domain now. In fact, their heads look like the heads of lions. I get the impression that breeders have selectively bred their cats over years to look like male...
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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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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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Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes

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Black smoke Maine Coon Richie with a black face and diamond eyes. Photo: Instagram. OMG, this is a Maine Coon with an amazing face. His full name is "Richie du Mont d’Even". I think he has a black smoke coat which has created this black face with the assistance of other genes (polygenetic influence?) and ears with piercing, diamond eyes. This is a very special cat. Richie looked very interesting but relatively plain as a kitten. Image: Instagram. His paws are balls of fluff. He has a mane that goes over his head like a halo. He's angelic and other-worldly. The lynx tips on the end of his ears are smoky grey which makes them stand out. They are a bit like the opposite to the black lynx tips of the wild caracal.  He lives in France with his human: Adriana Piraino. He was born on 7th November 2020. He is still very young. They say Maine Coons reach adulthood at around the age of 4. He is going to be enormous as well. Richie with Adriana. Photo: Instagram Richie was bred b...
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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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What is the activity level of the Maine Coon cat?

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Laid back, golden-eyed silver tabby Maine Coon looks down on their slave. Image in the public domain. One well-known Maine Coon cat website asks whether Maine Coon cats are hyper? And they go on to state that Maine Coon kittens are a little hyper which, as it happens, is typical of all kittens of all domestic cat breeds and random bred cats. It is just the nature of young kittens in the same way that it is the nature of young humans. But the word "hyper" is very far from the behaviour of the adult Maine Coon cat. My impression is that it is the opposite pretty well. One very obvious sign that Maine Coon cats are in general calm individuals is that you see many photographs on the Internet of Maine Coons cat owners holding up their cat to show them off to the camera and the expression on the cat's face could not be any calmer. They take it all in their stride. There is no struggling or wriggling to signal that they want to be put down as quickly as possible. I have a strong...
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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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2 top Russian Maine Coon cat breeders which ship internationally

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I am writing this from the West; specifically, near London, UK. There will be quite a few people living in the West who'd like to adopt a Maine Coon cat and they would like to adopt one from a Russian breeder because they do have a certain style.  I sense, although I don't have hard evidence to support this feeling, that the top Russian breeders of Maine Coon cats might be superior to breeders from other countries.  I am putting aside Putin's invasion of Ukraine when writing this article. Some people might object to dealing in anyway with a Russian business on account of that barbaric and illegal invasion. We should remember that Russia has quite a strong cat fancy. They like their cats and they love their purebred cats particularly the Maine Coon. It is in fact a cat breed which is quite naturally suited to the Russian way of life and climate. There's lots of space in Russia with a relatively low population and therefore there are going to be houses with large grounds ...
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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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