Rescued Barn Cat- may resemble Maine Coon?

[Kelquinn]

Hi Everyone! I rescued this boy from a filthy barn when he was small kitten. One or both parents may be feral, I have no way of knowing. He is quite long in the body with short legs. Friends ask if he is mixed with Maine Coon( he vocalizes a lot, meets me at the door and comes when he is called and he is VERY attached to me and people in general— he’s a snuggler)
He has some Maine Coon features from what I can tell by looking at photos but I’m not at all informed about this.
Can anyone provide insight to what my boy Koa may resemble? Thanks in advance!

 

[Maurey]

Red solid domestic longhair (a red cat with agouti/tabby gene would have higher contrast goggles and a lighter chin). I don't see any significant resemblance to the breed -- DLH will share traits with the breed, but many of these are by virtue of the fact they're both longhair. MCO are also a wild-derived breed, so they've not lost all the traits of the barn cats of Maine they were developed from. Even so, it's unlikely that your cat has any significant breed ancestry -- the vast majority of cats, over 95%, are randombred, and not of any breed or mix of breeds.

 

[vince]

He looks very much like my Meep. Her mom was a feral tortoiseshell short hair and her dad was a feral red longhair, if that's any help. She seems to have had the same physical qualities as your guy while she was growing up.

 

[Flybynight]

K Kelquinn
Super handsome boy
All long haired cats share a common origin.
There are no statistics on cat ancestry and is not uncommon to find mixed cats. Though, he does not look Maine Coon in the face to me but he could be part.
Do you live in New England? He could be from the same general population that Maine Coons derived from but they have since been bred to have more severe features.

 

[missymotus]

Like most cats he’s a domestic longhair, there are plenty of governing body stats to back up the fact that moggies vastly outnumber pedigree cats (CFA puts the figure at 95%) so the chance of having a mix is slim to none.

I’m not seeing any MCO resemblance, just a lovely red domestic longhair.

 

[StefanZ]

Very sweet. No real resemblance with MCO, head totally wrong... But her posture reminds me of something; but I dont get what... So there may be some longhaired breed she is a look alike of; but its NOT MCO.

She has these whitish around her eyes, so she may be a tabby for real, not just the usual strong ghost markings in solid red cats.

 

[Maurey]

She has these whitish around her eyes, so she may be a tabby for real, not just the usual strong ghost markings in solid red cats.

A bit of lighter colour will often be present around the eyes, as low contrast is something you need to selectively breed for, generally speaking. My cream and red solids both have visible goggles — they’re just lower contrast than a tabby would have. It’s less visible on Chips (right, red solid), but that’s largely because he has ticked pattern masking, unlike Jum

Here’s a photo of Chips where the lightness is more visible.

Chips was tested for agouti, and he’s solid by genetic testing. Jum is solid by default, as chips and her mum were tested solid

 

[Kelquinn]

Red solid domestic longhair (a red cat with agouti/tabby gene would have higher contrast goggles and a lighter chin). I don't see any significant resemblance to the breed -- DLH will share traits with the breed, but many of these are by virtue of the fact they're both longhair. MCO are also a wild-derived breed, so they've not lost all the traits of the barn cats of Maine they were developed from. Even so, it's unlikely that your cat has any significant breed ancestry -- the vast majority of cats, over 95%, are randombred, and not of any breed or mix of breeds.

Thank You for that information . I love him immensely no matter what he is or is not.

 

[Kelquinn]

K Kelquinn
Super handsome boy
All long haired cats share a common origin.
There are no statistics on cat ancestry and is not uncommon to find mixed cats. Though, he does not look Maine Coon in the face to me but he could be part.
Do you live in New England? He could be from the same general population that Maine Coons derived from but they have since been bred to have more severe features.

I live in Connecticut,so yes— that could be possible. He’s the most affectionate cat I have ever encountered— which is surprising to me since he is a barn cat!

 

[Flybynight]

@Lotsofspots
Do those governing bodies follow cats around to see who they mate with
No chance of cats having kittens with specific breeds - especially one of the more common breeds. That is not very likely.

 

[Flybynight]

K Kelquinn
He may have some of the same ancestry then

 

[missymotus]

@Lotsofspots
Do those governing bodies follow cats around to see who they mate with
No chance of cats having kittens with specific breeds - especially one of the more common breeds. That is not very likely.

even bybs tend to keep their cats contained, there simply aren’t enough pedigree cats to be out there roaming and creating the masses of cross breeds you seem intent on insisting exist.

The basic maths of 95% of cats being moggies shows the improbably of the vast majority of cats having any breed in them.

 

[Meowmee]

Whatever he is he is gorgeous. When I first saw his face in the first pic I almost thought he looks a little bit Persian in his eyes. I would say domestic longhair red tabby or red solid although you can still see he has stripes clearly. With possible forest cat ancestry. Since you’re in the area where Maine coons developed it’s not impossible that he has some ancestry. Although he doesn’t really look Maine coon to me.