Why is the Maine Coon cat so much more popular than the Siberian cat? They are cat breeds of similar appearance. The Siberian, judging by the photographs on this page, which I hope represents fairly typical examples of these cat breeds, is more rounded in appearance with a stockier body, smaller ears and a more rounded face. But they are both quite large cats. In fact the Maine Coon is, on my reckoning, the largest domestic cat breed other than a wildcat hybrid, while the Siberian is said to be a large and strong cat.
As to character and personality I do not really believe that you can brand a certain cat breed with a personality because each cat is an individual with his or her own character. However, the Siberian is said to be an independent cat which likes to bond with the people it loves and has a doglike character, while the Maine Coon is said to have a relaxed and easy going personality being able to get along with children and dogs as well as other cats. They, too, are people orientated and rather independent like the Siberian. We are told that the Maine Coon does not constantly demand attention. To be honest, I do not know any cat which does. Even taking a conventional view of the personalities of these cat breeds, there is not a lot between them.
If we put to one side the question of the cat’s personality, we are left with appearance (which as stated is similar) and history, meaning the origins of the cat. And I think this is where the attractiveness of one cat is superior to the other in the biggest marketplace for purebred, pedigree cats, namely, the United States of America.
The Siberian cat is native to Russia while the main Coon is America’s very own cat breed. So one cat is Russian while the other is American. As the American market in purebred pedigree cats is much larger than the Russian market there are bound to be far more admirers of the Maine Coon.
The Siberian cat quite possibly has a much longer history in Siberia than the Maine Coon has in America. Although, we are never going to be sure because cat breed history is often rather hazy.
It is said that Siberian Cats lived in monasteries thousands of years ago even acting as guards, watching for intruders. The monks cared for them. The Siberian was imported into the United States in early 1990.
It is generally agreed that the more popular Maine Coon first came to America from Europe with the settlers in the 1600s and later. Therefore they are, in respect of long-term history, European cats, particularly British cats I suspect. But four hundred years of evolution in America allows them to be called American cats.
It may be the case that both these breeds have the same origins together with the Norwegian Forest cat. Should that be true we cannot rely on history to genuinely separate them either.
Despite that, America has adopted the Maine Coon as their cat which makes it the world’s most popular purebred cat.
exactly they are all beautiful the probs i would have is the choice i often get overwhelmed with the amount of choice available. But will always choose moggies
Ofcourse, it’s moggies for me.
Idon’t think I’ve ever had an interest in trying to guess what mix of breeds any cat has.
Both of the cats shown are beautiful but no more beautiful than any other cat to me.
However (because I’m an ear freak), that coon’s ears are spectacular!
You are lucky to have each other and you both deserve it.
Michael, you are so smart…I like that. I have a feeling I am going to learn many things here.
Mikey is just a big ol’ fluffy cat! LOL
I think everything about him is just totally perfect from his cute little nose to his pink little toes. He is so soft and he smells so good all the time and he is a love bug who knows sign language. Best part is that I just woke up one day and he was there all born in my bed. LOL
You are so right Caroline. All breeding of pedigree cats should stop until each and every unwanted cat in every Shelter in the world has a loving home.
Breeding of half wild half domestic cats should stop too, leave Nature alone!
But I don’t live in cloud cuckoo land so I know this will never happen because everyone doesn’t care about cats as we do.
Yes Maine Coons are beautiful but so is every other cat to me, they are all equally as beautiful and as precious and deserving to live.
I feel the same way about this cat breed for the same reasons as you and the most important reason for me is that this cat still looks, what I call, normal. In short, it has not been over-bred, which for me the spoils the appearance of a cat breed. And I love the background of this cat which is a barn cat on working farms in Maine. The first Maine Coons were be shown at farm shows with livestock etc. They were moggies at the time. The cats were simply added to the farm show environment and things developed from there. The early Maine Coons looked similar to the modern cat but slightly different.