Maine Coon Cats

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows, and you do not require papers
to be a Maine Coon. I've come to dislike cat breeding and all things that go
with it, but I find it especially irritating the way they try to claim
regional breeds that are hundreds, maybe thousands of years old and snootily
declaim that it's just a 'domestic longhair' or 'domestic shorthair' if it
isn't descended from one of their artifical and hideously inbred lines.

Laura

I suppose that would depend on the way you look at it. The ''look" existed, but
not the name. Like the Scottish Fold. Somebody found a litter of folded eared
cats in a barn, started breeding them, and viola, the Scottish Fold. There were
undoubedly folded-eared cats that existed prior, but were they "Scottish
Folds"? The name didn't exist. Same with Balinese. Longhairs have turned up in
Siamese litters for centuries, but they didn't really have a name, until the
60's.

Somebody correct me if this is wrong, but it's my understanding. .

Sherry

In article , enlightened us
with...
In article ,
kaeli wrote:
All normal and this is not a Maine Coon, it is a Domestic Longhair (i.e.
a mix breed with long hair, available all over the planet).

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows,

You think?

and you do not require papers
to be a Maine Coon.

No, but one can't prove breed without them. One can make an educated
guess. Unless you have something really distinctive, like say, a Sphynx.
It's like calling a lab mix a Labarador Retriever. It might look like
one and act like one, but it really isn't one. It's a lab-type dog.
Many, many cats look like Maine Coons. But they aren't.

I've come to dislike cat breeding and all things that go
with it, but I find it especially irritating the way they try to claim
regional breeds that are hundreds, maybe thousands of years old and snootily
declaim that it's just a 'domestic longhair' or 'domestic shorthair' if it
isn't descended from one of their artifical and hideously inbred lines.


Um, the Maine Coon IS a descendent of domestic shorthairs and exotic
longhairs. It's not like it's a disparaging statement.
I find people who think domestic longhairs aren't as good as purebreds
to be a bit snooty, myself.


---
http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/maine-coon-faq.html

One of the oldest natural breeds in North America, the Maine Coon is
generally regarded as a native of the state of Maine (in fact, the Maine
Coon is the official Maine State Cat). A number of attractive legends
surround its origin. A wide-spread (though biologically impossible)
belief is that it originated from matings between semi-wild, domestic
cats and raccoons. This myth, bolstered by the bushy tail and the most
common coloring (a raccoon-like brown tabby) led to the adoption of the
name 'Maine Coon.' (Originally, only brown tabbies were called 'Maine
Coon Cats;' cats of other colors were referred to as 'Maine Shags.')
Another popular theory is that the Maine sprang from the six pet cats
which Marie Antoinette sent to Wiscasset, Maine when she was planning to
escape from France during the French Revolution. Most breeders today
believe that the breed originated in matings between pre-existing
shorthaired domestic cats and overseas longhairs (perhaps Angora types
introduced by New England seamen, or longhairs brought to America by the
Vikings).


....
from the FAQ

"I think my cat is part Maine Coon. How do I tell?"

The Maine Coon is America's native longhair cat; it evolved
naturally in response to the New England climate. Your cat's ancestors
might be similar to the cats that founded the Maine Coon breed. However,
it's impossible to tell from just looking at your cat if it is related
to the Maine Coon or to any other breed. Because the Maine Coon is a
natural breed and hasn't been bred to extremes, there are cats all over
the world that resemble the Maine Coon. The only way to tell for sure if
your cat is a Maine Coon is to look at the pedigree.

-------------------------------------------------
~kaeli~
Jesus saves, Allah protects, and Cthulhu
thinks you'd make a nice sandwich.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace
-------------------------------------------------

In article , enlightened us
with...
In article ,
kaeli wrote:
All normal and this is not a Maine Coon, it is a Domestic Longhair (i.e.
a mix breed with long hair, available all over the planet).

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows,

You think?

and you do not require papers
to be a Maine Coon.

No, but one can't prove breed without them. One can make an educated
guess. Unless you have something really distinctive, like say, a Sphynx.
It's like calling a lab mix a Labarador Retriever. It might look like
one and act like one, but it really isn't one. It's a lab-type dog.
Many, many cats look like Maine Coons. But they aren't.

I've come to dislike cat breeding and all things that go
with it, but I find it especially irritating the way they try to claim
regional breeds that are hundreds, maybe thousands of years old and snootily
declaim that it's just a 'domestic longhair' or 'domestic shorthair' if it
isn't descended from one of their artifical and hideously inbred lines.


Um, the Maine Coon IS a descendent of domestic shorthairs and exotic
longhairs. It's not like it's a disparaging statement.
I find people who think domestic longhairs aren't as good as purebreds
to be a bit snooty, myself.


---
http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/maine-coon-faq.html

One of the oldest natural breeds in North America, the Maine Coon is
generally regarded as a native of the state of Maine (in fact, the Maine
Coon is the official Maine State Cat). A number of attractive legends
surround its origin. A wide-spread (though biologically impossible)
belief is that it originated from matings between semi-wild, domestic
cats and raccoons. This myth, bolstered by the bushy tail and the most
common coloring (a raccoon-like brown tabby) led to the adoption of the
name 'Maine Coon.' (Originally, only brown tabbies were called 'Maine
Coon Cats;' cats of other colors were referred to as 'Maine Shags.')
Another popular theory is that the Maine sprang from the six pet cats
which Marie Antoinette sent to Wiscasset, Maine when she was planning to
escape from France during the French Revolution. Most breeders today
believe that the breed originated in matings between pre-existing
shorthaired domestic cats and overseas longhairs (perhaps Angora types
introduced by New England seamen, or longhairs brought to America by the
Vikings).


....
from the FAQ

"I think my cat is part Maine Coon. How do I tell?"

The Maine Coon is America's native longhair cat; it evolved
naturally in response to the New England climate. Your cat's ancestors
might be similar to the cats that founded the Maine Coon breed. However,
it's impossible to tell from just looking at your cat if it is related
to the Maine Coon or to any other breed. Because the Maine Coon is a
natural breed and hasn't been bred to extremes, there are cats all over
the world that resemble the Maine Coon. The only way to tell for sure if
your cat is a Maine Coon is to look at the pedigree.

-------------------------------------------------
~kaeli~
Jesus saves, Allah protects, and Cthulhu
thinks you'd make a nice sandwich.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace
-------------------------------------------------

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows,

You think?

I don't. "Maine Coon" is nothing more than a name stuck on a cat whose original
look has been refined to consistently suit the definition of the breed, as it
was created for the registry. I wonder what the first Maine Coons admitted to
the registry looked like. I bet breeders have altered the look already. I
always heard the first cats that fit the original Maine Coon description were
ship's cats that jumped off in the ports of New England. They were preferred as
ship's cats because of their size to kill rats, and the long tail to balance on
the riggings. Nice story but probably invented by some romanticist breeder.

Sherry

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows,

You think?

I don't. "Maine Coon" is nothing more than a name stuck on a cat whose original
look has been refined to consistently suit the definition of the breed, as it
was created for the registry. I wonder what the first Maine Coons admitted to
the registry looked like. I bet breeders have altered the look already. I
always heard the first cats that fit the original Maine Coon description were
ship's cats that jumped off in the ports of New England. They were preferred as
ship's cats because of their size to kill rats, and the long tail to balance on
the riggings. Nice story but probably invented by some romanticist breeder.

Sherry

itty (Sherry ) wrote:

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows,

You think?

I don't. "Maine Coon" is nothing more than a name stuck on a cat whose
original
look has been refined to consistently suit the definition of the breed, as it
was created for the registry. I wonder what the first Maine Coons admitted to
the registry looked like.

You mean the Maine cats that were shown at some of the first U.S. cat shows, in
the late 19th century? From descriptions, it sounds as though they were
long-haired brown tabbies or long-haired whites.

I bet breeders have altered the look already. I
always heard the first cats that fit the original Maine Coon description were
ship's cats that jumped off in the ports of New England. They were preferred
as
ship's cats because of their size to kill rats, and the long tail to balance
on
the riggings. Nice story but probably invented by some romanticist breeder.

There are lots of legends about the origins of the Maine Coon cat. According to
the CFA, the original Maine Coon was declared extinct in the 1950s, and a group
of breeders worked to resurrect this type of cat as a breed. I'm sure you're
right, that the look of the breed was a product of what this small group of
breeders decided it should be, but there are pictures of cats labeled Maine
cats dating from the turn of the last century, so it wouldn't be too hard to
get an idea of what they were supposed to look like.

My favorite legend of the origin of the Maine Coon is that they were brought
over by Viking explorers. Maine Coons resemble Norwegian Forest Cats, so that's
the core of that story. In reality, they probably started out as big
long-haired, mixed breed cats, but as with any breed of cat, once people decide
to purpose-breed, after a few generations you have a group of cats that share
similar characteristics.

Some people call any big long-haired cat a Maine Coon, just as others call any
long-haired cat an Angora, but usually when someone uses a breed name these
days I think it's more often understood that it means a purebred cat of that
specific breed.

itty (Sherry ) wrote:

Um, the Maine Coon existed before cat shows,

You think?

I don't. "Maine Coon" is nothing more than a name stuck on a cat whose
original
look has been refined to consistently suit the definition of the breed, as it
was created for the registry. I wonder what the first Maine Coons admitted to
the registry looked like.

You mean the Maine cats that were shown at some of the first U.S. cat shows, in
the late 19th century? From descriptions, it sounds as though they were
long-haired brown tabbies or long-haired whites.

I bet breeders have altered the look already. I
always heard the first cats that fit the original Maine Coon description were
ship's cats that jumped off in the ports of New England. They were preferred
as
ship's cats because of their size to kill rats, and the long tail to balance
on
the riggings. Nice story but probably invented by some romanticist breeder.

There are lots of legends about the origins of the Maine Coon cat. According to
the CFA, the original Maine Coon was declared extinct in the 1950s, and a group
of breeders worked to resurrect this type of cat as a breed. I'm sure you're
right, that the look of the breed was a product of what this small group of
breeders decided it should be, but there are pictures of cats labeled Maine
cats dating from the turn of the last century, so it wouldn't be too hard to
get an idea of what they were supposed to look like.

My favorite legend of the origin of the Maine Coon is that they were brought
over by Viking explorers. Maine Coons resemble Norwegian Forest Cats, so that's
the core of that story. In reality, they probably started out as big
long-haired, mixed breed cats, but as with any breed of cat, once people decide
to purpose-breed, after a few generations you have a group of cats that share
similar characteristics.

Some people call any big long-haired cat a Maine Coon, just as others call any
long-haired cat an Angora, but usually when someone uses a breed name these
days I think it's more often understood that it means a purebred cat of that
specific breed.

Per the CFA - the average size range for their purebred Maine Coon
females is 9-12 lbs. The girls are not as big as the boys.

And yeah, whether the Maine Coon is a actually a "breed" is very
questionable. The 1895 CFA show records asked exhibitors to state that
both parents were long-haired cats. Period. And all of the cats with
papers are descended from those lines of
"not shorthaired" cats.

Per the CFA - the average size range for their purebred Maine Coon
females is 9-12 lbs. The girls are not as big as the boys.

And yeah, whether the Maine Coon is a actually a "breed" is very
questionable. The 1895 CFA show records asked exhibitors to state that
both parents were long-haired cats. Period. And all of the cats with
papers are descended from those lines of
"not shorthaired" cats.

And all dogs started as wolves.

--
Joe
http://www.jwpitt.com/cats.htm
Cat Rescue http://www.animalrescuefoundation.com
God created the cat so man could have the pleasure of petting the tiger


"Tracy" wrote in message
om...
Per the CFA - the average size range for their purebred Maine Coon
females is 9-12 lbs. The girls are not as big as the boys.

And yeah, whether the Maine Coon is a actually a "breed" is very
questionable. The 1895 CFA show records asked exhibitors to state that
both parents were long-haired cats. Period. And all of the cats with
papers are descended from those lines of
"not shorthaired" cats.