The largest Maine Coon in the world - an overview of the largest representatives of the breed

In the ranking compiled by international felinological organizations, the Maine Coon ranks second in size and weight among all breeds of domestic cats. The body weight of record holders reaches 13-15 kg, and the title of winner periodically passes from paw to paw. Let's find out which Maine Coons received the title of the largest cat in the world.

The largest cats in the world

Disputes regularly flare up among coon breeders about what is more important: a really large size or compliance with breed standards. The battles are fueled by the fact that there are many gaps in the history of Maine Coons. The North American Semi-Longhair was developed in Maine in the early 19th century and is considered a natural breed. After moving to Europe, the Maine Coon breed was divided into two sub-branches: classic American and European.

European Coons are much smaller, but they have the characteristic features of the breed - tufted ears, a large bridge of the nose. Such changes can be explained by the fact that only at the beginning of the 21st century the WCF limited interbreed matings of Maine Coons.

In L. Zhugl's popular book about North American Semi-Longhairs, it is mentioned that due to the small number of representatives of the breed, matings of sires with carriers of a similar phenotype were widespread in Latvia in the 1990s.

The average weight of Maine Coon cats ranges from 7 to 11 kg; cats are usually smaller and do not exceed 6.8 kg. Most Russian Maine Coons weigh less than 10 kg, although larger specimens are also found. It is important to consider that the title of “largest Maine Coon” is given for length, not weight.

Character and socialization

The breed is peaceful. Maine Coons are kind and do not harm owners, children, or kittens. They quickly get used to the owner, understand his mood and do not get bored. They like to monitor people's actions and adapt to their activity.

House guests are usually avoided or ignored as members of some other breeds, such as exotic cats. They approach and show interest only after observing.

Maine Coons are as social as Scottish Fold cats. They prefer the company of their owner to loneliness. They can choose one family member as their main friend, and play less with the rest. They are not overly intrusive. They can just sit next to you.

They have an easy-going character, do not hold a grudge and do not take revenge in any way. Not conflicting. Even if they are offended, for example, by a child, they simply leave and do not scratch.

Top 10 largest cat breeds

The Maine Coon takes a worthy second place among the largest cats in the world. Representatives of the breed are the most popular and beloved giant cats, and it’s not for nothing that one of them became the face of the Purina brand. The North American Longhair is surpassed in size only by the Savannah, which is considered the most expensive cat breed - the price of a kitten starts at 4 thousand dollars.

The hot ten largest domestic cat breeds are as follows:

History of the breed

There are several legends surrounding the origin of Maine Coons, some of which are more comical than plausible.

So there are originals who confidently claim that the breed came from crossing a domestic cat with a raccoon, or even with a lynx. In their opinion, the similarity with the first ones is indicated by the presence of a long tail and stripes on the skin, and from their wild cat counterparts they allegedly inherited the famous tassels on the ears and impressive dimensions. It goes without saying that versions of interspecific crossing of different animals do not and cannot have anything to do with reality, since this is impossible from a biological point of view.

Another beautiful legend says that these cats were inhabitants of the mysterious Atlantis, and after the mythical continent sank, several individuals who managed to survive ended up in America, and some in Russia, becoming the ancestors of Siberian cats.

It is also rumored that the ancestors of Maine Coons were favorites of the notorious wife of Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette , who, knowing about the upcoming bloody massacre, planned to escape to America by ship. Alas, fate decreed otherwise, and the queen was executed, but her pets managed to cross the ocean on a ship carrying the unfortunate woman’s valuables, and quite successfully took root on the newly discovered continent.

A more plausible version is that modern Maine Coons descended from the Norwegian Forest, brought to America by the harsh Vikings long before its discovery by Columbus. These breeds do have some external similarities, but this theory has not received scientific confirmation.

In fact, most researchers and felinologists agree that the origin story of our heroes is much more prosaic. If you are distrustful of artificially bred breeds, then the Maine Coon is simply created for you, since it is the most aboriginal.

The distant ancestors of today's furry giants, so beloved around the world, are, in all likelihood, the indigenous inhabitants of the lands in the northeastern United States, namely Maine. The name of the breed consists of two words. The first part is a geographical name indicating the original habitat of the ancestors of modern Maine Coons, and the second is a derivative of “racoon”, which means “raccoon” in English. This combination was invented by a woman named Linda Choate , who is considered the ancestor and first breeder of Maine Coons to engage in their selection at a professional level. The owner of Tarbox Farm in New England turned her attention to the outstanding appearance and high intelligence of aboriginal cats. As a result of persistent breeding work, Linda managed to obtain the first representatives of the breed.

However, the favorites of the first settlers still owe most of their qualities to natural selection. The first inhabitants of these places were not particularly remarkable in size and generally resembled ordinary Europeans. However, the harsh cold climate, as well as crossing with representatives of long-haired breeds, contributed to the fact that each new generation of kittens acquired thicker and longer hair, which protected them from the cold, piercing winds and snow. To survive in extreme conditions, hunt large rodents and fight with their own kind for territory and food, animals required remarkable physical strength, endurance and outstanding mental abilities. As a result, nature rewarded the Maine Coon's great-grandfathers with a strong long body, powerful high paws, a developed chest, a massive head, a warm coat and a high level of intelligence. All these qualities made aboriginal cats the main assistants of local farmers. People quickly appreciated the excellent hunting qualities and unpretentiousness of giants.

The first Maine Coon to take part in exhibitions was a cat with the complex nickname Captain-Jenks-of-the-Sea-Cavalry. A significant event happened in 1861, and the public immediately liked the outstanding external characteristics of the spectacular cat.

However, later the attention of cat lovers switched to other furry owners of exotic appearance - Persians. Maine Coons were undeservedly forgotten, but, fortunately, enthusiasts managed to preserve and improve this unique breed, which was again remembered in its homeland after the end of World War II. In 1953, the official Maine Coon Breeders Club was created and registered, and in 1968 these amazing cats acquired their own Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association. Europeans were less fortunate - they learned about the Maine raccoon cat only 20 years later.

Over the past few decades, these intelligent and noble creatures have won the love of “cat lovers” around the world, and now this breed is deservedly one of the most popular in the world.

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The largest Maine Coon in the world

The title of “biggest cat” regularly passes from paw to paw. In 2013, the longest Maine Coon at that time, named Stewie, died in the United States at the age of eight. He lived in Oregon with Robin Hendrickson.

According to control measurements carried out for the Guinness Book of Records, its length from nose to tip of tail was 123 cm. The cat was sociable, and his page on social networks was very popular.

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In 2013, the largest cat in the world was the Maine Coon Rupert from Australia. He was first noticed by experts at an Australian cat show. Surprisingly, the giant cat in 2013, at the age of 3 years, weighed only about 9 kg.

His owner Kira Foster affectionately called her pet a “monster cat” in an interview. Photos of Rupert posing next to a small kitten have gained enormous popularity online. Daily edition

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In 2022, a new record holder among cats was found - the cat Omar from Melbourne. According to The Telegraph, the cat’s weight is 14 kg with a height of 120 cm. Omar has his own account on Instagram, which has more than 14 thousand subscribers. According to the owner, the secret to the large size of the pet is proper nutrition, the basis of which is kangaroo meat.

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Our advice

Before bringing a cat of this breed into your home, you need to determine whether there is enough space in the apartment for such a large cat and whether there are enough opportunities to keep it. You should not buy such an elite cat from unknown breeders or secondhand. It is better to contact well-established Maine Coon kennels.

When choosing a kitten, pay attention to its contents (cleanliness of the enclosure and feeding area, feeding diet, toys to play with). Self-respecting breeders will show you everything without hiding, give advice not only when purchasing, but also in the future, and offer their services for medical supervision.

When choosing a kitten, start your inspection with the ears. The tassels on them should be long, and the longer the better, the legs should be powerful and strong, the chin should be large and massive. Decide what kind of character your pet will have and talk about it with the nursery staff. Kittens are taken from the nursery at the age of three months with a full record of required vaccinations.

Based on materials: zoodrug.ua, murkote.com, likeme365.com, dogcatfan.com, okotikah.ru, zooinform.ru

The largest Maine Coon in Ukraine

The largest cat in Ukraine lives in the Dnieper. The record was officially registered in December 2022 in the Wildlife category. The largest cat in Ukraine is named Kex, and he is 5 years old. According to preliminary estimates, the length of the record holder was 115 cm, but after careful measurements at the International Cat Show “Winter's Tale” it turned out that his real length was a record 121 cm! The cat's fluffy tail alone is 37 cm long, and its thickness can be compared to the wrist of an adult man.

The owners claim that the cat has a Don Juan character and a love of raw meat, although his main food is balanced ready-made cat food.

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The giant cat was a gift to the owner from her husband on the occasion of the birth of a child. Since the family professionally breeds cats, a kitten with a very good pedigree was chosen: the father is a champion of numerous exhibitions, the mother matches him. The owners began to suspect about the unusual characteristics of their baby only after he began to transform from a clumsy teenage cat into a charming beauty.

The liger is the king of the cat family

When talking about the largest and most impressive representatives of the cat family, one cannot ignore such a unique animal as the liger. It’s hard to call him a pet, but he’s not a wild animal either. This is an artificially bred hybrid - the child of a tigress and a lion. As a result of crossing two predators, a huge animal was born with a large lion's body and tiger stripes on its skin. The officially registered mass record for this beast is 798 kilograms.

Unique Features of Ligers

Powerful and beautiful ligers reach three meters in length and can weigh more than 300 kilograms. These animals exist only in captivity; the birth of such a hybrid is impossible in the wild. In the enclosure, the tigress and the lion live together, but the appearance of a cub is possible only in two cases out of a hundred. A significant drawback of such a genetic experiment is the inability of male individuals to reproduce.

The liger's skin is light in color. The stripes are not as clear as those of tigers, but they are clearly visible and appear slightly blurred. The luxurious lion's mane is not inherited by ligers. Even males are deprived of this luxury. You can see a live animal at the Miami Zoo. There the liger lives in a comfortable enclosure, swims and plays with pleasure.

The largest living representative of this breed is a liger named Hercules. He is 4 meters tall and weighs 400 kilograms. Hercules was born in 2002 and was raised by Professor Bhagavan Antle. The world-famous scientist devoted his entire life to working with endangered species of animals and enjoyed raising Hercules.

The giant cat's appetite is consistent with its size. Even following a strict diet, a liger consumes 9 kilograms of meat daily. Nature did not deprive the beast of health and strength. If necessary, Hercules reaches a speed of 80 km/h, although with his lifestyle this is not at all necessary.

How to raise the biggest Maine Coon

The title of “biggest cat” is an additional “bow” to the exhibition medals. Owning such a cat is prestigious and profitable, because all the cat brides in the country dream of meeting a real feline macho. When purchasing a kitten, it is difficult to predict exactly the future size of the adult animal. They are largely determined by pedigree - most likely, if your cat's parents were small cats, then your pet is unlikely to grow up to be a giant.

For all owners of record holders for height, the news about the most outstanding size of their pet was unexpected. You should not try to grow an outstanding giant using special techniques, exercises and nutrition, since in most cases these attempts are doomed to failure.

The only solution a loving owner can take is to constantly take care of the health of his Maine Coon: creating conditions for the pet’s physical activity and taking care of proper nutrition. You can try the experience of other owners of large cats, who paid great attention to the cat’s nutrition and prepared food for it themselves, without relying on ready-made food. This approach allows us to better take into account the needs of the animal and satisfy them.

A pet should not be fed from a shared pot with a person. Food that is too fatty and too salty can lead to obesity and other health problems.

The optimal diet for a future growth champion should be varied: contain raw and boiled meat, fish, chicken, milk, eggs, and cereals. If you don’t have time to cook yourself, then ready-made factory-made food is a good solution. You should always make sure that your pet has access to water.

Giant cats exist. You can dream about having a giant settle in your house, but it is better to love and appreciate the pet that lives next to you: for its devotion, a little hare-like gaze, intelligence, and just like that. You should not join the race for outstanding dimensions.

Who is Maine Coon suitable for?

Maine Coons can live in city apartments, but it is ideal to keep such a pet in a country house with its own enclosed territory, or go with your pet to the countryside during the warm season. These active cats need to exercise a lot to avoid gaining excess weight and keep their muscles toned. If you live in an apartment, decide right away what is more expensive for you - a cat or repairs.

The Maine Coon is not a couch cushion. These are active cats.

The breed is suitable only for people with high, stable income. You can’t save for several years for the kitten of your dreams and hope that the expenses will end there. You should choose a Maine Coon from a reputable cattery to avoid genetic health problems.

Who are polydacts?

In some litters, polydactic kittens are sometimes born. They differ from their classic relatives by the presence of an additional finger, which can be on both the front and hind limbs. It should be especially noted that breeders have nothing to do with this phenomenon. The appearance of the sixth toe, like the entire breed as a whole, is a consequence of natural origin. It is believed that this paw structure allowed the distant ancestors of the coons to move more easily through deep, loose snow and hunt large rodents. Connoisseurs of the breed say that up to half of all cats - the ancestors of modern Maine Coons - were polydactics.

For modern cats, of course, these functions are not relevant, but the sixth toe makes the paw visually wider and more massive, which attracts some potential owners who are specifically looking for kittens with such an unusual “defect,” especially since there is an opinion that such pets are their their appearance brings happiness to the house. This superstition has its roots in the distant past, when sailors setting off on long and dangerous voyages believed that shipwrecks avoided those ships on which six-toed cats sailed with people.

Polydactyly does not affect the well-being or health of animals, but those who dream of an exhibition career must take into account the fact that not all felinological organizations recognize the owners of this mutation and it will be impossible to obtain a champion title with such a cat.

Interesting fact! In 1935, a captain gave Ernest Hemingway an unusual six-toed Maine Coon kitten. The snow-white baby was named Snowball, and he became the favorite of the famous writer. Subsequently, several cats always lived in the house of the Nobel Prize winner in literature on the island of Key West in Florida. The tradition is still alive today. About 50 tailed descendants of Snowball live in the Ernest Hemingway House-Museum, and tourists from all over the world come to meet them. It is curious that the writer often gave his four-legged friends nicknames in honor of celebrities. This tradition exists to this day, which is why Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Charlie Chaplin and Pablo Picasso “live” on the island of Key West.

The pets are allowed to roam freely in all rooms and the garden, and three lucky ones are even allowed to sleep on Hemingway's favorite bed. There is also a cemetery for animals on the territory, where the previous inhabitants who have passed on are buried.

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What influences growth and development

To grow and achieve maximum performance, Maine Coons must be kept in a certain favorable environment. The development of a kitten can be influenced by a number of factors, the largest domestic cat depends on the following circumstances:

1. Genetic features. If the kitten's mother is in good shape, she is large and has a strong physical condition, then the growth rate of the kittens will be much faster.
2. Floor. The difference in height and weight depends on gender, the male grows faster than the female, so the cat is heavier than Maine Coon cats.
3. The use of hormonal drugs negatively affects weight gain and growth.
4. Hygienic conditions in which kittens are kept.
5. Impact of stress. If an animal regularly experiences stress, the influence of stress hormones negatively affects the endocrine system. Such exposure adversely affects growth. Kittens should have a full range of entertainment, and they also need to be protected from temperature changes and noise.
6. The mother cat's diet should be balanced. Compliance with this condition will allow you to raise healthy kittens with good weight gain.

The pedigree data of the parents is the main factor determining the size of the kittens