Is my kitty a Maine Coon?

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enkeli-kitten

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Crittermom, your kittens are so cute!!

Zissou'sMom, it doesn't matter, not really - I love him just as much if he's a pure-bred or a moggy and I DEFINETELY am not selling him!!! You see it's really interesting to know what he is. My other two are most definetely moggies!


I took picture just now. ^^ *hugs Cierron* Look at his awesome mane!! I love it!!!
 

goldenkitty45

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Your last picture really shows type. THAT is a maine coon!


BTW Zissou, there was a case of a cornish rex that was running the streets around Washington DC many years ago. It OBVIOUSLY was a rex - no doubt about it. It probably escaped out of the house or was let out; point being that the cat had no "pedigree" when it was picked up and taken to the shelter but it WAS a purebred rex.

It happens sometimes that purebreds do get out and get picked up as strays.
 

zissou'smom

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He doesn't even have the tufted ears. I really don't understand the insistence on your part of thinking this cat is purebred, GoldenKitty, but obviously we're never going to agree. And as for the Cornish-rex appearing cat. Not all purebred owners wouldn't dump a cat.


Enkeli-kitten, you have a beautiful, adorable cat, whatever you decide he is. If you don't intend to breed or sell him, call him whatever you want. Maine Coon is a good way to describe to people what he pretty much looks like. But the chances of him being purebred are very very low.
 

goldenkitty45

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PET quality maine coons might or might not have tufted ears - that is NO indication that the cat is not a maine coon - he has all the other qualifications as far as type.

I don't understand your point of view as to why he's NOT - you haven't given me any reason to suspect he's not. Have you bred cats or been into showing cats and know the breeds? Like I said before, I've shown cats for over 30 yrs and know the standards of almost all the breeds. I can spot a purebred.

Now IF the owner was planning on breeding this cat and selling kittens, then I would discourage her from claiming they are maine coons because she doesn't have papers to prove 100%. But the cat is neutered - and it is a maine coon. Just a pet quality one. If she wanted to show it, it can be shown successfully in the household pet class. I can guarentee that most judges would comment on it being a maine coon!
 

rang_27

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO he's very maine coon looking and also the fact that he's a silver tabby which is rare in mixed breeds. Silver tabby maine coons are popular in the shows. Because he's small (remember maine coons are not fully grown till 3-4 yrs old), he could be a pet quality one.
Are you serious 3 or 4? I thought it was 2. Oh man, my Isaac is 2 & 13 lbs. He's got a lot of the Maine Coon look (I know he's not pure bred becuase his dad was a short hair grey tom cat). I thought he was done growing but your saying it's possible he'll grow more? Please oh please tell me that by 2 they have thier full coat? He's super handsome, but I'm not sure I can take any more fur.
 

callista

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I think people want to say their cats are purebred, or are the kittens of purebred cats, because they're tired of other people saying, "Oh, he's just an ordinary cat", when they know their cat is anything but ordinary. Especially when people who are not cat people think that only purebred cats are valuable... a really annoying opinion, to any cat person.

Anyway, I can't say much about the Maine Coon debate, because I'm not a breeder; but I don't see the problem in calling him one because he looks like one, even if it's totally by chance that he got the right genes. You can't make money off it or anything; and you're not pretending to; so I don't see the big deal.

All in all, isn't it another way of saying, "My cat is special"?
 

goldenkitty45

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Rang,

When I said they are not fully grown till 3-4 yrs old - that meant overall - body/muscle, etc. A maine coon male can weigh a good 14-18 lbs when fully grown. Your boy is almost there - he'll probably fill out body wise at 14/15 lbs.

A maine coon breeder friend who specialized in reds and cameo tabby MCC, had a gorgeous WHOLE male that went 18 lbs! And he was not fat - he was all muscle!
 

arlyn

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Looking at your cat Rang, I don't see MCC but I do see a lot of resemblance to NFC.
 
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enkeli-kitten

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Awww. Thanks so much everyone!!!

GoldenKitty, so you're sure he's a Maine Coon, it's really nice to think of that. Now I can prove to my dad that he's special!!!! He'll always be so special to me whatever breed or not-breed he is.

Maybe when there's a cat show nearby I'll enter him in the pet quality category.


Rang, your cat is really handsome.
 

alikatt

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I was reading through this thread, and I wanted to add something. He really looks like he could be mainecoon, but I noticed he doesn't have the tufted feet, which as far as I know was a very true point of a mainecoon. The only reason I know this is because of our sweet Layla. We had suspicions about what her breed was mixed with, and when she got a little bit older, I actually contacted a breeder who told me that she indeed looked to be a brown mackeral tabby/mainecoon mix. She's just now a year, and as was stated, she's not going to be her full size for another few years, depending on how prominent the mainecoon breed is in her. I'll post some pictures. She doesn't have the tuft on her chest like they normally do, but she has the ears and feet going on.




Because of her, I did a lot of research on Mainecoon's, and similar breed's, and I wanted to offer this. He's totally gorgeous, but to me, he looks more like a Norweign Forest Cat, than a Mainecoon. I may be wrong, but just something you could look into if you want to try to pinpoint what breed he could be mixed with. Since you don't know, it's hard to say he is purebred of anything without papers, which I am sure you know, and have already been told, but it's always nice to say "Hey, I have a .... mix!"
 

rang_27

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Originally Posted by Arlyn

Looking at your cat Rang, I don't see MCC but I do see a lot of resemblance to NFC.
You know someone once said to me he could be NFC, but what is the difference between the 2? Not that it matters I love him no matter what breeds are in his history after all he's my sweet bean. (He is very good at playing fetch, he actually catches the ball in mid air puts it in his mouth & still lands on his feet)
 

alikatt

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Originally Posted by Rang_27

You know someone once said to me he could be NFC, but what is the difference between the 2? Not that it matters I love him no matter what breeds are in his history after all he's my sweet bean. (He is very good at playing fetch, he actually catches the ball in mid air puts it in his mouth & still lands on his feet)
Ha, Layla does that too
 

arlyn

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Not really a lot of difference, the eye placement and shape, and where the ears are carried on the head.

heidrun has a very stunning example of an NFC in this post
 

goldenkitty45

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Here's some differences from showing. Then compare some of the things to your cat and see which one he resembles most (I still say more MC).

Maine Coon: Long, rectangle shaped body, heavier boning in legs. Head is more of a squared muzzle shape and large ears.

NFC: More of a barrel shaped body. Head is more triangle with less muzzle break. Ears are a little shorter then on a MC.

Also, here's CFA's link to both breeds and descriptions.

MCC:
http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/maine.html

http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/standards/maine.html


NFC:
http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/profiles/norwegian.html

http://www.cfainc.org/breeds/standards/norwegian.html
 

solaritybengals

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I'm usually pretty quick to discount a purebreed to a domestic but in this case... I also think this is a purebreed. Like GoldenKitty said silver is pretty rare in mixed breeds. There is a complete lack of ear tufts which makes me question the MC, which might have at least tiny ones. Also did you say the body does not feel substantial? But then again I've heard of small pet quality MC's before.

I think I would lean closer to the Norwegian Forest Cat or the Siberian. Unfortunately my opinion matters little as I do not know these breeds very well. I've seen quite a few Siberians, lots of MC's, and not many NFC's. I've not had much opportunity to feel the body and study type though.
 

arlyn

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Aren't Siberians another spontaneous breed?

All of these cats are simply gorgeous!
I do have an NFC, but she has BYB and inbreeding in her background, definitely not an example of her breed.
 

catsknowme

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JC is MC moggy and he has the typical features, incl. tufted ears & paws, big eyes that are positioned in a slant:
and this is his favorite use for those tufted feet - SNOWSHOES
 
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