Is my kitty a Maine Coon?

[enkeli-kitten]

This is my beautiful cat, Cierron. He's around one year old.



He's silver tabby. I got him from a home that owned only the mother and I didn't see her, but the kittens were free so I don't think they'd be pure-bred I think Cierron might have Maine Coon roots because:
his distinctive ruff, which is bigger than it looks in this photo
his large, mascara-lined eyes and tufty ears
his chirruping meow which sounds like "prrrr-up!"
his glossy, thick coat and large tail which gets a lot thicker in winter
his personality which is likes to be around humans but isn't really a lap-cat - likes chasing things and grasping them in his paws

the only problem with my theory is that he's very small for a Maine coon, only 30cm high at the shoulder and delicate.

I'll try to get a better photo of him looking like a Maine Coon

 

[rich448]

Whatever he is he is lovely.

 

[satai]

He is very pretty, handsome boy.

 

[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.

 

[zissou'smom]

I have a silver tabby who shares every characteristic you listed except for the fact that she is a mackerel tabby and not a classic tabby (which yours looks like in the photo, although it's hard to tell without seeing his side), her stripes aren't as contrasting, and she is a short-to-medium hair.

I can't see the tops of his ears, though.

I think you have a long-hair moggy, personally. He is very gorgeous!

I think Zissou has a crush!

 

[enkeli-kitten]

Thank you everyone, yep he's lovely...^_^ the most beautiful cat in the world!!!

Wow, I didn't know Maine Coons took so long to grow up! maybe he'll get bigger!

Here's a photo of him as a kitten. *melts* Prancing like a horse

His tail is MUCH longer than it looks there...

 

[lilo]

What a gorgeous cat

He does look a lot like a Maine Coon.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I'd be more surprised if its a mix - that really looks like a maine coon kitten. Maine coons were originally barn cats that someone took the time to concentrate on type so it could be standardized.

I have several cat show friends who are maine coon breeders and the kitten/cat looks very much like theirs who are pedigreed. I say its a maine coon rather then a mix.

I know a lot don't like to call them "breeds" if you don't have papers, but there are certain types of cats that you CAN identify as a breed without papers - they have certain characteristics that are not just in mix breeds. If a person found a curly coated cat, for example, that had the type of one of the rex breeds, you would call the cat a rex and not a mixbreed even if you didn't have papers.

 

[zissou'smom]

What are the chances of a female pet cat getting pregnant by a random stray or neighborhood cat, and both of them being Maine Coons?

 

[goldenkitty45]

It would depend on what type of cats are in the area. If the area has a fairly decent population of "maine coon" types, then your chances are pretty good.

However, the silver gene is rare in mixed breeds - the smoke/silver gene is more in the pedigrees - I think the silver was out of the smoke. Smokes are found in mixed breeds but are dominate over the silver color. So the chances of finding a silver in a mixed breed population is still rare.

Long hair IS a recessive gene. Even if you have a maine coon that got bred by random cats (which the majority are shorthair), the kittens would be higher percentage of being short hair rather then long hair.

 

[bab-ush-niik]

In some areas, it could be very common. One of my friends grew up in Maine. He said there was a very high percentage of Maine Coon-like cats at the shelter and as strays, and most cat owners had Maine Coons or ones that were obviously at least half MC.

 

[halfpint]

Gee he's beautiful no matter what and I want him

what a doll baby, he does resemble one for sure. I have alway's wanted one

I just have to many already

 

[enkeli-kitten]

Tonight when I get home (I'm at school now) I'll take a better picture of him looking Maine Coon-ish.

Thanks everyone for your advice!! I'm beginning to think he must be a Maine Coon because of all his characteristics. Are Maine Coons expensive when pure-bred? From your posts they seem reasonably common (at least in Maine

)but I don't think there are a lot of them around here.

 

[halfpint]

I looked at some at a Cat show in San Diego they weren't to badly priced I didn't think, depends I think on a lot of things, I saw a beautiful Orange one for like $700

 

[zissou'smom]

The OP is from New Zealand.... not Maine. Not North America. I know if we were talking about a cat from Bangor it would be entirely possible. But halfway around the world from where most would consider it "common"???

 

[crittermom]

He looks like a Maine Coon to me
Here is our Neela as a baby with her brother

him by hyself

She's also in my siggy

 

[zissou'smom]

I guess if someone is determined to believe their cat is a purebred then why not? It's just a label, and the cat in question does have a Maine Coon-like appearance.

He does have a distinctive ruff and the long hair (yet to see his eartips) but the other characteristics aren't necessarily Maine Coons. Such as the mascara liner. All tabbies have that, it's part of the tabby pattern. The majority of cats I've ever seen have enjoyed being around people but aren't total lap-cats. And a chirrupy meow is far from rare.

I just think it's way more likely for a random-bred, free, kitten in New Zealand to happen to be a silver classic tabby with long hair than to be a Maine Coon. Even if one of the parents happened to be a Maine Coon, it is still a mixed breed. Or a Maine Coon mix.

He is a beautiful cat. Why so intent on calling him a certain breed?

 

[goldenkitty45]

I don't see why its hurting anyone. IMO the silver color is rare in any population of random bred cats, and you CAN import breeds from other countries.

Maybe it is a mixed, but because of the color and the type that is there, I would call it a maine coon and not a mix.

 

[zissou'smom]

It's not hurting anyone. Like I said in the post before. Also, I am aware that they have Maine Coons in NZ, and looked at several cattery's websites before responding. The fact that they do does not mean that a large percentage of strays are purebred Maine Coons.

The chances of having anything anyone could call a purebred from a box of free kittens are low. And silver isn't rare enough that the simple fact of having a silver classic tabby with long hair makes it a purebred.

And I wonder why it matters. The price you could have paid for a cat if you are so lucky to get the one in a million random-bred yet purebred kitten who is somehow free is immaterial, as is its "purebred" status unless you plan to breed or sell it, unless its just for prestige, in which case I just don't get it.

Perhaps it's just a fundamental difference of opinion. I believe that any cat without proven (or proveable) heritage is a moggy. I guess you don't, and if it looks enough like it then it is...

 

[catsknowme]

Your gorgeous boy does look alot like my JC

he's got the stocky legs & the big paws

JC's ruff looks like a lynx, and he has the cutest "pantaloons". JC loves (insists, actually) on going outside, he enjoys snow (his wide feet & fur between the paws act like snowshoes); the rain really does run off his outer, long hairs - it's so hard to get him to come in during inclement weather

I am just surprised to find that a MC would be in NZ, but they are just such great cats

JC doesn't have papers (why spend the exta money when I was going to have him neutered anyway), and, as Zissou's mom said, why worry about prestige??? He can be a moggy, just like me!