Maine Coon

The ancestral origins of the Maine Coon are unknown.[7] Some speculate that they are descended from Norwegian forest cats or Siberian forest cats, which may have been brought to New England by settlers.[8]

There are also folk tales around their origin. One story involves Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France who was executed in 1793. The story goes that before her death, Antoinette attempted to escape France with the help of Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded Clough's ship with her most prized possessions, including six of her favorite Turkish Angora or possibly Siberian cats. Although she did not make it to the United States, all of her pets managed to reach the shore of Wiscasset, Maine, safely, where they bred with other short-haired breeds and developed into the modern breed of the Maine Coon.[9]

Cosey, winner of the first cat show in the United States, 1895

A two-year-old Maine Coon

The first mention of Maine Coon cats in a literary work was in 1861, in Frances Simpson's The Book of the Cat (1903). F.R. Pierce, who owned several Maine Coons, wrote a chapter about the breed.[10] During the late 1860s, farmers located in Maine told stories about their cats and held the "Maine State Champion Coon Cat" contest at the local Skowhegan Fair.[11]

In 1895, a dozen Maine Coons were entered into a show in Boston. On 8 May 1895, the first North American cat show was hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A female Maine Coon brown tabby, named Cosey, was entered into the show. Owned by Mrs. Fred Brown, Cosey won the silver collar and medal and was named Best in Show.[12] The silver collar was purchased by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) Foundation with the help of a donation from the National Capital Cat Show. The collar is housed at the CFA Central Office in the Jean Baker Rose Memorial Library.[11]

In the early 20th century, the Maine Coon's popularity began to decline with the introduction of other long-haired breeds, such as the Persian, which originated in the Middle East. The last recorded win by a Maine Coon in a national cat show for over 40 years was in 1911 at a show in Portland, Oregon. The breed was rarely seen after that. The decline was so severe that the breed was declared extinct in the 1950s, although this declaration was considered to be exaggerated and reported prematurely at the time. The Central Maine Cat Club (CMCC) was created in the early 1950s by Ethylin Whittemore, Alta Smith, and Ruby Dyer in an attempt to increase the popularity of the Maine Coon. For 11 years, the CMCC held cat shows and hosted exhibitions of photographs of the breed and is noted for creating the first written breed standards for the Maine Coon.[11]

The Maine Coon was denied provisional breed status—one of the three steps required for a breed not yet recognized by the CFA to be able to compete in championship competitions[13]—by the CFA three times, which led to the formation of the Maine Coon Cat Club in 1973. The breed was accepted by the CFA under provisional status on May 1st, 1975, and was approved for championship status on May 1st, 1976. The next couple of decades saw a rise in popularity of the Maine Coon, with championship victories and an increase in national rankings. In 1985, the state of Maine announced that the breed would be named the official state cat.[14] Today the Maine Coon is the third most popular cat breed, according to the number of kittens registered with the CFA.[15]

The Maine Coon is a long- or medium-haired cat. The coat is soft and silky, although texture may vary with coat color. The length is shorter on the head and shoulders and longer on the stomach and flanks, with some cats having a leonine ruff around their neck. Minimal grooming is required for the breed compared to other long-haired breeds, as their coat is mostly self-maintaining owing to a light-density undercoat. The coat is subject to seasonal variation,[17] with the fur being thicker in the winter and thinner during the summer.

Maine Coons can have any colors that other cats have. Colors indicating crossbreeding, such as chocolate, lavender, the Siamese pointed patterns or the "ticked" patterns, are not accepted by some breed standards. This is not universal; the ticked pattern, for example, is accepted by TICA and CFA.[11] The most common pattern seen in the breed is brown tabby.[18] All eye colors are accepted under breed standards, with the exception of blue or odd-eyes, i.e. heterochromia iridium, or two eyes of different colors, in cats possessing coat colors other than white.[17]

A four-year-old Maine Coon female

Maine Coons have several physical adaptations for survival in harsh winter climates. Their dense water-resistant fur is longer and shaggier on their underside and rear for extra protection when they are walking or sitting on top of wet surfaces of snow or ice.[19] Their long and bushy raccoon-like tail is resistant to sinking in snow, and can be curled around their face and shoulders for warmth and protection from wind and blowing snow. It can even be curled around their backside like an insulated seat cushion when sitting down on a frozen surface.[20] Large paws, and especially the extra-large paws of polydactyl Maine Coons,[21] facilitate walking on snow and are often compared to snowshoes.[19] Long tufts of fur growing between their toes help keep the toes warm and further aid walking on snow by giving the paws additional structure without significant extra weight.[20] Heavily furred ears with extra long tufts of fur growing from inside can keep warm more easily.[19]

Maine Coons are known as the "gentle giants"[6] and possess above-average intelligence, making them relatively easy to train.[5] They are known for being loyal to their family and cautious—but not mean—around strangers, but are independent and not clingy. The Maine Coon is generally not known for being a "lap cat," but their gentle disposition makes the breed relaxed around dogs, other cats, and children. Many Maine Coons have a fascination with water and some speculate that this personality trait comes from their ancestors, who were aboard ships for much of their lives.[7] Maine Coons are also well known for being very vocal cats. They are known for their frequent yowling or howling, trilling, chirping, and making other loud vocalizations.[22]

Four-year-old black marble male Maine Coon

The Maine Coon was considered the largest breed of domestic cat until the introduction of the Savannah cat in the mid 1980s, and is still the largest non-hybrid breed. On average, males weigh from 13 to 18 lb (5.9 to 8.2 kg), with females weighing from 8 to 12 lb (3.6 to 5.4 kg).[23] The height of adults can vary between 10 and 16 in (25 and 41 cm) and they can reach a length of up to 38 in (97 cm), including the tail, which can reach a length of 14 in (36 cm)[24] and is long, tapering, and heavily furred, almost resembling a raccoon's tail. The body is solid and muscular, which is necessary for supporting their weight, and the chest is broad. Maine Coons possess a rectangular body shape and are slow to physically mature; their full size is normally not reached until they are three to five years old, while other cats take about one year.[25]

In 2010, the Guinness World Records accepted a male purebred Maine Coon named "Stewie" as the "Longest Cat", measuring 48.5 in (123 cm) from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. Stewie died on February 4th, 2013, from cancer at his home in Reno, Nevada, at age 8.[26][27] As of 2015 the living record-holder for "Longest Cat" is "Ludo", measuring 3 ft 10.59 in (118.33 cm). He lives in Wakefield, England, in the United Kingdom.[28] Large Maine Coons can overlap in length with Eurasian lynxes, although with a much lighter build and lower height.[29]

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  A sitting Maine Coon
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  Female Maine Coon brown tabby, age 6
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  Cream silver tabby Maine Coon
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  Maine Coon silver tabby
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  Maine Coon kitten at 75 days old
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  Black Silver Tabby 7-month-old male Maine Coon
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  A Peruvian Maine Coon
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  Maine Coon - red tabby - 1 year old

Maine Coon cats generally can eat the same food as other types of cats, although their high energy expenditure can mean that they need a larger-than-average diet.[30]