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Study says that Maine Coons have a high susceptibility for gastrointestinal intussusception

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A study dated April 14, 2014 (quite a long time ago) which took place in Germany, concluded that "Maine Coons have a high susceptibility for gastrointestinal intussusception." Gastrointestinal intussusception in Maine Coons. Image: study. The study: Gastrointestinal intussusception in the Maine Coon: A review of 19 case. By J. VERSCHOOF, C. THIEL, M. HENRICH and M. KRAMER. They couldn't find any "predisposing factors" which might be behind this susceptibility. They recommended further research. So, what is gastrointestinal intussusception? It describes a condition when the bowel i.e. the intestines, telescopes in on itself. The outside wall of one section of the intestines become adjacent to and facing the inside wall of the intestines nearby. The most common sign of intussusception in cats is vomiting or diarrhoea which lasts for more than two days. And it can be accompanied by blood in the stools or vomit. There is a loss of appetite and signs of depression. P...
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Location: Giessen, Germany
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Maine Coon tries to climb over a child gate rather than through the hole made for him (video)

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The video shows a Maine Coon (Gizmo) exasperating his owner because he refuses to go through a hole cut into a child gate and prefers to jump over it which he struggles to do. It is an amusing video on TikTok (@gizmos_best_life), which is at the base of the page. Maine Coon wants to go over a child gate rather than through the hole made for him. Screenshot. Anyway, that's the technical stuff out of the way but there is another technical question and that is why this Maine Coon does what he does. Why can't he go through the hole that his lady owner has built for him? It must have been quite troublesome to do it. And there is the gaping hole staring him in the face. "For some reason he tried climbing over the gate instead of going through the hole that we specifically cut out for the cats to use. I had to climb up to show him how to use it." - owner, Kayla. I have one suggestion and it's this. This cat has been trained to believe that the child gate is impassable...
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Maine Coon breeder infuriates neighbours by building cat houses in her backyard without planning permission

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NEWS AND COMMENT-SHAVINGTON, UK: Last November a Maine Coon breeder bought a property in a semi-rural area in a village in the middle of the England called Shavington. She appears to have erected 10 cat houses in the backyard without planning permission and then retrospectively applied for that permission. In other words, to be clear, she went ahead and constructed these cat houses in her backyard without checking with the council first but then applied retrospectively for approval. Note: I don't know if this is a woman or a man or a couple. I have described her as a female for the sake of convenience. The report does not name the person. Maine Coon breeder infuriates neighbours by building cat houses in her backyard without planning permission. Photo: Cheshire Live. The retrospective application may have come about because she may have received complaints from the neighbours. Whether that happened or not I don't know, but it is clear from the media reporting that the neighb...
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Maine Coon mistaken for an African lion in Essex!

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NEWS ARCHIVE AND COMMENT-ESSEX, UK: This is one of those big cat sightings in Britain stories with a twist. A couple living in Essex, UK, were convinced that they saw a very large animal which looked like an African lion in an Essex field near Earl Hall Drive in St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea. The lion in Essex that was a Maine Coon. Pic as per credit. Teddy Bear the Maine Coon mistaken for a lion in Essex. Image: Screenshot from BBC video. The couple, Mr and Mrs Atkin, were on holiday in the area. They reported their sighting to Dave Mark on BBC Essex. Subsequently, Ginny Murphy, the owner of a Maine Coon cat called Teddy Bear came forward to say that she was convinced that she was the owner of the African lion! We know Maine Coons are big but this is ridiculous. She said that Teddy Bear regularly went hunting in the fields around St Osyth. The police were called to search for the African lion. They quickly called the search off. I wonder whether they called it off after they decided ...
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Location: St. Osyth, UK
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Maine Coon cat names that connect with the state of Maine

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These are my thoughts on Maine Coon cat names. The Maine Coon (MC) is an American cat. It developed, it is believed, as a cat breed over 400 years in Maine before it became formally recognised as a breed in 1950s. It was informally recognized in the 1860s being a farm cat and shown at farm livestock shows. Classy MC needing a classy name. Pic in the public domain. This is a gentle cat with a shaggy coat. The voice is quiet. The MC is independent but loyal and friendly. An all-American boy or girl in human terms. I guess the name should be built around this history and character. Boys are goofy and girls are more dignified. See personality . I'd start with names of well-known people from Maine that fit the character.: Males Howie - nice name for a Maine Coon boy. After Howie Carr a journalist, born in Portland, Maine. Nelson - named after the governor Nelson Dingley Jr. (lived 1832-1899). Joey - named after Joey Gamache. World Boxing Association Lightweight Champ...
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Location: Maine, USA
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Are Maine Coon cats hypoallergenic? I'm afraid not.

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The certain answer is, No. Sorry. Hypoallergenic means less likely to cause an allergic reaction in a person. There is nothing that supports the idea that Maine Coons are hypoallergenic. Maine Coon cats are not hypoallergenic. Photo in public domain. The truth is that no cat is going to be completely hypoallergenic because the allergen that causes the allergic reaction in some people is a protein called Fel D1 in the cat's saliva. It is deposited on the cat's fur when he or she grooms. It then dries and flies off into the atmosphere as cat dander. Siberian a better bet for hypoallergenic cat Cats that are said to be hypoallergenic to a degree are the wildcat hybrid, the Savannah cat (which incidentally is the Allerca cat called the Ashera GD ) and the Siberian cat. The Allerca is no longer in existence. And I don't believe that the Siberian is hypoallergenic although breeders would disagree. There is no reason why it should be. Breeders tend to promote cats for whatever ...
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Celebrity MC 'Diamond Eyes' Richie in profile

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 'MC' stands for Maine Coon. Richie is currently the world's most celebrate MC. The reason is clear: he looks like something from Mars. He looks a bit like a black-faced lemur with bright, white fur. Everything about his appearance is remarkable. His coat is black smoke but his black face is a bonus. Black smoke coats are not unusual but combine it with Richie's black face and gold/diamond eyes plus the copious amounts of fur and you have a unique and outstanding appearance. His full name is Richie du Mont d’Even. He is referred to as the lemur or yeti cat by his caregiver. It is not just the black face and smoke coat; it is the quantity of it! Look at the mass of smokey fur surrounding the face. It is a great sea of thick, extra-long fur.  Grooming comes to mind. And I mean grooming by humans! I'd expect Richie's caregiver to groom him twice a day. He has to be groomed that regularly because he is photographed and videoed so much for his Instagram page which is...
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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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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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