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Maine Coon - Pitbull love story (video)

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Here is a brilliant interspecies friendship. More than that, actually. Love actually. I might be anthropomorphising these love birds but I don't think so. The Maine Coon is Ernest and the Pitbull is Hemingway. Neat. The Maine Coon is polydactyl which may have inspired the names of these companion animals because 'Hemingway cats' are known to be polydactyl. In case you are unsure what that means, it means that he has more than the usual number of toes.  If you like interspecies relationships: try this one:  Alsatian and crow are best mates ! Maine Coon, Ernest, and Pitbull, Hemingway together. Screenshot. Maine Coons are famous for this condition but it was bred out of them by American breeders. It is a shame as polydactylism is part of the Maine Coon heritage. Nowadays a polydactyl Maine Coon would be disqualified in a CFA organised cat show competition . That's how far from the history of the breed the cat associations have come. They consider polydactylism a crude def...
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Maine Coons developed severe facial ulcerative dermatitis when used as test subjects for a human acne drug

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I will have to keep this brief because I am working off an abstract of a study which is a summary. I've seen similar studies where scientists have used Maine Coon cats to test drugs that are used on people suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). I guess the scientist wanted to see whether these human drugs work on cats and Maine Coons are predisposed to developing HCM. Maine Coons developed severe facial ulcerative dermatitis when used as test subjects for a human HCM drug. Image in public domain. On this occasion they tested a drug called Spironolactone (SPIR) in America. As mentioned, they tested it on Maine Coon cats with familial HCM i.e. inherited HCM. They wanted to see whether this drug improved diastolic function and reduced left ventricular mass in these cats. The conclusion is that it did not work. They tested the drug over four months. For me, a disturbing statement in their summary is this: one third of cats treated with SPIR developed severe ulcerative facial...
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Polydactylism was deliberately bred out of the Maine Coon

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Originally, around 40% of Maine Coons were polydactyls. That's a very high percentage. It comes from several authors writing about the Maine Coon cat. Perhaps the best-known book on the topic, That Yankee Cat by Marilis Hornidge, states that: "The number of claws in those paws was perhaps the most controversial of all issues in the final stages of setting up a standard. The traditional MC was frequently a polydactyl or many-toed cat, a genetic mutation that occurs with great frequency in the upper north-east United States." Image from: Polydactyl Maine Coons written by Susan Grindell MSc, BOptom Mainelymagic Maine Coons Beth Hicks, one of the foremost experts of the breed, stated: "I don't know if you are familiar with it but there was a study done by someone connected with a university in the 1950s which showed that 40% of Maines were polydactyls. Now, this was before they came back on the show circuit." She means that once Maine Coon cats became show cat...
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House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle's Maine Coon died at the age of 12

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You may have heard the news that the speaker at the House of Commons in the UK, Sir Lindsay Hoyle has just lost his Maine Coon cat, Patrick, who died at the age of 12, two years after being crowned Westminster's top cat. Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Patrick. Photo: EPA. Sir Lindsay Hoyle is an animal lover. He said that Patrick lived a good life. I am sure that he did as the Speaker is clearly an excellent animal caregiver. The information that caught my eye is the age of Patrick when he died. The age of 12 is not a great age for a domestic cat nowadays. I think we can expect the average random bred cat to live normally beyond the age of 15. When I did some quick research on the lifespan of Maine Coon cats, all the websites I visited told me that they did between 12-15 years of age on average. My estimation is that this is about three years shorter than your typical non-purebred cat. I think this is a factor in whether you adopt a purebred cat or not. And I think, too, that this is not ab...
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Maine Coon kitten, Red, born with convergent strabismus. Serious or cute?

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Red is one of a litter of seven Maine Coon kittens, all of which were born with convergent strabismus. This is an inherited condition. The cat is cross-eyed and the eyes point inwards (converge). The litter of seven was created by breeder Rebecca Hardy. The mother's name is Mahri. Rebecca lives in Hillsborough, UK. Maine Coon kitten, Red, born with convergent strabismus. Serious or cute? Photo: Rebecca Hardy. Note: to my mind, there is also has a slight anatomical abnormality with his face. His mouth is very strongly downturned. I wonder whether the genetic mutation causing the crossed eyes has also impacted his facial skeleton? I don't know. I am speculating. Six of the kittens self-rectified their strabismus as their extraocular muscles strengthened. This didn't happen for Red. And so, he's now got to live with crossed eyes. It looks a little disconcerting but my research indicates that cats adjust to it and their binocular vision is apparently unaltered. The experts ...
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Location: Hillsborough, Sheffield S6, UK
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Regal Maine Coon does a majestic blep (video)

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Regal Maine Coon does a majestic blep. Screenshot. The cat blep is the 'feline tongue sticking out behavior' which we all see from time to time. When a regal Maine Coon does it, it looks out of place. It is a bit like the Queen of England sticking her tongue out at her subjects 😊.  The video maker, Robert Sijka calls it the 'most majestic blep ever recorded'. I agree. Sijka takes awesome photographs of awesome Maine Coons too. @robert_sijka The most majestic #blep ever recorded. #mainecoon #cats #catsoftiktok #felisgallery ♬ original sound - Felis Gallery by Robert Sijka Note : This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which stops it working here. I have no control over this. In an earlier article I discuss five reasons why cats do the blep - see link below. It may interest you and you may have some thoughts of your own. If so, please leave a comment. RELATED:  5 possible reason...
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23-pound Maine Coon receives a teddy bear haircut and a blow-dry (video)

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This is a cross post because I think that it is a good video and I don't see enough good videos. It's about a pet groomer who has a TikTok account. Judging by what she does in the video I think that she is a good pet groomer. She is considerate and you can tell that she has done a lot of this because she moves quickly and efficiently. 23-pound Maine Coon receives a teddy bear haircut and a blow-dry. Screenshot. Her Maine Coon client is a 23-pound cat whose owner wants a teddy bear haircut and a blow dry. They also want his stud tail treated. Stud tail is a greasy patch at the base of the tail which needs to be regularly washed with medicated shampoo as you see in the video and you can add cornstarch or baby powder to keep it down and stop it becoming too greasy. It won't go away so you've got to treat the condition all the time. @askacatgroomer Meet my “Maine” man #mainecoon #catsoftiktok #cats #catbath #catbathchallenge #catgrooming #catgrooming #pepsiapplepi...
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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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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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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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