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Do you put your Maine Coon's cat tree next to the window with a view?

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Well, it might not always be possible but if it is possible, it would be sensible to put the Maine Coon-sized cat tree right next to the window particularly if the view outside is great with plenty of wildlife activity going on. It is called 'cat television' as I am sure you know. It is a great way to entertain a full-time indoor Maine Coon and most of them are full-time indoor cats. We moved into a new apartment and I didn’t know how long it will take my 5months old kitten to adjust to the new environment but I knew as long as I have her tree by the window she will be ok 🥹. She loves looking out the window ❤️. What’s one thing you cat loves so much? by u/cramakeup in mainecoons "We moved into a new apartment and I didn’t know how long it will take my 5months old kitten to adjust to the new environment but I knew as long as I have her tree by the window, she will be ok 🥹. She loves looking out the window ❤️. What’s one thing you cat loves so much?"
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Are Maine Coons legal in the UK?

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You might as well ask whether Maine Coons are legal in any country in the world because you will get the same answer which is that they are indeed legal in all countries of the world because they are a domestic cat at heart just like any other. They might be a beautiful, big, purebred, pedigree cat with a striking appearance and a high price tag but in terms of legality they are just like the lowliest moggy. I don't know of any country where there is a ban on domestic cats. Actually, while writing this, I think I can think of a country where you won't see a Maine Coon cat and very few random bred cats. The country is North Korea. Kim Jong-un decreed that all domestic cats should be eradicated throughout the entire country during Covid because he thought that the cat spread the disease to people. The man is completely mad and cruel as well but we don't know how many cats were killed but it would be a lot. But the Maine Coon cat, as far as I know, isn't banned by statute ...
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Optimal size of a Maine Coon's litter tray!

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This one is easy and the post will be very brief! The experts say that a domestic cat's litter tray should be about 1.5 times the length of the cat from nose tip to base of tail. The world's longest domestic cat has almost invariably been a Maine Coon and the record holders measure around 46 inches from nose tip to the END of the tail. A Maine Coon's tail is around 12-16 inches.  Most Maine Coons are not as large as the world record holders for obvious reasons. I'll say that the average length from nose tip to end of tail of a large Maine Coon would be around 42 inches less 12 (the tail) making 30 inches. A friend of mine, Doug, has said there are no 45-inch stainless steel litter trays on the market! If that is true this page is more theoretical and actual. The answer is to get one that is as large as possible. That's all you can do. Although I am referring to very MCs. There are many smaller cats with less exotic needs. Therefore, the optimal litter tray for a Ma...
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Surge in abandoned cats at Maine's animal shelters

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I picked up on this story about feral and abandoned cats reportedly at an all-time high in the US state of Maine because you have to juxtapose this report against the well-known fact that the state of Maine is the historic home of America's favourite purebred cat, the Maine Coon.  The Maine Coon is described as America's cat. It kind of looks like an American cat because it's larger and more glamorous than other cat breeds. Everything is large and larger-than-life about the Maine Coon but sadly everything is larger-than-life about the number of animals at shelters in the state of Maine and these two bits of information are not good bedfellows. Maine animal shelters are asking for help as rescues across the western and central part of the state are reaching maximum capacity.   (Greater Androscoggin Humane Society) It brings it home to us that the Maine Coon cat is created by cat breeders. I'm not complaining about cat breeders. They have their hobby businesses and it hel...
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Location: Maine, USA
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Does anyone else's MC have insane toe hair? My kitten has the hairiest toes ever.

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The title comes from the social media website: Reddit.com, where they have a thriving forum about the 'MC' which is how Maine Coon afficionados refer to their cats. This young MC has perfectly tufted paws as per the breed standard. One of the signs of a genuine Maine Coon cat. They are a badge of honour! Image: Reddit user: u/Freeflybudgie The answer to the question will be YES for genuine Maine Coons as 'well tufted' paws are part of the CFA breed standard. In other words, MC breeders affiliated with the CFA have to create cats with tons of 'toe hair' as this Reddit user calls it. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) breed standard for the MC's feet: "LEGS and FEET: legs substantial, wide set, of medium length, and in proportion to the body. Forelegs are straight. Back legs are straight when viewed from behind. Paws large, round, well-tufted . Five toes in front; four in back.2 You probably know that the breed standard is the breeding guideline on a...
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Suggestion to reduce hairballs in Maine Coon cats

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This is a quick note on the topic of hairballs to which Maine Coon cats are arguably more predisposed to suffering from than shorthair cat breeds because the Maine Coon cat is a medium-longhaired cat with a shaggy coat. It is often said that the cat caregiver should assist their Maine Coon cat in grooming by brushing them regularly. Hairball. Image: in public domain with words added. On the basis that Maine Coon cats have more hairballs than your regular shorthair cat, a study came to the conclusion that increasing dietary fibre with the use of a psyllium husk supplement such that the total dietary fibre was at 11%-15% facilitates the faecal excretion of hair.  In other words, the dietary fibre supplement helps the passage of hair through the Maine Coon cat's digestive system to the exterior and I think that is quite a useful bit of information if an owner believes that their cat is suffering from more hairballs than normal. Interestingly they found that adding dietary fibre in the...
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How many times a day should I feed my Maine Coon?

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The truth is that you will see all kinds of answers to the question in the title but one aspect of the lifestyle of the Maine Coon has an impact on the answer and that is they are usually full-time indoor cats.  Lifestyle? The point here is that if the Maine Coon was an indoor/outdoor cat they would be more active at night than they are. They would in all likelihood be hungry at the end of a night-time's activity and as a consequence feed more at a time that would be the human's breakfast time. The point I am getting to is that in a good relationship your cat will tell you when they are hungry and this will depend upon the individual cat's lifestyle. Fixed routine or flexible? You don't want to feed your cat automatically and habitually at certain times of the day. That's my opinion. I think you should learn when your Maine Coon cat is hungry because they've asked for food and then you pencil in those times as feeding times.  Full-time indoor cat And at night yo...
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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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