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AI does not let me down with this r/aww image on Reddit.com of a Maine Coon barn cat

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I asked Bing Co-pilot to create an image on the following instructions: "Create an image of a ginger tabby Maine Coon cat head butting a stable horse on the head while standing on a fence with the sun setting behind them both." As you can see DALLE - 3 did some great work. This AI computer is amazing. It is the image quality that astonishes me. I got the idea for the instructions from many images that I have seen on the internet of barn horses with friendly barn cats. Cats and horses often get along like a house on fire. So many wonderful relationships between these species despite the enormous size difference. A definite r/aww image which was uniquely created by AI to the instructions: "Create an image of a ginger tabby Maine Coon cat head butting a stable horse on the head while standing on a fence with the sun setting behind them both." Cool image. by u/broadsurf in aww
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In the UK, Maine Coon cats likely to be the most expensive to insure

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I'm going to refer to the experiences of a journalist for The Sunday Times. His name is Ali Hussain and he has had a bad experience with his pet insurer concerning his Labrador dogs. His insurer refused to pay out after a vaccine to the back of the neck caused an abscess requiring treatment. He decided eventually after transferring his insurance to Tesco that they were no better and he should simply save money and run his own insurance policy through personal savings. I have advocated that all along. Essentially insurers make their policies overly-complicated. I would argue too complicated for the average pet owner. And I would further argue, perhaps provocatively, that pet insurers deliberately do this so that pet owners fall into the trap of not being able to make a successful claim because insurance companies know their policies and they pick up on a clause which forbids a particular kind of claim which the owner is entirely unaware of. After that rather negative introduction, I...
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Full-time indoor Maine Coon visits his new catio (video) for first time

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This TikTok video is a great advertisement for the catio, which is a facility that all Maine Coon owners should have if at all possible because Maine Coon cats are normally kept indoors full-time and they need this halfway house between the safety and security of indoors and the mental stimulation of outdoors. Screenshot of the moment this beautiful Maine Coon goes through his cat flap for the first time into a utopian world of smells and sounds. RELATED:  14 links between stress in domestic cats and health implications . In the modern world of cat caregiving, the catio (combination of 'patio' and 'cat') is the answer to many cat owner's concerns about the insecurity of the outside particularly for a Maine Coon cat because they are so impressive while also being concerned about ensuring that their cat is mentally stimulated and that their environment is enriched. A cat caregiver in Abu Dhabi built one for $800 !. RELATED:  Check if you need planning permission for y...
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Social media user asks why Maine Coon cats are expensive. I answer.

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Sometimes people think that Maine Coon cats are expensive and they ask why. They could ask the same question about any purebred cat although there is some variation between them in terms of price. For example, the first filial Savannah cats are far more expensive than any other purebred cat. And within the Maine Coon cat breed you will see a variation of prices. Why should the price vary; sometimes considerably? Why are Maine Coons expensive? Are they?  The price of purebred cats including Maine Coon cats depends on market forces essentially. And the better the quality of the Maine Coon cat the more expensive they are. Because market forces dictate the price, the price is always right! It is always correct. 🤔👍Anyway, what are you measuring the price of a Maine Coon against? Of course, there are expenses to cover for a breeder. They have overheads to meet which provide a baseline above which they can start to make a profit. That said, nearly all Maine Coon breeders are hobby breed...
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Woman regrets training her Maine Coon to play fetch (sort of)

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The world, now, understands that you can teach domestic cats to play fetch so never think that you can't train cats to do things that dogs do. Beware of what you might be getting into.  That's because they can enjoy it so much sometimes that they want to do it at a time of their choosing which will often be in the middle of the night; a time when cats can be fairly active and certainly far more active than their human caregivers. This is not Meatball but a fictional Maine Coon playing fetch in an image created by AI. Thanks AI (DALLE). This is the problem described by Eve who said that she always wanted to live with a Maine Coon cat. She tried to find one at a shelter but it is near impossible for the obvious reason that there are very, very few Maine Coon cat owners who abandon their cat to a shelter. She was told by her sister that Maine Coon cats need mental stimulation as they get bored easily. Comment: this would apply to any domestic cat by the way. But in response to tha...
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381,000 Likes for black Maine Coon licking his paw. White fur and 'rust' also.

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I must be missing something because I am unsure how this video ramped up almost 400k Likes. But then he is a gorgeous Maine Coon with paws that remind me of those on the Canada lynx - big and furry for protection against the cold. Tufted paws are a vital feature of the Maine Coon as per the breed standard . @lokimainecoonofmischief I have to keep my murder mittens well maintained 😻 #mainecoon #polydactyl #mainecoonlovers #catloversoftiktok #meowcats #catlover #fyp #foryoupage #trending #cat #catsoftiktok #pet #cute #LokiMCofMischief #claws ♬ Cypher - Sam Marshall The video is very short as well. Nothing happens except this gorgeous Maine Coon licks his right paw which tells you how popular this cat breeder is. It's the most popular cat breed in the UK and 3rd most popular in the USA under different surveys. The breed's popularity is increasing year on year.  It would not surprise me if the Maine Coon becomes the most popular cat breed in the world over t...
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"King" a Maine Coon plays Lucio in new Netflix series 'Ripley'

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Steve Zaillian, the director of the new Netflix series "Ripley", said that the cat in the series needed to be recast twice before he was initially unhappy. He said that owners would bring cats into the office believing that they could do some tricks but what he wanted "was a cat that could just be really chill, and comfortable with people and cameras." Lucio. Screenshot from below video. He says that it wasn't easy to find the right cat but King is the right cat and he happens to be a purebred Maine Coon. Zaillian said that he had written the cat into the scripts. He admits that he did this with "some trepidation". He said that he had the idea that "the only witnesses to Tom's crimes would be animals that couldn't testify and people who might be uncomfortable testifying. The cat, of course, was the tricky one." All eight episodes of Ripley are streaming on Netflix. It is in sumptuous black-and-white, which is a trending genre nowadays...
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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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