Is he part Maine coon

Is he a Maine coon mix?


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lutece

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He's very cute! From the picture, I would describe him as a blue tabby and white domestic longhair. I hope the current owner is not planning to adopt him out right away? Five or six weeks is much too young to adopt. It's best to wait until a kitten is at least 12-16 weeks before he leaves his mother and littermates. During that time, he should also visit the vet for regular checkups and get his kitten vaccinations.

Which one of his parents is supposed to be a Maine Coon? Many times, people call large longhaired cats (especialy tabbies) "Maine Coons" even if they do not have Maine Coon ancestry. If this kitten's ancestry matters to you for some reason, I would suggest that you ask his current owner if his Maine Coon parent has registration papers that would verify ancestry. If there are no papers, it's most likely that the kitten is simply a domestic longhair. However, domestic longhair cats are also wonderful cats, and even if this kitten isn't part Maine Coon, I am sure he'll grow up to be a very nice and lovely cat!
 

jefferd18

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In my opinion he looks like he has some main coon in him- he is awful big and long legged for the age that he is, and look at the size of those paws.
 
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Bronson

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And I was looking at his muzzle, his head, and those points of hair on the ears
 

jefferd18

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And I was looking at his muzzle, his head, and those points of hair on the ears

I hope you end up getting him, he is a neat looking kitten, going to be a whopper of a cat.
 

lutece

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jefferd18 jefferd18 I'm not sure why you think this kitten is so big? He doesn't look unusually large to me in the picture and there aren't any objects that show scale.
And I was looking at his muzzle, his head, and those points of hair on the ears
It's normal for longhaired kittens (and even some shorthaired kittens) to have tufts of hair on the tips of the ears. Maine Coons are bred for larger ear tufts than other breeds, but this picture doesn't show particularly large ear tufts. I'm also not seeing extreme head structure in this kitten picture that would give you a definitive answer about any breed ancestry.

Did the kitten's owner also give you any pictures of the parents? That might give you a better indication of how the kitten might look when he grows up.
 

jefferd18

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jefferd18 jefferd18 I'm not sure why you think this kitten is so big? He doesn't look unusually large to me in the picture and there aren't any objects that show scale.

It's normal for longhaired kittens (and even some shorthaired kittens) to have tufts of hair on the tips of the ears. Maine Coons are bred for larger ear tufts than other breeds, but this picture doesn't show particularly large ear tufts. I'm also not seeing extreme head structure in this kitten picture that would give you a definitive answer about any breed ancestry.

Did the kitten's owner also give you any pictures of the parents? That might give you a better indication of how the kitten might look when he grows up.

He is very large for only being five weeks old.
 

lutece

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Hmm... he looks perfectly normal to me.

If the owner of the kitten is representing the kitten as "half Maine Coon," especially if they are selling the kitten at a higher price than a normal adoption fee for a domestic longhaired kitten, they should have better verification of their claim than a picture of a 5 week old kitten. Registration papers are best, so if they are charging very much for this kitten and breed ancestry is important to you, I would ask if they have paperwork. Pictures of the parents would be another way to get an idea of what the kitten will look like when it is older. If they are not even supplying convincing pictures of the parent that is supposed to be a Maine Coon, I would be doubtful of any breed ancestry.

It's not necessarily a bad thing if the kitten has no specific breed ancestry, domestic longhairs are great cats too :)
 

jefferd18

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The current owner said he’s half Maine coon
jefferd18 jefferd18 I'm not sure why you think this kitten is so big? He doesn't look unusually large to me in the picture and there aren't any objects that show scale.

It's normal for longhaired kittens (and even some shorthaired kittens) to have tufts of hair on the tips of the ears. Maine Coons are bred for larger ear tufts than other breeds, but this picture doesn't show particularly large ear tufts. I'm also not seeing extreme head structure in this kitten picture that would give you a definitive answer about any breed ancestry.

Did the kitten's owner also give you any pictures of the parents? That might give you a better indication of how the kitten might look when he grows up.

He is very large for only being five weeks old.
Hmm... he looks perfectly normal to me.

If the owner of the kitten is representing the kitten as "half Maine Coon," especially if they are selling the kitten at a higher price than a normal adoption fee for a domestic longhaired kitten, they should have better verification of their claim than a picture of a 5 week old kitten. Registration papers are best, so if they are charging very much for this kitten and breed ancestry is important to you, I would ask if they have paperwork. Pictures of the parents would be another way to get an idea of what the kitten will look like when it is older. If they are not even supplying convincing pictures of the parent that is supposed to be a Maine Coon, I would be doubtful of any breed ancestry.

It's not necessarily a bad thing if the kitten has no specific breed ancestry, domestic longhairs are great cats too :)

"The current owner said he’s half Maine coon" with the key word being half.
 
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lutece

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I seriously doubt that they are going to charge a large amount of money for a half-breed kitten.
I hope not, but we do see people charging lots of money for mixed kittens sometimes.
This kitten is not eight weeks old- is not seven weeks old- he is five weeks old!- and he looks awfully big for that age.
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on whether he looks unusually large. To me he appears in the picture to be within normal range for a 5 week old male kitten... we don't know how big he actually is, as there was no weight given. I also don't see anything about the picture that definitely indicates Maine Coon ancestry, so you are clearly seeing something I am not seeing :)
 

jefferd18

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I hope not, but we do see people charging lots of money for mixed kittens sometimes.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on whether he looks unusually large. To me he appears in the picture to be within normal range for a 5 week old male kitten... we don't know how big he actually is, as there was no weight given. I also don't see anything about the picture that definitely indicates Maine Coon ancestry, so you are clearly seeing something I am not seeing :)



Aren't you the one who thought Jeff was a Main Coon?

Yes, clearly I am.
 

lutece

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Aren't you the one who thought Jeff was a Main Coon?
Yes, I do think it is possible that your cat Jeff may have had some Maine Coon ancestry, based on Jeff's pictures. I still think that might have been a possibility. However, that was something that I mentioned in a private conversation with you, and I am not sure why you would bring it up in this thread. Are you bringing it up to make a comment about my level of expertise with this breed?

You are correct that I am not an expert on the Maine Coon breed; the Maine Coon is not my primary breed. However, I have shown a few Maine Coons and raised two litters of them, as well as seen and handled lots of Maine Coons at shows since I started showing cats over 30 years ago. I have a fairly good understanding of Maine Coon type, and I have watched litters grow and develop. That's my level of experience, if that is relevant to my comments.
 

jefferd18

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Yes, I do think it is possible that your cat Jeff may have had some Maine Coon ancestry, based on Jeff's pictures. I still think that might have been a possibility. However, that was something that I mentioned in a private conversation with you, and I am not sure why you would bring it up in this thread. Are you bringing it up to make a comment about my level of expertise with this breed?

You are correct that I am not an expert on the Maine Coon breed; the Maine Coon is not my primary breed. However, I have shown a few Maine Coons and raised two litters of them, as well as seen and handled lots of Maine Coons at shows since I started showing cats over 30 years ago. I have a fairly good understanding of Maine Coon type, and I have watched litters grow and develop. That's my level of experience, if that is relevant to my comments.
 

jefferd18

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Yes it was in a PM and I appreciated you input although I don't fully agree with it. Jeff looked about as much like a Main Coon cat as I do.

I also differ with your assessment regarding this kitty because you seem to be overlooking the word half..To me that means that the kitten will not look exactly like a Main Coon Cat.

But differing opinions is what makes a site interesting.

Its no big deal and I wish the OP all the luck.
 

lutece

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Of course you wouldn't expect a kitten that is half Maine Coon to look exactly like a Maine Coon... just as I wouldn't expect Jeff to look exactly like a Maine Coon either, even if she did happen to have a Maine Coon ancestor :) Many times when there is an "oops" breeding involving a Maine Coon, the resulting kittens are shorthairs, and most people probably wouldn't see the resemblance, even if the underlying structure is very similar to a MC. (Sort of like the blue point Russian Blue that I linked on the other thread.)

To put it another way, one could argue that:

(A) Cats with MC ancestry might look like any domestic longhair (or even domestic shorthair).

But it's a logical fallacy to go from (A) to:

(B) Domestic longhairs that vaguely resemble the MC breed are likely to have MC ancestry.

Most longhaired cats that vaguely resemble MCs don't have MC ancestry... just as most blue cats don't have Russian Blue ancestry... and most seal point and white bicolor cats don't have Snowshoe ancestry. Even though there is a possibility that they might... it's just not likely.

My point is simply that there's nothing in the baby picture that tells us definitely that the kitten has a Maine Coon parent. If one parent really is a Maine Coon, it should be easy enough for the kitten's owner to verify that. Without such verification, the kitten is a lovely domestic longhair... which is fine, too! Domestic longhairs are great cats.
 

Sugar Plum

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I really don’t know, but he’s adorable! Are you going to get him in a few weeks?
 
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