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Maine Coon

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Description

The Maine Coon is known for its large size, easygoing temperament, and rugged appearance. This native New England breed is well-adapted to that harsh climate, with a heavy, shaggy coat, bushy tail, and tufted ears and toes. They have a long, rectangular body, square muzzles, and an overall look of a sturdy cat who is a great hunter and hard worker.

Despite its name, the Maine Coon cat is not a relative of the raccoon. The name reflects the resemblance of a tabby Maine Coon's tail to that of a raccoon. Cross-mating between raccoons and cats is genetically impossible.

Though the brown tabby pattern is perhaps the best known, Maine Coons are available in a variety of colors and patterns.

The first Maine Coon recognized in cat literature as such was in 1861, with a black and white cat named "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines", after a popular song of the time. In 1895, a brown tabby named Cosie was the winner of the Madison Square Garden show. The fifth cat registered in the new CFA in 1908 was a Maine Coon named Molly Bond.

Unfortunately, the popularity of the Maine Coon declined shortly after this until the 1950s, due to the importation of more exotic-seeming cats such as the Persian and Siamese. After the 1950s, the popularity climbed until today; the Maine is now one of the world's most popular cat breeds, second only to the Persian.

Maine Coons can grow to be quite large; it is not unusual to find males who weigh over twenty pounds. Females are generally somewhat smaller than males, though still considerably larger than the average housecat.

Photo © Chanan

Associations: The Maine Coon is accepted in all major cat registries.


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Breed Information

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© 1994-2009 Barbara C. French, DBA FBRL Services. All text unless credited otherwise and the compilation of data is the copyrighted property of FBRL Services and may not be used, copied, distributed, or otherwise taken without express, advance, written permission from the owner of this site. This includes using the data to compile marketing mailing lists. All photographic illustration elements are legally licensed to FBRL Services and remain the copyrighted property of Richard Katris of Chanan Photography; such images may not be used without permission of Chanan Photography. Other photographs attached to individual cattery ads are the copyrighted property of their respective photographers. Please refer to the Copyright Statement for further information. Graphic design by Karen Strapp of StrappStudio.

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