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Attlee as an adult Maine Coon who lives with the Speaker in his house within the estate. Photo: Richard Wheeler PA. |
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Sir Lindsay Hoyle soon after adopting his new Maine Coon kitten Attlee. They touch noses in a friendly greeting |
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Attlee as an adult Maine Coon who lives with the Speaker in his house within the estate. Photo: Richard Wheeler PA. |
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Sir Lindsay Hoyle soon after adopting his new Maine Coon kitten Attlee. They touch noses in a friendly greeting |
A user on the Reddit.com website was concerned about their recently adopted young Maine Coon. As you can see in the photograph, he is quite skinny. He looks a little bit underweight to me. But young cats tend to be skinnier than older cats. They are more active and they don't tend to eat enough to bulk up to counteract the increased activity in my view.
And in any case, Maine Coon cats tend to be quite rangy or skinny below that shaggy coat. That's the normal shape but you don't want your young Maine Coon cat to be too skinny.
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Young MC is skinny. Image: Reddit user: u/morbidleo |
I think it's okay to feed treats in moderate amounts which might help to bulk them up a little bit. My cat is not a Maine Coon but he likes king prawns! He likes them so much that I can bulk him up a bit because he was skinny when he was a youngster. In middle age he's become a little stockier in appearance which is fine.
If a young cat is skinny, it's okay. You might describe them as fighting fit. But you've got to make sure that they are actually fit and not suffering from some sort of health problem. Being underweight is a symptom of illness but the trouble is that there are a large number of illnesses which can cause a cat to be underweight.
But it should be apparent if a cat is ill causing the cat to be underweight because they would have lost their appetite. This is a case of watching a cat and making sure that they are eating enthusiastically. Young cats should eat pretty enthusiastically. They should be doing everything enthusiastically!
Do domestic cats feel the cold? There are six topics to be addressed in answering this question.
Firstly, the North African wildcat is the wild ancestor of the domestic cat. That wild cat's attitude towards the cold and towards heat is within the domestic cat. And the North African wildcats as you can imagine live in a very warm climate.
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Do domestic cats feel the cold? Yes, of course but they tolerate it better than humans. Image: MikeB |
This is why the domestic cat likes to be in a warm environment. That's why they like to be on your lap if they are lap cats. That is why they sleep in the airing cupboard where the hot water cylinder is. That is why my cat is right now in a utility room where the boiler (furnace) is situated.
We know that domestic cats like warmth. They seek it everywhere all the time. Therefore, by definition, they dislike cold. That's the first point.
The third point is that domestic cats are very tolerant. They are less complaining than humans. They are more tolerant of pain and distress. There are more tolerant of extreme conditions. That does not mean they don't feel the cold, it just means that they tolerate it better than humans at a psychological level. Their brain processes the feeling of discomfort, in this instance through being cold, better than humans do.
You will find stories on the Internet of domestic and stray cats being frozen to the ground, literally. In these instances, sometimes, when the cat has been rescued, they've had to amputate their paws because of frostbite. A horrible thought.
And of course, feral cats in many parts of the world survive winter in freezing conditions. That's why nice people who operate TNR programs provide feral cats with little homes which are insulated so they can at least feel warmer during those very cold days and nights.
We therefore know that domestic cats feel cold but they tolerate cold better. And one reason why they are better able to tolerate cold is because they have a permanent overcoat on them 👍✔️.
Clearly, some cats are better protected in this regard than others. The longhaired cats with a downy undercoat are going to feel less cold than sleek, single-coated cats.
The well-known Maine Coon cat example has a shaggy, semi-longhaired coat because they originate in the state of Maine as barn cats. They were semi-domesticated in that state, before they became show cats, in the 1800s and before.
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Siberian cats. Image in public domain. |
The Siberian purebred cat is another example of a domestic cat with a history of coming from a cold part of the world. They have coats designed for cold climates.
Arguably they will be too hot in warm homes and in warm climates. A thought. An interesting further thought is this: Siberian cats and Maine Coon cats (for example - there are other breeds) would not have evolved through natural selection to have these warm, longhaired coats unless nature recognised the fact that they needed to keep warm and in doing that nature obviously agreed that they feel the cold. Evolution has protected these cats from cold conditions. It is, therefore, an admission that domestic cats and semi-domestic cats feel the cold.
It has to be said that the anatomy of the domestic cat is really very similar to that of humans in very many ways. And certainly, in terms of feeling and detecting cold their nervous system and brain is very similar to that of humans. This strongly supports the idea that domestic cats feel the cold.
Interestingly, you will find that there are very few feral cats that are long haired because the gene that creates long hair is recessive. That means two carriers of the gene are going to have to meet and procreate to produce a litter of kittens that are longhaired.
Most feral cats you see will be shorthaired. And they will feel the cold. But in feeling the cold, as mentioned, they process it in a way which enables them to accept it without complaint
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A caricature of a Maine Coon - super-large with overly long fur. Pic: Pinterest. |
A caricature of a Maine on a cat exercise wheel which he dwarfs because of his size. This is a strange and large cat looking like a shaggy Maine Coon. This cat looks like a lynx but it is not. The fur length is too long for a Maine Coon. The ear tufts are correct. The tufts of hair sticking out between the toes are correct but outrageously long. The cat is a characture of the real thing. A living cartoon character of a Maine Coon.
Apologies for misspelling caricature in the first attempt! Working too fast.
Here is the video. No doubt it will go wrong at some time in the future as they nearly always do. If it does not work try clicking on this link.
Tesco Bank Pet Insurance usefully provide the public with the top five health conditions claimed for by owners of the Maine Coon cat in the UK. It is interesting and perhaps revealing. The information may not be generally indicative of Maine Coon health issues. It tells us that the Maine Coon in the UK typically might suffer from these health issues. They appear to point to diseases of internal organs.
Condition | Average treatment cost |
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Lump | £439.47 |
Diabetes | £221.93 |
Pancreatitis | £425.21 |
Hyperthyroidism | £229.70 |
Organ tumour | £949.61 |
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Maine Coon cat. Photo: copyright Helmi Flick and published here with her express permission. |
A rusty, orange-and-white beautiful Maine Coon has gone from being a minor celebrity show cat to a therapy cat. His name is Ferguson and he now visits the patients at the Waikato Hospital’s Older Persons and Rehabilitation unit regularly.
His human companion is Jill Ballard, 67, a retired receptionist at Older Persons and Rehabilitation Services, the same unit. As Ferguson's human companion her role has changed from receptionist to therapy cat caretaker after she had a discussion with Chris Atkinson who who is the coordinator of the volunteers at the hospital.
In a discussion with Chris the idea of employing visiting pets to bolster the mood of the patients was raised. Jill instantly thought of her cat buddy and why not because he is a superb cat and highly qualified for the post. He meets all the requirements because he is used to being in a harness, he is placid and vaccinated and I'm pleased to say that he has his claws and they are trimmed. Finally there are no fleas on him!
Now Jill says she loves to see the difference that Ferguson makes to the patient's and she spends a lot of time visiting the Older Persons Rehabilitation wards.
The patients make it clear that they love to see Ferguson and one patient has apparently become quite attached to Ferguson.
You can imagine what it is like to have a beautiful main Coon cat wandering down the hospital wards in a harness. It would certainly turn your head and put a smile on your face. Life in a hospital can be terribly mundane and can be quite depressing, to be honest. A Maine Coon cat is wonderful therapy just by his presence.
Of course the size of a main Coon cat helps. They are the biggest domestic cat on average and although Ferguson is not fully grown (he has 2 more years to grow), he weighs 10 kg (22 lbs).
Every hospital should have a Maine Coon Cat. Cats particularly benefit the elderly.
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Kurilian Bobtail. Photo: Helmi Flick. |
Zak - quiet cat in my experience. Photo by Michael. |
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Miss Kate a famous Maine Coon Photo copyright Helmi Flick |
Zak - Blue and White Maine Coon - photo Michael@PoC |
CH Snuglcoons Big Bopper & Silver Belle - Photo copyright Helmi Flick |
This is a post about Maine Coon cat health in Europe and is based on an email from a concerned Maine Coon cat breeder in Italy, Max. This is his email. One or two bits have been amendeed as his email was written in English and Max is Italian. I therefore tidied it up a bit. He writes pretty good English though.
…..Hi I am Massimo (Max). I run a Maine Coon cattery in Italy. It is called Trillo Team (new window). We are first and foremost 'cat-lovers' and then breeders. We also have two rescue cats who were condemned to death and we had bottle feed them to complete their weaning. If you look at our website, which is unfortunately only in Italian (sorry), you'll find lots of information relating to the health of the Maine Coon.
We are currently fighting a tough battle against many Italian breeders to isolate and eliminate the HCM gene from our breeding lines, but unfortunately the situation between breeders in Italy and in Europe is very serious, especially for what I reluctantly consider to be their irresponsible behaviour, that I'll try to explain below. I am sorry to say this but I feel that I must. In Italy there are breeders who continue to reproduce cats that HCM test for p / p (homozygous) and more so cats that test for n / p (heterozygous) not caring to only breed with cats that test negative n / n. But in doing so, in a litter, for example, of 6 puppies, 20% of the pups could be n / p, and therefore bearers of HCM.
I consider this irresponsible behaviour, because thinking about the reproductive life of a cat of at least 5 years with 2 litters per year, for an average of 6 pups at a time, this means that a cat that is n / p, gives the world at least 20 baby carriers of HCM ... Can you tell me, if you know, how the breeders in the U.S.A. are doing? Is it the same? We, as a breeder, unfortunately in these 4 years of activity, took cats from other breeders with the assurance that the examinations had resulted in negative HCM testing resulting in n / n. But the re-test on these cats indicated that they were n / p. I think it is irresponsible behavior. There are only 3-4 breeders in Italy who breed Maine Coon cats under rigorous testing and removing carriers of HCM from the reproductive cycle.
So we are looking the U.K. for instance to see if we can find a guaranteed cat, n / n, from a line that is not present in Italy, for at least 6 generations. We would like to found a Quality Maine Coon Club, bringing together Italian and foreign breeders, that pursue a rigorous selection in its breeding.
Another problem has occurred in relation to laboratories in Italy that perform analytical testing of HCM. In Italy there is a laboratory at the University of Milan (Vetogene) running this test that is connected to the University of Michigan, where the gene was identified and isolated. Otherwise we turn to a laboratory in Germany (LaboKlin) or France (Antagene). But what has happened is that the same cat resulted in, n / n in Italy was found to be n / p in Germany. So we no longer know what to do.
I've read with interest the study of HCM made in Stockholm, Sweden, but I've seen that they didn't talk about HCM's genetic analysis. I think that there is a lot to do to in generating awareness in people about this problem. For me, it is really a nightmare to think of selling a kitten, that after 2 or 3 years is dead of HCM. A cat is not a computer or a radio, for example, so that I can say “this cat is under warranty and can be replaced with another puppy”. When a cat becomes part of the family he or she becomes the object of attention and love from all, and when he dies you can not replace this companion just like a broken TV ...
I would welcome any input or comments from breeders or concerned people who might be able to assist in eliminting the curse of HCM from Maine Coons in Italy.
Max.
i hate cats, no i hate f**k**g cats is what some people say when they dislike cats. But they nearly always don't explain why. It appe...