Our boy - what is he?

[Catloverjessa]

We have a gorgeous long haired ginger boy that we rescued. We know he is some sort of long haired lovely but friends have commented that he looks part Maine coon?
can anyone shed any light? We would love to know what his roots are!
he is definitely the biggest cat we have ever owned and larger than a small dog
meet Dukey

 

[Maurey]

Without papers indicating to his ancestry, he’s a red domestic longhair. Can’t quite tell if solid or tabby, a photo in good natural lighting would help, if you’re interested in knowing.

He does share a few traits with a Maine Coon, but that’s not indicative of anything, as the breed was developed from American barn cats. He doesn’t look enough like a pedigree for me to suspect a relevant amount of ancestry, personally.

Most DLH, especially in North America, will have some things in common with the breed — doesn’t mean that they have ancestry. Over 95% of cats are randombred, and have no recent (5+ generations) breed ancestry.

Enjoy your handsome man As with any larger cat, be careful of his joints — he doesn’t need extra weight, and may benefit from joint support supplements early in life, as a prophylactic.

 

[GoldyCat]

Without papers indicating to his ancestry, he’s a red domestic longhair. Can’t quite tell if solid or tabby, a photo in good natural lighting would help, if you’re interested in knowing.

He looks like he might be a mackerel tabby, but pattern can be hard to see in longhair cats.

 

[Meowmee]

We have a gorgeous long haired ginger boy that we rescued. We know he is some sort of long haired lovely but friends have commented that he looks part Maine coon?
can anyone shed any light? We would love to know what his roots are!
he is definitely the biggest cat we have ever owned and larger than a small dog
meet Dukey

Def looks MC to me, most likely not pb, but a mix with def ancestry. Without papers he is dlh red tabby. He is gorgeous How much does he weigh? Love gingers, my Merlin is a ginger too

 

[Maurey]

He looks like he might be a mackerel tabby, but pattern can be hard to see in longhair cats.

Solid red typically has visible masking of the pattern they carry. The tell of a red tabby vs a red solid is that red tabby has near white markings around the muzzle and very vivid goggles. Things like ear rims are common, as well. He looks red solid in most photos, but the contrast seems to be there in a couple of them.

 

[Catloverjessa]

He looks like he might be a mackerel tabby, but pattern can be hard to see in longhair cats.

Here is one of him where you can see his pattern a bit more!! I feel like his colour changes too sometimes he is gingery blonde and sometimes bright Orange! Could this be season dependent? Similar to how human hair could lighten in the summer etc? Haha! I don’t know much about cat hair I’ve always had short haired cats and he is my first long hair!

 

[Maurey]

Red classic tabby, fat as I can tell. Seems to have a vague bullseye on his side. Does seem to have good contrast around his eyes and mouth

 

[Catloverjessa]

Thanks so much for all your advice everyone!

 

[missymotus]

Lovely red tabby boy. There is no way anyone can say “with def ancestry” unless they know the family tree and breeders involved.

As maurey explained with naturally derived breeds you can find moggies with no pedigree in them that can have a slight resemblance

 

[Meowmee]

Lovely red tabby boy. There is no way anyone can say “with def ancestry” unless they know the family tree and breeders involved.

As maurey explained with naturally derived breeds you can find moggies with no pedigree in them that can have a slight resemblance

There is no way anyone can say without with certainty either imo.

 

[missymotus]

Given that fewer than 5% of cats are pedigrees it’s highly unlikely that the vast majority of cats have any pedigree mix behind them, over 95% is a pretty sure bet in most instances vs the alternative.