I think my cat is Maine Coon???

[Willowy]

All tabbies have an M . I think there was a breed show about Maine Coons on Animal Planet once that said that nonsense, so now everybody believes it :/. It's just a cutesy little story some people like to tell. But any tabby cat will have the M, even purebred tabby point Colorpoint Shorthairs, who definitely don't have any Maine Coon traits! :lol3:

Maine Coons were developed from the big shaggy farmcats of the Northeastern US. They have to be big and shaggy to survive the cold wet winters up there, so natural selection originally made the "breed". And then some people started selective breeding. But because of the farmcat beginnings, Maine Coon traits are found quite commonly in the general cat population. So he may not have any actual purebred Maine Coon in him, but he definitely has the big shaggy farmcat traits! He's a fine handsome boy, enjoy him!

 

[fairfaxtoaustin]

An even more far-fetched story about the "M" is that in the manger in Jerusalem when Jesus was born, a cat was present.  Afterwards, tabby cats' fur displayed "M" to honor "Mary," the woman who gave birth.  When I heard that story, I thought, what would Mary's name be in Aramaic, which is closely related to Hebrew, and which was the language which she spoke,  and what would be the first letter of her name in Aramaic?   I'm guessing that it wouldn't be "M".  Even if it were, I'll guess that tabby cats have had an "M" for hundreds of thousands of years, if not longer.

 

[Willowy]

Haha, that is a far-fetched story! I believe Mary in Aramaic is Miryam (or something like that, English spelling varies), so it still starts with M. . .but how do they make Ms in Aramaic? Not in Roman letters, nope. People do like their silly stories .

 

[fyllis]

I have never heard the tale about a cat being in the stable at Christ's birth or the bit about the "M" corresponding with Mary. 

Greek became the imperial language in that territory in 332 B.C., so Mary would have been written as Μαίρη so, I suppose, there 'could' be some truth to it; however, I doubt it. It's just a coincidental genetic pattern.

Regardless, the "M" is significant of the Tabby pattern and nothing to do with any specific breed.

 

[Norachan]

 
An even more far-fetched story about the "M" is that in the manger in Jerusalem when Jesus was born, a cat was present.  Afterwards, tabby cats' fur displayed "M" to honor "Mary," the woman who gave birth.  When I heard that story, I thought, what would Mary's name be in Aramaic, which is closely related to Hebrew, and which was the language which she spoke,  and what would be the first letter of her name in Aramaic?   I'm guessing that it wouldn't be "M".  Even if it were, I'll guess that tabby cats have had an "M" for hundreds of thousands of years, if not longer.

That's interesting! There is also a story, well known in many Islamic countries, that Tabby cats were the favourite of Mohammed. He put his fingers on there forehead and left the M mark there as a kind of blessing.

But you're right. The M mark is common in cats of all breeds and variations who have the tabby pattern.

 

[uptowngirl59]

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• uptowngirl59
• Jan 25, 2016

My beloved Gilligan was a pure bred Maine Coon. In his prime he was 16 lbs. Sadly he passed away in March,2014 after years of being an insulin dependent diabetic. He was the best!