Maine Coon cross??

[mattytee]

So my little Tom (in my photo) is a British Shorthair Cross- his dad is a pedigree british shorthair, and the lady who owned Tom's mum wasn't sure if she was anything in particular.... however, I have recently seen some BSH x Maine Coon kittens that look exactly like my gorgeous Tom, so I thought I'd post a photo of his mum to see what you guys think??

photo(4).JPG

• mattytee
• Jan 26, 2013

In case you're wondering, Tom's mum disappeared the day she was due to be spayed, and managed to make her way into the neighbour's garden to have some fun with their pedigree BSH!

 

[missymotus]

If the lady only owns the mother, how does she know the father was a pedigree BSH? Unlikely he'd have been roaming outside if he were a stud boy.

Tom just looks like a moggie

 

[mattytee]

As I said before, the mother managed to get into the neighbours garden and into their stud cat's outdoor enclosure. The mother was an indoor cat and was found in the enclosure with the neighbour's stud cat and since she'd never been with another unneutered male, that was obviously the father of the kittens.

 

[missymotus]

Yes I read that, it's all very odd. Cats cannot just walk into a stud pen, they are very secure. Cats will also mate with multiple males so you really can't say without a dna test that this boy is the one and only father. 

Nonetheless you've got a lovely domestic out of it. 

 

[orientalslave]

His mother might have had some fun with a pedigree BSH but she must have had fun with some other cats as well.  Your kitten is longhair, and there is no way a genuine pedigree BSH stud in the UK will carry longhair.

Also agree with MM that it's not possible for a cat to manage to get into a secure stud pen - they have a double door.  I can believe she appeared outside his pen and they were calling to each other.  She could also have been spayed as soon as she came back.  After a couple of days conception hasn't taken place.

He is lovely, he's a domestic longhair, a random-bred kitten.

 

[StefanZ]

I believe Matty meant the small  "nick" photo is of the mixed kitten, and the bigger photo is of the mom.

Myself I dont want to decide anything based on one small unclear photo.

But the mom is gorgious in her way!  

There IS one point which does the story almost believeable: many brits arent very gymnasics, so they cant jump very high. I can imagine they did a "safe" pen for him so he couldnt get away.   But for a decently gymnasic female it wasnt any big deal to jump into...

I agree she can have met other males too, so nothing is sure to say.

For an experienced, dominant male it may take just a moment, especielly if the female is willing.

Ps. Matty, did you meant to ask, if the mom is look alike a Maine Coon?

 

[missymotus]

There IS one point which does the story almost believeable: many brits arent very gymnasics, so they cant jump very high. I can imagine they did a "safe" pen for him so he couldnt get away.   But for a decently gymnasic female it wasnt any big deal to jump into...

I don't know of any BSH breeders who would be so irresponsible  when housing a stud outdoors it's about keeping him in and others out, there is no way they would be building/buying an unsecured pen with low sided walls. 

 

[orientalslave]

I've seen a number of BSH stud pens in the UK and they ALL have a roof of some sort.  BSH might not be in the same league as Orientals or Siamese but they are still athletic enough to need a roofed pen.

 

[StefanZ]

I see. So this hypothesis is falsified, and we can take away this BSH stud from the list of suspect fathers.  He was apparently innocently accused.  I beg for your pardon, Sire!      

So what we have really left, is the mother herself, IF it is her photo we do see.

Can she be said to be somewhat a look alike of a MCO?  

 

[minka]

I don't see why the pen couldn't have been unsecure. There are plenty plenty of irresponsible breeders in this world, heck some people will buy a purebred and then just hook it up with whatever cat they already happened to have. :dk:

If she was in the pen with him, it's likely that the kitten is his, but it's also likely she mated with others while she was out as well.




MattyTee- to answer your question, no I don't think the mum looks like a Maine Coon. She's not fluffy or big enough. She's very beautiful though. ^^

 

[mattytee]

Lol thanks guys!! I have no idea myself, and the mum is definitely a longhair I know that much, and that Tom looks very much like her and is almost as fluffy, so I was wondering if anyone thought she was anything in particular?

And that definitely is the mum because I went to view the kittens with the mum before deciding whether or not I wanted one... I don't care particularly either way, I think my little boy is gorgeous whatever he is, but I was wondering if you guys thought the mum resembled any particular breed!!

[oh and re the outdoor enclosure... Part of it was roofless, and quite high, so it is possible to get in! And I forgot the mention this before, they purposely had Tom's mum mate with the BSH before and the kittens from the previous litter looked almost exactly the same as the litter my little boy came from.... I dunno if that makes a difference!!- I met the neighbour and her stud cat when I viewed the litter and she was telling me about it....]

 

[orientalslave]

Ah - not really what one would call ethical breeding.  He really should only be mated with BSH females, not the neighbours pretty fluffy girl.  Is tom actually longhair?  (I've realised he is the one dressed up as a bee, the other is mum!)  You describe him as fluffy, if he is longhair it's a very dubious BSH stud.

And not one of the stud pens I've seen is roofless - both males and females will do really extraordinary things to mate, as many people have found to their cost.

As you say, he is gorgeous.

 

[mattytee]

I did think it wasn't quite right that they had the enclosure partially open, but it wasn't really my place to say anything!!

I would describe Tom as a shorthair, but he seems much fluffier than most shorthairs I've seen (my brother has two shorthair and one longhair cat, and I would say Tom is a cross between the two...)

Also, you said it's not really ethical breeding to breed with non-BSH females.. It's something I've noticed a lot during my hunt for a kitten... There are a lot of people selling kittens that are apparently bred just to look cute... So a lot of BSH crosses because they look cute, and Persian crosses etc. some of them are even described as "designer bred kittens" and they charge £200 + for what is essentially a pretty moggie. I assume there are health issues with this sort of breeding as well.... So I guess this sort of breeding is frowned upon then- I never really thought about it before!

 

[missymotus]

Also many of those Persian or BSH mixes aren't from actual papered cats. Shorthaired moggies in the UK can resemble BSH, and many call any longhair cat a Persian.

BYB's don't tend to do health tests as mentioned. 

Moggies don't have a coat type, so some with have a smooth sleek coat, others will be fluffier. 

 

[northernglow]

  Your kitten is longhair, and there is no way a genuine pedigree BSH stud in the UK will carry longhair.

There are lots of BSH lines in UK carrying the longhair gene. I've done a lot "window shopping".

 

[orientalslave]

If there are lots of lines, lots of L/h kittens must be popping out which I've not come across.  Does it depend a bit which registry the cats are with - GCCF or TICA?  And possibly people are using gene testing to get rid of l/h carriers.

 

[missymotus]

The good breeders here have bred out lh carriers, I think they're more in the cp lines?

 

[orientalslave]

That's my theory.  I suspect l/h carriers don't get the correct crisp coat texture, and cps still have coats that are a bit soft and flat - without the 'breaks' a good coat has.

Be very interested to see the lines NG knows of with l/h carriers.

 

[northernglow]

The good breeders here have bred out lh carriers, I think they're more in the cp lines?

Actually I've mostly seen them in silver (shaded) lines. Have been checking them (in UK) more than points because Kuura's nephew was exported to UK and many shaded cats have been imported to Finland recently.

OS, some of them have been FIFé breeders. Longhair kittens are quite unusual even if there are carriers. For example my Utu was for a long time the only BLH I knew about over here, and even now, nearly 6 years later, I know of less than 10 (no one breeds them here on purpose, except me, but I haven't had longhair kittens yet). Lh carriers can have excellent coat. Utu's mother (classic silver tabby) had a bit too long coat, his dad had short and crispy (shaded). Luna's both parents had nice short coats (they're silver points).

A bit OT but I've heard that longhair breeders prefer longhair kittens that come from sh+sh or lh+sh matings because the coat texture is better than from a lh+lh mating. Don't know if that's true as I've only handled longhairs that have shorthair parents. I can PM you if you want me to name catteries I know which have/had lh carriers.

 

[orientalslave]

Please PM me, I'll be very interested though Fife breeders probably aren't the ones I'm use to seeing in GCCF pedigrees,