The Golden Retreiver of Cat Breeds (Video)

[SpencerTheLion]

http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/chewie.jpg
Chewie


Of the cats I have had and helped rehome, my favorite breed is the Maine Coon (http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/maine-coon-faq.html) in orange. Two cats come to mind. One is Ernie who is like top cat Spencer except he is even more of an alpha cat. Ernie acts a lot like a Maine Coon except he is not quite as long-haired and not quite even-tempered enough :D. In the pet collage on the message boards, the orange cat in the middle in apperance and attitude is not unlike Ernie.

Another foster cat must have been pure-bred Maine Coon. Chewie was very playful and got along with everyone. He must have thought he was a Golden Retriever :D. After rehoming, a cat show had six-month Maine Coons that could pass as littermates and they wanted $450.

Maine Coons look a lot like Norwegian Forest Cats. Some think they were offspring of Viking cats. More likely is Yankee clippers bringing back Angora cats that bred with the general feline population.

http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/angora07.jpg
Turkish Angora

Common in Russia and just barely being introduced to American is the Siberian. They are also large and friendly, but a little more rounded in build like Spencer.

Here is a video of Chewie batting a feather. (click here. Dial-ups may want to right-click and save to hard disk before playing) (http://www.spencerthelion.com/mpg/chewie.mpg)

[Maria]

lol too cute!

[SpencerTheLion]

The first foster cat I had must have been Maine Coon. It took awhile to figure that out because she was small. She was even named Paco (Spanish for small). She had the apperance and temperment of a Maine Coon otherwise. Have a video of her playing in a similar manner.

[Hol]

Originally posted by SpencerTheLion
Maine Coons look a lot like Norwegian Forest Cats. Some think they were offspring of Viking cats. More likely is Yankee clippers bringing back Angora cats that bred with the general feline population.

That's interesting. I use to know more about cats, when I was a kid. I lived in Pennsylvania, in farm country, and we always had cats. I was very interested in the many different breeds. Even then I don't think of knew most of what you mention in above post. If so, I've since forgotten. The Norwegian Forest Cat is very nice. Just recently read about them when I took a silly, but fun, online quizz - "Which Cat Are You?" - I was the Norwegian. :grlaugh:

Anyway, thanks for all the explication you offer. Nice and welcomed to have this sort of input on the board. And your photos are fantastic!

:wavey:

[SpencerTheLion]

From a rehoming standpoint, the best thing about Maine Coon cats is they get along with other pets and people very well. They probably do better in a busy household than other cats. They are not the best choices for lapcats, however. They are friendly but not real chummy.

http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/ernie14.jpg

Ernie was out on the streets long enough that he had an attitude. Other than that he seemed Maine Coon. On another board I took that test and edited the results from Norwegian Forest Cat to "Texas Coon Kat" with a picture of Ernie at one of his "bad boy" moments :D

[jw]

That's great STL. I'm glad you can share your knowledge of cats -I know almost nothing about the different breeds.

(and thanks for the warning for dialup users - I'm sure they appreciate that!) :thumbup: