As my first specifically feline-oriented contribution to Modern
Dog, it seemed appropriate that the assignment be a breed
profile on the Maine Coon cat. At the risk of upsetting cat
lovers, its behaviour, personality, and loyalty are particularly
doglike for a cat.

The Maine Coon is a relatively modern breed, its development
going back just over two hundred years. It is one of the
largest breeds of domestic house cat, with males growing up
to 18 pounds at maturity, and it is the
only cat that can be claimed to be truly
North American in origin. Originating in
the American Northeast, its personality
made it a popular house pet, and its
hunting skills let it earn its keep as a
mouser.

It is a long-haired breed, having
evolved to survive cold eastern winters.
The coat is coarser than other longhaired
breeds so it doesn’t tangle as
readily, and thus requires less frequent
grooming. The dense, bushy tail, roughly
the length of the body, is used for
both balance and agility while hunting and as insulation to
stay warm while at rest.

Despite its current popularity, the breed’s true origin
remains uncertain, although many myths have arisen to
account for its appearance. The Genetic Impossibility theory
suggests it arose from crossing local domestic cats with bobcats
(or, as the name suggests, raccoons), presumably
explaining the breed’s large size, pointed ear tips, and bushy
tail. The Romantic theory would posit a French connection.
Marie Antoinette, attempting to escape France during the
Revolution, packed her belongings, including several longhaired
cats, on a New England-bound ship. The ship arrived
without her (decapitation having caused her to rethink her
travel plans), but her cats arrived intact and presumably proceeded
to breed with the local short-haired cat population.

A more likely explanation is that the Maine Coon is a result
of evolution and natural selection at work: the survival of the
fittest. Cats have been popular and useful pets for centuries,
both onboard ships and on farms as mousers.
The arrival in New England of people from all
across Europe blended larger, short-haired cats
from mainland Europe with stockier, longhaired
varieties from Scandinavia and the
north. Generations of evolution produced a cat
well equipped to survive harsh winters.

The Maine Coon’s popularity skyrocketed in
the late 1800s, where it won many Best in
Show categories at major cat shows in New
York, Boston and Chicago. But its popularity
dwindled at the turn of the century with the
introduction of exotic long-haired breeds like
the Persian and Himalayan, to a point where it
was labelled extinct in the 1950s. Yet cat fanciers managed to
resurrect the breed and restore it to its previous levels of popularity,
making it now the second most popular breed in
North America.