by Erin
(Oakland, CA)

She turned up on my door step about a year ago, and after trying but failing to find her owners, i decided to keep her.

She was a little thin when she turned up, but weighed 9lbs at the vet. Now, after being well taken care of, she weighs a lot more!

She was fixed and cared for by someone, but who knows how or why she became homeless.

She has all the characteristics, tufts in ears and paws, a long water proofed coat with three layers of fur, the huge tail, she chirps at me all the time and follows me around like a dog.

I am very curious please take a look and let me know what you think 🙂

Erin

Hi Erin... thanks for visiting. You ask a question which is almost impossible to answer on the basis of appearance alone.

Even a first class Maine Coon show cat that is retired and become a bit overweight could be difficult to assess as a purebred Maine Coon. All you can say, on looking at appearance only, is that a cat looks like a Maine Coon or a Persian or whatever. I would think that you want something more certain and black and white than that.

Your cat has some Maine Coon characteristics but does not look like a purebred Maine Coon. I am comparing her appearance with the Maine Coons that I have seen at shows or that have been photographed by Helmi Flick (cats at cat shows in the USA).

That said, I have seen Maine Coons in other countries that looked like your cat. The breed standard is quite flexible so you will see a range of types of Maine Coon, which makes it more difficult to assess a cat on appearance alone.

My guess is that your cat is more likely to be a Maine Coon Mix, meaning one removed from purebred. But that is a pure guess! To me she looks a little bit too cobby (stocky) and round of face to be a purebred Maine Coon in the USA.

There are a lot of Maine Coon mix cats around. You only have to look on Petfinder.com to see that.

Of course everything I have written could be wrong. Breeders breed Maine Coons and many of them will not meet the breed standard (the official guide provided by cat associations as to how the cat should look). They will be purebred but not show cat quality etc. Maybe the breeders don't bother to register them at cat associations. Once again these cats blur the boundaries in assessing a cat by appearance only.

This page may help a bit as well. Sorry I can't be more decisive or helpful.

She is a lovely looking cat by the way.