My 11 month old Maine Coon cross

[dipsydoodle]

weighs about 14lbs. Is that pretty much normal ? He's an exotic : cross between pedigree Maine and British Short Hair.

He was a birthday present last year. His brother is lighter with a longer coat and his sister more like a black short hair - much smaller with yellow eyes and looks like the cat in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

I'm beginning to to wonder if I should have named him Pinkie........lol.

[Sanity Claws]

1. Pics?

Not that it would help to answer your question. I just like looking at kitties. ;)
Why Pinkie? Like your little finger, too small?

[BrklynLiberal]

2. You read my mind...WHERE ARE THE PICS?? No answers without pics.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Pictures to follow and

Pinkie is short for Pinkerton.

[Lorien]

3. That's normal, but he won't finish growing until he's 4-5 years old

his growth after age 1.5 will be much slower, but he'll probably put on a pound or two and fill out a good bit.

Maine Coon mix litter mates can vary wildly if the other parent is a short haired breed. These kittens (fosters) were all part of the same litter!








Here's my Maine Coon Oberon; he's around 19 pounds, but goes down to 17 in the hottest summer months

An adult MC can be anywhere from 16-24 pounds when slim and trim. Obese MCs can get up to 40 pounds! So give him a bit of playtime regularly to keep him fit and avoid being bruised when he jumps on your lap!

Here's a few Maine Coons for size comparison:

[AZBlue]

4. Maine coons get very big - some up to 20 lbs.

I doubt he'll get that big though - probably 15-18 pounds total.

There are a lot of guides online to check weight - here's one that came up right away on my search:
http://www.catsplay.com/thedailycat/2002-03-11/bringing_healthy/overweight/overweight.html

and from Drs Foster & Smith:
First feel for your cat's ribs. You should be able to feel the ribs quite easily. There should be a slight amount of fat over them, but each rib should be distinct. If you can see the ribs, your cat is too thin. If you cannot feel them at all, your cat is very overweight.

Second, check the area near the base of your cat's tail. There should be a small amount of fat covering this area and it should feel smooth overall. If the bones protrude, your cat is too thin; if you cannot feel any bones at all, your cat is very overweight.

Third, feel other bony prominences on the cat's body such as the spine, shoulders, and hips. Again, you should be able to feel a small amount of fat over these areas. If these bones are easily felt or visible, your cat is too thin. If you cannot feel the bones beneath the layer of fat, the animal is obviously overweight.

Fourth, look at your cat from above. The animal should have a definite waist behind the ribs. If the waist is extreme or if bony prominences are visible, the animal is too thin. If there is no waist, or worse yet, the area between the ribs and hips is wider than the hips or ribs, your cat is grossly overweight.

Fifth, look at your cat from the side. Cats should have an abdominal tuck (the area behind the ribs should be smaller in diameter than the chest). An animal who is too thin will have a very severe abdominal tuck. Overweight animals will have no abdominal tuck.
(http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=0&siteid=1&acatid=297&aid=550)

And, yes, please post pictures - I have a part-Maine Coon and she's a dear! So vocal and so smart - they are wonderful!!

[dipsydoodle]

6. Pics now here :

When I first him last September - I got him in October.


Back at my house in October


He prefers cool surfaces


This was April


today

[Sanity Claws]

7. Pretty cat

His fur looks very Maine Coon but his face shape shows his British shorthair heritage, particularly in the last photo.

[japple]

8. Oh what a gorgeous boy. Love his furry toes and ears.

Are his eyes gold or green? Looks like he has a silver undercoat.

[dipsydoodle]

9. His eyes are green.

and yes he has a silver undercoat. His sister who is much much smaller has gold eyes. His brother looks more like a full blown Maine - about the same length as Pinkie at present but with a much longer coat and really furry pointed ears.....lol. Pinkie's enormous feet remind me of the Landseer's lions at the base of Nelson's coloumn in Trafalgar Square here in London.

I think his brother, who is an outdoor cat, will always be leaner because of the energy he used chases rabbits etc round a farm. Pinkie is a house cat same as my two chinchilla persians and my bengal/siamese cross.

[Grateful for Hope]

10. He is a beautiful boy!

Thanks for sharing these photos.

[Eurobabe]

11. Oh he is just gorgeous!

Look at that tail!

In my next life I want a tail. :D

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. He's so beautiful!

I want to rub his furry belly.

:loveya: kitty tummy :loveya:

[AZBlue]

14. He's a cutie!

He doesn't look heavy - it's so hard to tell with all that fur though. I'd do the feel test on him to double-check.

What a sweetheart!!!!!!

[huskerlaw]

12. Wow!!

That's a big cat, but looking at the pics, he looks completely normal (and entirely TOO CUTE!).

I have an 11 month old kitten too. She's a mutt, but I believe she's partially MC. She's got the fluffy tail, crazy fur, etc. But she's TINY compared to yours. She hasn't been weighed recently, but I'd be surprised if she's much more than 5 lbs.

If you're really concerned about his weight, talk to the vet. But based on the pictures, he just looks like a big healthy guy. :)

[demnan]

15. Thanks to all

for the Maine Coon cuteness!

[erinlough]

16. I miss my maine-coon, Baby, so much

She was the most interesting and best cat I have ever lived with. She died at about one year old and I don't know why, I just found her under a bush in perfect condition, not a mark on her. I still think about her often and it was over 4 years ago. This isn't a very good pic, but she did stuff like this all the time.

Still love ya baby......

[Lorien]

17. What a sweetie. I'm so sorry for your loss

There is a condition that runs in some lines of Maine Coons that causes sudden heart failure before the age of five. The name escapes me though. Another DUer lost her MC to the same condition when he was only three. What a terrible thing to go through. :cry:

:hug:

[erinlough]

18. Even though she was only a year old she was very patterned

When she didn't come to the door for her food at 6:00 pm, I knew there was something wrong. I am relieved to hear about a possible cause, I have a lot of animals so I am very careful about sprays or poisons, but that year at that time I had planted an asian lily that I heard could cause sickness in cats if the cat rubbed up against it when the plant was pollinating. A heart attack sounds more plausible because she showed no signs she wasn't feeling well.

I want to tell you how much I enjoy your pictures and your fur kids. Oberon is magnificent and I click every time I see a post from you so I can get a look at him again. Does he love climbing and fall asleep up as high as he can get? Also does he play with water glasses, usually tipping them over. Those were things Baby did all the time. They are great cats!

:hi:

[Lorien]

19. I doubt it was the lily too. If you google Maine Coon breed info

there are a few groups out there that have information about the hereditary heart disease. Breeders are trying to breed it out of them completely and making sure that a whole line gets spayed and neutered if just one family member falls victim to it. It can show up in regular domestic cats too, but it's not very common.

Oberon likes to climb his kitty tree, but doesn't jump up on much else other than the tables around the hose because he's so darned big and his feet are so hairy that he often slides off. He INSISTS on drinking out of a cup placed in the bathroom sink. He has to do the "water dance" around it before taking a sip, which involves pawing quickly all around the glass. He's an eccentric guy! Here's his Catster page: http://www.catster.com/cats/100240 Do you have any furkids up on Catster? It's free, and you get a lot of special offers (including a free photo book from Shutterfly) for signing up.

[blondie58]

20. he is too cute- be sure to always keep the camera ready!

[badgerpup]

21. That's going to be a big kitty when he gets done growing...

British Shorthairs aren't small cats...and they tend to have a very solid build. They're fairly laid-back, mellow cats according to my ASPCA manual.

One of my cats seems to have a good bit of this breed in her background...she's got the build, conformation and temperament.
Just rolls with the punches (so to speak), travels well, and really seemed to enjoy going to the hospital for Therapy Cat duty.

Nothing rocked her boat...including a fire drill.
The docs and nurses were all charmed by her.