Our best guess is Maine Coon/American Shorthair

[jesse snavlin]

Hello! Our best guess is Maine Coon/American Shorthair... he's about 11lbs, and is what we call affectionately "the longest cat," with whiskers that are super long and a spine that allows him to stretch out to five feet if you hold him upright. He's got the American Shorthair pouch for hunting and Tortie coat, but he also has ear tufts and 5 toes + a 6th toe hidden in the back.

There are a lot of selfies, that's because 1: he doesn't sit still unless you are cuddling him, and 2: size comparison, he's a very big cat even for his weight!

What do you guys think?

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• jesse snavlin
• Mar 28, 2016

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• jesse snavlin
• Mar 28, 2016

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• jesse snavlin
• Mar 28, 2016

Photo on 9-7-15 at 11.26 AM.jpg

• jesse snavlin
• Mar 28, 2016

Photo on 12-25-15 at 8.42 AM.jpg

• jesse snavlin
• Mar 28, 2016

again sorry for so many selfies, but i think it helps indicate his actual size.

 

[Willowy]

He's a fine handsome boy! And big!

OK, here's the thing about purebred cats: they're bred from the general cat population. Someone finds a random cat with a cool trait and they think "I want to make more cats like this", so they find a few more cats like that and start breeding them selectively until they end up with what they want consistently. Almost every purebred cat trait is found in the general cat population (except the flat face of Persians/Exotics. That takes a lot of generations of selective breeding).

Purebred cats are rare; they make up less than 3% of the cat population.

So your boy is probably descended from the same stock that people bred Maine Coons from. But not from purebred Maine Coons. If that makes any sense :tongue2:. Unless there's an irresponsible Maine Coon breeder in your area who's lost an intact cat.

I think I'd call him a medium hair. It's not short but it's not quite long either. I bet he gets really fluffy in the winter, and loses most of it in the summer. I love cats like that!

 

[jesse snavlin]

yes that makes total sense! He's such a fluff butt. He does get very fluffy in winter but he doesn't lose the hair nearly as much as you'd think; part of our maine coon hypothesis is because his coat requires next to no tending except in summer when we brush him to make sure he doesn't overheat. Even then, we only catch a very minimal amount of fur.

He thanks you for the handsome compliments, but mostly says "i know" while smothering my face as I type this.

 

[StefanZ]

Do I see right?  Does he has spots on his back?  Ie he is not "just" a broken mackerel tabby, but even a spotted tabby?   Not unique, but not that common.

Very nice guy!