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Is My Cat Part Maine Coon

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What Age Do Maine Coons Get Their Mane

How to tell if your cat is a Maine Coon!

Maine coon kittens begin to develop a fluffy coat around eight weeks old. Your Maine coons fluffiness will gradually continue to develop until your cat is four years old. Ear tufts will become prominent only after a couple of months. A Maine coons neck ruff can be noticed starting around nine months.

How To Tell If Your Maine Coon Is A Mix

Maine Coon cats have a very distinct body style and some telltale characteristics that are unique to them. They have long 40 inches or more bodies that are rectangular shaped and exceptionally large paws that can sometimes have an extra toe. Their paws are fur-covered and the ears usually have hair at the tips.

Confusingly, all of the above characteristics can also be found on Maine Coons that are mixed with other breeds. Frankly, there is no real way to tell if your cat is a mix because the difference is already so subtle between a purebred and a mixed breed.

A purebred will obviously have all of the physical traits that are exclusive to a Maine Coon, and a mixed breed will have many of the traits and sometimes all of the traits. A typical sign that your coonie is a mixed breed is that they are not quite as large as a purebred coon.

Size Variance

The Maine Coon is a very large cat. They can weigh up to 25 lbs not because they are overweight, but because their body mass is spread evenly throughout their body. Their tails can measure up to 16 inches in length. Typically if they are of mixed lineage they will not grow to the massive lengths that a purebred does.

A purebred coon cat will grow for up to 5 years before it reaches its full maturity cats that are of mixed breeding usually reach their full potential at 2-3 years of age.

Other Variances

The Maine Coon Has Very Distinctive Ears

The Maine Coon has a very distinctive set of ears.

They are large and triangular ending in pointed tips.

The top of the ear will have inner hair that tufts upwards, as well as a large amount of hair at the base.

The Maine Coon has quite a lot of ear hair which is fluffy and light at the base with spiked hair towards the tip.

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The Maine Coon Has Many Colors And Patterns

Theres a great many colors available to Maine Coon owners but some are more common than others.

By far the most common pattern in Maine Coons is tabby, which describes Alita.

Alita is also brown, which is also more common than other colors.

Brown tabby with black and white streaks does seem to be a common pairing.

Although Maine Coons come in solid colors such as black, white, ginger, silver or blue.

Quite frankly there is a vast array, but not many cats come in solid colors like white.

The Maine Coon Has A Luxurious Coat

How To Decide If Your Cat Is Part Maine Coon

The Maine Coon is the spirit of the rugged house cat. Its a big powerful animal with a silky coat that looks really warm.

It has the look of being able to weather any storm. Maybe the Captain Coon mythology has some truth to it after all.

It has a double layered coat which has soft thick hairs as the undercoat, and a long silky overcoat to keep the frame warm in harsh climates.

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Do Maine Coon Mixes Like To Cuddle

Or, in more specific terms, is my cat part Maine Coon if he likes to cuddle? The answer is mostly in the affirmative.

Maine Coon mixes just like Maine Coon pure breeds tend to have a liking for cuddling. In the Maine Coon mixes, affinity for cuddling may, however not be as strong. It may not be as strong as what we find in purebred Maine Coons. But you will still tend to find some degree of it.

How To Tell If Your Kitten Is A Maine Coon

Maine coon cats have grown in popularity in recent years. But along with most things that become valuable and popular, you need to watch out for effects of popularity and demand, such as backyard breeders. They may attempt to deceive you with a claim they have purebred Maine coon kittens for sale when they are far from purebred.

When looking at kittens, you can look for things to help you ensure what you are looking at is a real Maine Coon kitten. You must remember these cats were running wild in Maine at one stage, as feral cats or kittens, so certain traits have been left behind, which have become the key to their popularity.

Its unfortunate, but there isnt a way to be 100% sure that a kitten or cat is a Maine Coon unless both parents are certified Main Coon cats.

Below are listed traits and things to look for in the available kittens to give you a chance of getting the real deal.

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Maine Coon Mix Grooming Needs

Because many Maine Coon mixes shed heavily, that is an important grooming area. But then again, in a certain Maine Coon mix short hair may be present. . Further, because of their typically bigger than average claws, claw clipping may be another aspect of grooming. Other Maine Coon grooming needs may include for brushing and hair clipping.

Bathing can be part of Maine Coon cat mix grooming . But dont rely too much on the fact that purebred Maine Coon cats love water. It doesnt necessarily mean that all Maine Coon mixes will love water in a similar way. You need to watch your Maine Coon mix cat behavior around water, to figure out how to proceed.

How To Tell If My Cat Is Part Maine Coon

Maine Coon Cat 101 – Watch This Before Getting One (Full Guide)

How To Tell If My Cat Is Part Maine Coon? One way to know if your cat is part Maine Coon is by looking at her body frame and shape. Purebreds have sleek, rectangular and muscular frames. They have long bodies, a medium-width neck, and a muscular, broad chest. Their bodies are medium to large and females are smaller than males.

How can I tell if my cat is mixed with a Maine Coon? The breed has a large, muscular frame, broad chest, and long torso. Their body is rectangular in shape. A Maine Coon tabby mix or a Maine Coon shorthair mix would have a slightly smaller frame and a shorter torso. Therefore, one of the most typical signs of a mixed coon would be slightly smaller body dimensions.

Do all Maine Coon cats have an M on their forehead? The M on a Maine Coons forehead is a dominant patterned marking found on all tabby patterned Maine Coon cats. This prominent marking is not specific to the Maine Coon breed, but is visible on every color of Maine Coon cat that you can think of, provided the cat has tabby patterned markings.

How can I tell if my kitten is a Maine Coon? Look for kittens with rectangular, muscular-looking body shapes, a long torso, and a broad chest. Maine Coon kittens have bodies that are completely in proportion. Therefore, if anyone part of their body looks to be more emphasized than another, it is possible the kitten you are viewing is not a purebred Maine Coon.

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How Do You Tell A Maine Coon From A Tabby

The breed has a large, muscular frame, broad chest, and long torso. Their body is rectangular in shape. A Maine Coon tabby mix or a Maine Coon shorthair mix would have a slightly smaller frame and a shorter torso. Therefore, one of the most typical signs of a mixed coon would be slightly smaller body dimensions.

Is Your Maine Coon Affectionate

Now, weve established that Maine Coons are friendly and sociable.

Not only that they are affectionate too!

These are some of the ways that your Maine Coon will show its affection:

He/ She will

  • look at you through half-closed, slowly-blinking eyes
  • rub its cheek on you
  • give you head butts
  • lean its body against you
  • twine its tail around your arms or legs
  • purr in your proximity
  • even lick you!

A Maine Coons affections may be subtle sometimes, but youll surely notice it. These cats will express their love for you in a variety of ways, small or big.

However, dont mistake a Maine Coons friendly, social and affectionate nature to be signs of a needy cat. In truth, Maine Coons are still quite independent. They will not demand your constant attention.

Rather, they tend to be happy just near you, at arms length, not while smothering you.

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Is Your Maine Coon Friendly And Sociable

Maine Coons are a human-loving breed.

These cats treat their human family as one of their own. When youre in a Maine Coons inner circle, you should be ready for friendly greetings in the form of head bumps or nose rubs.

Maine Coons are as approachable as cats can be. They have an outgoing nature and they enjoy the company of people.

Their ability to behave like a mans best friend is one of the reasons why this breed is often called the dogs of the cat world.

Maine Coon Mix Trainability

How to tell if my cat is part Maine coon

Maine Coon mix cats tend to be very easily trainable. For sure, they may not be as easily trainable as the purebred Maine Coon cats. But they tend to have some degree of trainability.

You may ask: how do I know if I have a Maine Coon mix cat that is trainable? And the answer would be in simply trying. So you try to train the cat, and see how well he is able to understand and act on instructions. You have to start small and be patient.

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Personality Of The Maine Coon Cat Breed

If there were just one word to describe the Maine Coon, it would be personable.

  • These large cats love to be around people and follow you from room to room, observing everything you do with never blinking eyes.
  • Maine Coons arent clingy or needy and wont be upset if you leave them alone at home.
  • If you have rodents in your home , your Maine Coon will quickly get rid of them, thanks to its superb hunting abilities.
  • In fact, this skill has been consistent throughout the Coons lineage since these felines served as sea or farm cats for centuries.
  • If your home is rodent-free, this breed will have just as much fun chasing toys.
  • The Maine Coon is an intelligent breed and can learn tricks when properly motivated with positive reinforcement techniques.

Lastly, although the appearance of the males and females of this breed are relatively the same , females are a bit more on the dignified side.

Its usually the males of the breed who are silly and can entertain you for hours with their antics.

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Ways To Find If Your Cat Is A Part Maine Coon:

There are several characteristics of Maine Coon that you can match with your beloved cat, and check if you can find similarities.

These characteristics are the traits of a purebred Maine Coon, and it is not possible to find many similarities.

In that case, you might just have a mixed Maine Coon cat. However, you can always have a DNA test of your cat to check the purity.

If you dont want to go for the pricey alternative, you can check the following physical and behavioral traits to determine whether your cat is part Maine Coon.

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Is Your Cat Part Maine Coon

When you purchase the cat and try to determine whether the cat is a purebred Maine coon or the part Maine coon, then there come many things that you have to consider. Purebred coon is a breed that is very consistent in terms of its nature, personality, and size. If you think that your cat is a purebred Maine coon then there is some description of your body, and some of those are:

  • Size- The sizes of the main coons are way larger than the other breeds of cats and have a weight of 25 lbs.
  • Tail- The tail of the coon is bushy and large.
  • Eyes- Large wide eyes that have slightly oblique
  • Ears- the ears of the lynx-like ear tufts.

There are many more things that you can consider if you want to know whether the cat you have is coon or not, and if you want to know more about that, then you can check this out!!

Appearance Of The Munchkin Cat Breed

What It’s Like Living with Maine Coons (Parts 1-3)

The Munchkin cat breed has been described as the Corgi of the cat world. Its obvious why when you see this adorable, short-stature feline.

  • Due to a genetic mutation, this cats legs are short and a tad stubby.
  • This domestic cutie comes in a variety of coat colors, patterns, and lengths.
  • Their head is of normal proportions, with erect ears.
  • Their eyes can be of any variety including, gold, green, and blue.
  • Depending on their coat length, the tail can either be a plume or shorthaired.

In general, Munchin cats are a small to medium-sized breed. They weigh up to 9 pounds and are 6-9 inches tall.

The International Cat Association recognized the breed in 1995, despite numerous concerns about the breeds health. More about that in a bit.

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Maine Coon Temperament And Personality

The Maine Coon is sweet and friendly, with the typically curious cat nature. He is a sociable cat who loves his family but isnt demanding of attention. Hell follow you around and show an interest in what youre doing, and if youd like to give him some lap time, hes happy to oblige.

This is one of those cats who gets along with everyone, including dogs and other cats. He enjoys playing fetch and is willing to learn to walk on a leash, making him a great choice for anyone who travels frequently and would like to bring a feline companion along. When youre not home with him, keep your Maine Coon entertained with puzzle toys, a bird feeder he can watch from the window and a water bowl he can splash in.

Maine Coons communicate with a variety of sounds. In addition to the all-purpose meows and purrs, you will hear them cheep, chirp and trill, incongruous sounds coming from a gentle giant. They use body language, too. A Maine Coon will give you a nice head butt to let you know just how special you are to him.

Maine Coons can adapt to any type of home in any climate. They are built for cold outdoor living, but its safer to keep them inside so they dont get hit by cars or run the risk of disease spread by other cats.

What Color Is Your Maine Coons Coat

Answering this question is unlikely to help in your quest, but it helps to know that Maine Coons come in a variety of patterns and colors.

A cat of this breed is not necessarily just a solid brown or mackerel tabby.

On top of solid and tabby, Maine Coons come in patterns like smoke, tortoiseshell and shaded. Then, they could be black, red, white, cream, silver, blue-grey, or a combination of colors!

When putting together the patterns and colors, the permutations are numerous. This means that you cant deduce the Maine Coon breed based on the just the coat of the cat.

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How To Tell If A Kitten Is A Maine Coon

Maine Coon cats have grown exponentially in popularity within the last decade. One very unfortunate side effect of this has been the proliferation of BYB presenting kittens for sale as Maine Coons when they are anything but pure bred or even mixed.

There are certain traits that are associated with this breed that can help you to know whether you are looking at the real thing or not.

At one point in time these naturally bred cats were pretty rampant in Maine, but times have changed and the reality is Maine Coon cats are not very likely to be running around feral. They are being bred by breeders today as pets and as show cats.

Unless you know the parents are certified Maine Coons then there is no way to tell for sure whether your cat is a Coon as well.

Body Style

A Maine Coon cat is large. They are large as kittens and large as adults. They have rectangular bodies and they take about 4 years to reach full maturity. They have a ruff around the neck that is discernible, and they have large paws as well.

A telltale sign of the Maine Coon cat is their fur. It is very thick and medium to long. They evolved to survive the harsh Maine winters so they have tufts of fur on their paws as well as that long silky coat with the thick under coat.

Ears

Eyes

They have large, intelligent eyes that are slightly rounded.

Personality

Their size is one key factor but their personality is the most important. These cats are a happy breed that are easily approachable.

What You Need To Know About Maine Coon Health

Is My Cat Part Maine Coon?

All cats have the potential to develop genetic health problems, just as all people have the potential to inherit diseases. Any breeder who claims that her breed has no health or genetic problems is either lying or is not knowledgeable about the breed. Run, dont walk, from any breeder who does not offer a health guarantee on kittens, who tells you that the breed is 100 percent healthy and has no known problems, or who tells you that her kittens are isolated from the main part of the household for health reasons.

Maine Coons have some hereditary health issues that can be of concern, especially if you arent cautious about who you buy from. They include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hip dysplasia and spinal muscular atrophy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common form of heart disease in cats. It causes thickening of the heart muscle. An echocardiogram can confirm whether a cat has HCM. Avoid breeders who claim to have HCM-free lines. No one can guarantee that their cats will never develop HCM. Maine Coons that will be bred should be screened for HCM, and cats identified with HCM should be removed from breeding programs. Researchers have identified the genetic mutation that causes the development of HCM in the Maine Coon and have developed a genetic test that allows breeders to screen cats before breeding them. Do not buy a kitten whose parents have not been tested for this disease.

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