Maine Coon vs Domestic Longhaired Cat
We all know someone with a longhaired cat that they think is a Maine Coon or a Maine Coon mix. That seems to be the go to thing to say and believe. Breeders and vet offices alike hear this nonstop from people....that their Domestic Longhaired cat (DLH) is a Maine Coon (MC). Unless you have a pedigree, here's why that conclusion is next to impossible.
Fun fact about cats…. 97% of cats are Domestics (also called strays, alley cats, and moggies). This means that the other 3% of cats are purebred (that's 71 breeds making up this 3%). Domestic cats are not a breed, but a natural occurring species that have existed for 10k plus years outside, originally in the desert, with their DNA virtually unchanged for 8,000 plus years. More on this below...
Domestic cats can be shorthaired or longhaired. They come in every color/pattern you can think of…. However, longhair is recessive, so out of every 10 kittens born, only one kitten is longhaired. It takes two carriers of longhair or two longhaired cats to have a longhaired kitten. Most DLHs are confused for a Maine Coon, but they aren’t. Everyone with a longhaired cat is like…"it’s a Maine Coon or MC mix", but this is almost always not possible. Of course you will see traits in a DLH that remind you of a Maine Coon because a DLH is the foundation stock for the Maine Coon.
I'll explain further on why the assumption that your DLH is a Maine Coon, is simply highly unlikely. Let’s say that a full blooded Maine Coon, not yet altered (which is only 20% of all pet cats), gets outside. Then in this rare situation where an unaltered Maine Coon gets outdoors, it then breeds to a Domestic cat. This makes the kittens 50% Maine Coon. Let’s say that the 50% Maine Coon then bred to a Domestic, the kittens are now 25% Maine Coon. Then that 25% Maine Coon bred to a Domestic, and now the kittens are 12.5% Maine Coon… You see where this is going….. The genetic integrity of a purebred’s DNA would be quickly bred out within a few years or sooner once outside with millions of Domestics. The only way to maintain a consistent genetic DNA of a purebred, is to keep breeding it to other purebreds. Very few purebreds ever end up outside, if they do end up outside, their pureblood DNA would be quickly wiped out once breeding to the Domestic Cat (a naturally occurring species). *Appreciate your DLH for being the ORIGINAL CAT, and share their amazing history and origins with anyone willing to listen and learn.
Did you know that 80% of pet cats are actually spayed and neutered (Journal of the American Veterinary Association). Of course outdoor cats that are from feral and friendly community cats are not but we have programs working on that, but we must remember that cats have existed outdoors naturally for 10k plus years. I think we’ve lost appreciation and knowledge regarding the original cats and understanding their origin and voluntary domestication. I do struggle with the ethics of altering feral and community cats--it's like deciding we need to alter deer, racoons, and etc.
How did Domestic cats end up all over the world, Domestics made their way around the world on ships. Sailors thought that cats brought good luck, they helped keep vermin under control on ships, and they were wonderful companions. Purebred cats are very new, and they haven’t been around but for a few hundred years or less, and they come from Domestic cats. Domestic cats came first, they are the original cat, the true OG. There a few natural occurring purebred cats, such as the Turkish Van, but most all purebreds were created from humans taking certain traits and behaviors from Domestics, and creating a pure DNA heritage through selective breeding.
Domestics aren’t a breed but a natural occurring species, existing outside for 10,000 plus years. People just started bringing the more docile cats inside the house in the late 19th century, and the first cat show was in 1895. In the US, keeping cats inside the house was not even becoming popular until after the 1950s. Cats are the only domestic animal to have domesticated themselves. Some cats voluntarily started living around people, these more docile cats then became pets. Cats also changed behaviors to appeal to humans, such as their MEOW sound.
People love cats, but most are clueless regarding their history and origins. It amazes me the number of people who don’t seem to understand that most outdoor cats around the world were never someone’s pet. Feral and Community cat populations have existed for 10,000 years outside, that’s their natural habitat. The domestic cat, alley cat, or some call a moggie are the original cat and not a breed (and they are not mixed, nor do they come from purebred cats). No one bred them and then cast them outside, that’s literally where they came from, the outdoors. Then we started bringing some of the more docile temperaments inside around the 19th century, and that’s fine, but we have to remember they were always outdoors. We have to respect that the feral cat does not come from docile lines, and that they naturally live outside and have for 10k plus years....like squirrels and other outdoor animals. So we will always have Feral and Community cats outside all over the world, it’s where Domestic cats came from. They are not a breed and a study on their DNA revealed very little change over 10,000 of years.
"A study published in the research journal Science secured more pieces in the cat-domestication puzzle based on genetic analyses. All domestic cats, the authors declared, descended from a Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis sylvestris, which literally means "cat of the woods." Cats were first domesticated in the Near East, and some of the study authors speculate that the process began up to 12,000 years ago". Smithsonian "We think what happened is that the cats sort of domesticated themselves," Carlos Driscoll, one of the study authors, told the Washington Post. The cats invited themselves in, and over time, as people favored cats with more docile traits, certain cats adapted to this new environment, producing the dozens of breeds of house cats known today. In the United States, cats are the most popular house pet, with 90 million domesticated and purebred cats slinking around 34 percent of U.S. homes." Smithsonian
Pictured is Sophie, my DLH that I had for 15 years and my daughter CJ's Maine Coon Adelaide. The number of people who said Sophie was a Maine was astounding but they were wrong. Another very incorrect rumor about a Maine Coons, the tabby ‘M’ on the forehead. All properly marked tabby patterns will have the ‘M’, it’s literally a tabby pattern trait and has nothing to do with the cat being a Maine Coon. Maine Coons come in over 70 different colors/patterns.
SOURCES: National Geographic, UC Davis, Alley Cat, Smithsonian, Journal of the American Veterinary Association, and more.
Fun fact about cats…. 97% of cats are Domestics (also called strays, alley cats, and moggies). This means that the other 3% of cats are purebred (that's 71 breeds making up this 3%). Domestic cats are not a breed, but a natural occurring species that have existed for 10k plus years outside, originally in the desert, with their DNA virtually unchanged for 8,000 plus years. More on this below...
Domestic cats can be shorthaired or longhaired. They come in every color/pattern you can think of…. However, longhair is recessive, so out of every 10 kittens born, only one kitten is longhaired. It takes two carriers of longhair or two longhaired cats to have a longhaired kitten. Most DLHs are confused for a Maine Coon, but they aren’t. Everyone with a longhaired cat is like…"it’s a Maine Coon or MC mix", but this is almost always not possible. Of course you will see traits in a DLH that remind you of a Maine Coon because a DLH is the foundation stock for the Maine Coon.
I'll explain further on why the assumption that your DLH is a Maine Coon, is simply highly unlikely. Let’s say that a full blooded Maine Coon, not yet altered (which is only 20% of all pet cats), gets outside. Then in this rare situation where an unaltered Maine Coon gets outdoors, it then breeds to a Domestic cat. This makes the kittens 50% Maine Coon. Let’s say that the 50% Maine Coon then bred to a Domestic, the kittens are now 25% Maine Coon. Then that 25% Maine Coon bred to a Domestic, and now the kittens are 12.5% Maine Coon… You see where this is going….. The genetic integrity of a purebred’s DNA would be quickly bred out within a few years or sooner once outside with millions of Domestics. The only way to maintain a consistent genetic DNA of a purebred, is to keep breeding it to other purebreds. Very few purebreds ever end up outside, if they do end up outside, their pureblood DNA would be quickly wiped out once breeding to the Domestic Cat (a naturally occurring species). *Appreciate your DLH for being the ORIGINAL CAT, and share their amazing history and origins with anyone willing to listen and learn.
Did you know that 80% of pet cats are actually spayed and neutered (Journal of the American Veterinary Association). Of course outdoor cats that are from feral and friendly community cats are not but we have programs working on that, but we must remember that cats have existed outdoors naturally for 10k plus years. I think we’ve lost appreciation and knowledge regarding the original cats and understanding their origin and voluntary domestication. I do struggle with the ethics of altering feral and community cats--it's like deciding we need to alter deer, racoons, and etc.
How did Domestic cats end up all over the world, Domestics made their way around the world on ships. Sailors thought that cats brought good luck, they helped keep vermin under control on ships, and they were wonderful companions. Purebred cats are very new, and they haven’t been around but for a few hundred years or less, and they come from Domestic cats. Domestic cats came first, they are the original cat, the true OG. There a few natural occurring purebred cats, such as the Turkish Van, but most all purebreds were created from humans taking certain traits and behaviors from Domestics, and creating a pure DNA heritage through selective breeding.
Domestics aren’t a breed but a natural occurring species, existing outside for 10,000 plus years. People just started bringing the more docile cats inside the house in the late 19th century, and the first cat show was in 1895. In the US, keeping cats inside the house was not even becoming popular until after the 1950s. Cats are the only domestic animal to have domesticated themselves. Some cats voluntarily started living around people, these more docile cats then became pets. Cats also changed behaviors to appeal to humans, such as their MEOW sound.
People love cats, but most are clueless regarding their history and origins. It amazes me the number of people who don’t seem to understand that most outdoor cats around the world were never someone’s pet. Feral and Community cat populations have existed for 10,000 years outside, that’s their natural habitat. The domestic cat, alley cat, or some call a moggie are the original cat and not a breed (and they are not mixed, nor do they come from purebred cats). No one bred them and then cast them outside, that’s literally where they came from, the outdoors. Then we started bringing some of the more docile temperaments inside around the 19th century, and that’s fine, but we have to remember they were always outdoors. We have to respect that the feral cat does not come from docile lines, and that they naturally live outside and have for 10k plus years....like squirrels and other outdoor animals. So we will always have Feral and Community cats outside all over the world, it’s where Domestic cats came from. They are not a breed and a study on their DNA revealed very little change over 10,000 of years.
"A study published in the research journal Science secured more pieces in the cat-domestication puzzle based on genetic analyses. All domestic cats, the authors declared, descended from a Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis sylvestris, which literally means "cat of the woods." Cats were first domesticated in the Near East, and some of the study authors speculate that the process began up to 12,000 years ago". Smithsonian "We think what happened is that the cats sort of domesticated themselves," Carlos Driscoll, one of the study authors, told the Washington Post. The cats invited themselves in, and over time, as people favored cats with more docile traits, certain cats adapted to this new environment, producing the dozens of breeds of house cats known today. In the United States, cats are the most popular house pet, with 90 million domesticated and purebred cats slinking around 34 percent of U.S. homes." Smithsonian
Pictured is Sophie, my DLH that I had for 15 years and my daughter CJ's Maine Coon Adelaide. The number of people who said Sophie was a Maine was astounding but they were wrong. Another very incorrect rumor about a Maine Coons, the tabby ‘M’ on the forehead. All properly marked tabby patterns will have the ‘M’, it’s literally a tabby pattern trait and has nothing to do with the cat being a Maine Coon. Maine Coons come in over 70 different colors/patterns.
SOURCES: National Geographic, UC Davis, Alley Cat, Smithsonian, Journal of the American Veterinary Association, and more.
