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History

The Maine Coon is a natural breed of amiable character that traces its origin to the working cat found on the farms of Northeast America.

General

Appearance: The breed of the Maine Coon is large framed with a square outline of the head, large ears, broad chest, solid bone structure, a long, hard muscled, rectangular body and a long flowing tail. Good muscle tone and density give the cat the appearance of power and robustness.

Head

Shape: Medium in size; square outline. Profile with a gentle concave slope.

Forehead: Gently curved

Cheeks:Cheekbones high and prominent

Face/Nose/ Muzzle: Face and nose of medium length with a square outline of the muzzle. Distinct transition can be felt between muzzle and cheekbones.

Chin: Firm, in vertical alignment with nose and upperlip

Ears

Shape: Large, wide at the base. Moderately pointed. Lynx-tufts are desirable. Tufts of hair in the ears extend beyond outer edges of ears.

Placement: Set high on head with a very slight outward tilt. Ears should be placed one ear’s width apart. The width extends slightly in older cats. Lower base set just slightly further back than upper base.

Eyes

Shape: Large and widely set. Slightly oval, but not almond shaped, appear round when wide open. Set slightly slanted towards the outer base of the ear.

Colour: All eye colours, except blue are permitted in any coat colour. Blue is only permitted with EMS codes w, 01, 02 and 03. In any other variety they must be registered as XLH * 61 <MCO>. Clear eye colour is desirable.

Neck

Males have a very strong muscled neck.

Body

Structure: The body should be long, substantial bone structure. Hard muscled, powerful, broad-chested. Large framed, all parts of the body in proportion to create a rectangular appearance.

Legs

Substantial, medium length to form a rectangle with the body.

Paws: Large, round and well tufted between the toes

Tail

At least as long as the body from shoulderblade to base of tail. Wide at the base tapering to the tip; with full, flowing hair. The hair on the tail is long and always remains flowing.

Coat

Structure: All weather coat. Dense. Short on head, shoulders and legs, becoming gradually longer down the back and sides, with long, full shaggy baggy trousers on the hind legs and belly fur. A frill is expected.
Texture silky. Coat has distinct body, falling smoothly. The undercoat is soft and fine, covered by the coarse smooth outercoat.

Colour: All colour varieties are permitted, including all colour varieties with white; except pointed patterns and chocolate and lilac, cinnamon and fawn. Any amount of white is allowed, i.e. a white blaze, white locket, white chest, white on the belly, white on the paws, etc. For the colour varieties refer to the table below

Condition

The Maine Coon should always be in good balance, condition and proportion.

Remarks

type must always take preference over colour.
very slow maturing of the breed should be taken into account.
mature males may have larger and broader heads than females.
females are proportionally smaller than males. Allowance must be made for this significant difference in size.
length of coat and density of undercoat vary with the seasons.

Faults

General: