Fluffy and charming: what you should know about the Maine breed
Huge, fluffy, charming and eye-catching. It's all about Maine cats. Many people like them, you can fall in love with this breed even from a photo. But often they do not dare to start because of their impressive size, mistakenly assuming that this is an aggressive animal. What kind of Maine is it, is such a pet right for you?
Description of the breed
There are a lot of legends and rumors about the origin of Maine: from the connection between a farm cat and a raccoon to a reed cat and a lynx in the ancestors of an impressive handsome man. In practice, these versions are impossible due to species differences and the impossibility of interspecific crossing of such animals. In fact, Maine are a natural population of the American feline metropolis. The weight of an adult male Maine can reach 10 kilograms, females usually weigh no more than 7-8 kg. Kittens are usually weaned from their mother and given to new owners at 1-3.3 months, at this age their weight does not exceed 5.2 kg.
Outwardly, it really looks like a forest animal.
His body is strong, heavy and muscular;
the tail is thick and heavy, fluffy, with its help the Maine regulates its speed while running, and also keeps its balance while in the branches of trees;
The most striking distinguishing feature of the Maine breed is their tassels on the ears;
eyes - round and slanted;
The head has a square muzzle and very strong, massive jaws, high cheekbones, a flat skull with an easy transition from the forehead to the bridge of the nose.
Among the unique features of this breed is the inability to meow. Maine make sounds - a soft vibration. Breeders say that there are no Maine with the same voices. They also have a special structure of teeth, which provides for the ability to hunt rather large rats. However, modern Maine have practically no craving for hunting.
Temperament and character
Despite their intimidating appearance: large size and stern look, Maine are actually kind, patient and sociable, their character does not correspond to their appearance at all. They are often started by families in which there are many people and children. Maine cats are calm about other animals in the family. Representatives of this breed do not attack people, but they can touch with a clawed paw during active games, therefore, given the size of the animal, caution does not hurt. They will not intentionally show aggression towards a person. Maine adequately endure even children's attention. This is not to say that they are delighted with excessively frequent games and tenacious hugs with small members of your family, most likely, he will run away at the first suitable opportunity, but the Maine cat will not offend the child.
The character of Maine is often compared to that of a dog due to the great curiosity that constantly overwhelms them, as well as because of the strong attachment to the owner. The Maine cat will be very bored while you are at work, and when he comes home, he will always be there. This animal will certainly check every bag that you bring home, will carefully observe how you cook or use the computer. Another similarity with a dog is that they can bring you toys, requiring active games. Representatives of the Maine breed should try to exhaust as much as possible with games during the day, otherwise this huge ball of wool simply will not let you sleep at night.
The Maine breed is very talkative in the truest sense of the word. They do not know how to meow, but they emit a huge number of different sounds-phrases that they will use in response to your appeals to him. From the outside, it will seem that you are having a conversation with an animal in a unique language and understand each other.
A lot of owners talk about the love of Maine cats for water games. This animal can be occupied for several hours by providing him with an ordinary basin of water, he can even bring his toys and rinse them in the basin. By the tap with water, representatives of this breed also cannot pass calmly past the tap or shower.
Types of colors
The color of the Maine breed can be monochromatic (solid), smoky, monochromatic with white, or have a pattern. The latter are called tabby. Their peculiarity is the presence of strokes on the eyes, lines forming the letter "M" on the forehead, and also in the fact that each hair has light and dark stripes. Tabby, in turn, is divided into the following.
Marble. Wide spiral stripes on the sides of the cat
Tiger. Vertical stripes on the body and spots on the abdomen
Spotty. Streaks all over the body are interrupted by spots
Silvery. At birth, such kittens may appear white, as they grow older, the gray tint appears brighter. With this color, the cat has bright green eyes
Tortoiseshell color (wool has a different combination of colors) is allocated in a separate category, they can be as follows:
tortoiseshell solid
tortoiseshell with white
Tortoiseshell Silver
tortoiseshell smoky
Monochromatic (solid) cats can be of the following colors:
White. A very rare color for Maine, it is possible only in the case of exposure to genes that suppress any color.
black. This color is quite common, but always has a different shade and saturation.
red or red. A popular color among Maine, but it is quite difficult to find a completely red cat - as a rule, there will still be tabby elements in the coat.
cream. It is also rare to find pure cream, by analogy with red.
blue.
Maine smoky cats have a black or blue color, while the coat is white at the root. During the movement of the animal, this color manifests itself in all its glory.
Colors with white can also be divided into varieties:
with a spot on the chest;
with white paws;
with small spots;
half white;
completely white with colored spots on the tail and head;
white chest and white paws.
