Does he have Maine Coon in him?

[Tracyrdz]

This is my little Loki. One of 3 kittens I love to pieces. He is such a sweet cat and follows me around and sleeps with me at 5 months old. He is the only one in the litter to have the lynx tip ears this big. They all seem big for their age to me but I am no expert. The 1 female of the group was alot smaller so I figured she must be the runt but with the ears on Loki, I am thinking maybe they are bigger and have a little Maine Coon in them. I'd love to hear some opinions

 

[sivyaleah]

Loki is a domestic short hair, bicolor red and white tabby. He looks a lot like a cat we had a while ago.
Lynx tips don't mean he has any Maine Coon in him, it's quite common in cats although a bit more unusual to see them on a short hair cat.
Being as I have a Maine Coon and am familiar with their standards, honestly I do not see anything about his facial appearance that would lead me to think he has any MC in him.
It would be highly unlikely to have any purebred cat in his background. Good breeders just don't let their cats get out to randomly breed with street cats plus purebred cats only account for approx. 3-5% of all cats worldwide. The odds really are not there.

 

[Tracyrdz]

I mean I know he isn't a purebred but thought maybe there was a MC in the breeding line somewhere to get the long hairs on the tips of his ears. I just haven't seen a cat with ears like that, like you said, on a short haired cat. Regardless of what he is, he is a sweet little baby.

 

[Meowmee]

This is my little Loki. One of 3 kittens I love to pieces. He is such a sweet cat and follows me around and sleeps with me at 5 months old. He is the only one in the litter to have the lynx tip ears this big. They all seem big for their age to me but I am no expert. The 1 female of the group was alot smaller so I figured she must be the runt but with the ears on Loki, I am thinking maybe they are bigger and have a little Maine Coon in them. I'd love to hear some opinions

Aww such a sweetie, where did you get him/ them? He looks dsh, he is a beauty love his face. I don’t see obvious MC but the ears are unusual, so maybe a touch. Others may know more. Lets see how big he gets. My Quinn who is siamese has them too, some do apparently but I haven't seen too many.

 

[sivyaleah]

I mean I know he isn't a purebred but thought maybe there was a MC in the breeding line somewhere to get the long hairs on the tips of his ears. I just haven't seen a cat with ears like that, like you said, on a short haired cat. Regardless of what he is, he is a sweet little baby.

I wasn't saying he isn't a purebred (clearly) - I was saying the likelihood of him being even a mix is really low.
Mistakes happen, yes, but honestly if all the people who thought they had a Maine Coon mix actually did there'd be a lot more of them roaming the streets randomly. And well, there just isn't.
Cats are not like dogs in their ancestry lines. Cats remained undomesticated for a lot longer so there is much less difference between breeds than there is in dogs. Cats are very alike in such things as size and shape for instance, whereas dogs vary from super small to oversized. Cats have slight differences in color and fur type, but essentially all qualities found in many breeds can be found in the domestic cat population too. There are many more types of dogs, than there are types of cats too. So always easier to figure out what a dog is a mix of than a cat.

 

[Maurey]

To add onto sivyaleah , Maine Coon mixes, even shorthairs, are always very evident if the MCO is recent in the lineage, and had good type. MCO have powerful heads, and that tends to stay.

Here are a few photos from a breeder’s oops litter — the only confirmed mixes I’ve ever come across. Mum is a champion pedigree MCO, dad is a SH moggie. Young kittens to 4 months. Notice the strong boxes (muzzles) and the MCO head proportions, other than the top of the head being rounded, which is unacceptable for the breed. Ear set and eye shape is also close to what would be expected for a pedigree.

Tipping in SH is uncommon, but not unheard of, even without pedigree involvement. Just takes having an LH parent with good lynx tips.

 

[Tracyrdz]

Understood. I have been trying to find pics of DSH with the long hair on the ears but havent been having luck. Thanks for the input.

 

[sivyaleah]

Maurey Thanks for these pix. Very interesting to compare from one kitten to another.
They all look like your basic tabby to me overall, though the 4th one from the left in the 3rd photo does have a slight MC quality to the shape of it's head/muzzle.
They are a cute clowder though, I'm dying over all the white mittens.

 

[Maurey]

Maurey Thanks for these pix. Very interesting to compare from one kitten to another.
They all look like your basic tabby to me overall, though the 4th one from the left in the 3rd photo does have a slight MC quality to the shape of it's head/muzzle.
They are a cute clowder though, I'm dying over all the white mittens.

This breeders’ lines are particularly slow to mature, so it’s possible they’ll have more obviously MCO like muzzles closer to a year of age. All the kittens went to their new homes by 4 months, though, and she (the breeder) has yet to share any updates from new owners, so we might never know what they grow up looking like.

 

[Maurey]

Understood. I have been trying to find pics of DSH with the long hair on the ears but havent been having luck. Thanks for the input.

This article has a tortoiseshell DSH with sizeable lynx tips Domestic Shorthair Ear Tufts | Caring For All Pets

There’s also a TCS thread with two feral DSH with lynx tips Hi! These Lil Ferals Have Lynx Tips.

And here’s amother for posterity lol