| Information on Maine Coons |
| The Maine Coon can come in just about any color except pointed like a siamese. They can be polydactyl (extra toes) or with normal traditional feet. The type of polydactyl can vary from cat to cat. They're not always poly on all four feet. But they will always be on the front feet if they are poly at all. The length of the tips on their ears and feet vary as will the thickness of their coats and volume of their mane. Their coats are shorter on top with it draping to the underbelly with long flowing tails. Their vocabulary is astounding. There is a lot more to them than the normal meow. They chortle or chirp at times among other noises or combination of noises. Some of them have a sound that almost sounds like a bark. |
| The Maine Coon is the first recognized native American cat. They are the typical farm cats on the upper east coast. Especially in Maine. They also are known to either play in water, wash their food, or make swiping motions on either side of the bowl before they drink. This behavior reminds many people of a raccoon. Thus the name Maine Coon. They are not however related to a raccoon. They are large cats whether you have a male or female. Their coats are long and flowing with a large main around their neck and flowing tail. Their attitudes are more dog like than cat like. I'm not kidding. Sounds strange to people who haven't been around them but it's the honest truth. They love to be with their people unlike most cats who can take us or leave us. |
| What is polydactyl? It simply is a term that means extra toes or fingers. There are people in the world that are polydactyl. There are also cats that are polydactyl. The Maine Coon is one of them. The Maine Coon originated from the ship cats that came across when we settled America. They believe they crossed with cats already here. But over the years they became a breed so that they had the same temperments and typical look. Breeders decided to have them recognized as the Maine Coon breed. In the beginning it was decided that polys would not be shown as Maine Coon cats because most breeders felt that it was unsightly and abnormal as not many if any other breeds being shown had signs of this trait. Back to ship cats. The captains believed the polys to be good luck. The poly could also catch and hold a mouse or other vermin much better than any other cat. If you are on a wooden ship in the middle of the ocean one wouldn't want a mouse to chew through the bottom. Left in their natural state about 40% of the Maine Coon is poly. But breeders have tried to breed it out. There have always been breeders who felt that the poly gene was one that needed to be preserved. At this time there are more and more breeders world wide working to get the polys recognized again. Other breeds who are allowed to show polys may be the first step in this recognition. . |
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| When looking for a Maine Coon a person must be prepared for their large size. When they are young they don't know they will be big. It is up to their owner to teach them that they can't jump through the banister railings, climb behind the refrigerator or under that chair. If they are used to doing something they will continue doing it not realizing they are getting bigger. This can lead to a situation where they get stuck. It is better early on to teach them not to do these things. They are very fast to learn things because they don't like being scolded. They want to make us happy. |
| Almost every breeder I've talked to and anyone who has had a Maine Coon says that they are bug hunters. It's something we learned right away. They will hunt down anything from a gnat to a wasp. I have heard of one of our past babies who catches the fly in her mouth, holds it, then releases just when it finally stops struggling just so she can chase and catch it again. |