Thread: Could Echo be a Maine Coon mix?

What lovely pics of Echo. She looks a cutie pie with her shiny fur and kiss-able furry paws!

On cat forums your question gets asked very often … what breed is my cat … could she have this or that breed mixed in?

The reality is, cats that belong to a breed are quite rare. They are only about 4% of the owned cat population – and that is not even counting strays and ferals. The breeding of pedigreed cats is still pretty much in its infancy, and most cat breeds are less than 50 years old. Consequently there aren’t many cats that belong to a breed, and equally few cross-breds (or “mixes”).

Unlike dogs and horses, who are either purebred or a mix of various breeds, the vast majority of cats – perhaps well over 90% – are breed-less and don’t have any breed in their ancestry. They are “generic” cats. In the UK they are called moggies, in the USA domestic shorthairs (DSH) or domestic longhairs (DLH). And in my country we call them either “house, garden & kitchen cats” or “farm cats”.

It is highly likely that your lovely Echo is one of those “generic” domestic longhairs – an age-old breed not created by humans but by Mother Nature herself. Give her a cuddle from me, I think she’s a peach.

Antonia, thanks for the reply, I kinda figured that this would be the response I would get, but I did want to ask. I know its a long shot asking for one with a cat or any animal from unknown parents. I hope that you all wont mind if I share some more pictures as some time passes as I'm not sure the ones I've shared truly show Echo as well as I'd like. But I'm also excited to learn more about the breed. I've always known about them but never really known much about them.

By all means keep the photos coming. Once you’re a member of this forum, posting pics is compulsory.

The Maine Coon has a rather fascinating history. It is one of the few “older” breeds, originating in the 19th century from farm cats from the northeast of the USA. The breed was very popular for a while but vanished into obscurity after the First World War. In the 1950s some breeders decided to revive the breed, using longhaired moggies as foundation stock. So essentially the cats we have now are “Maine Coon 2.0”.

You can read more on here: PawPeds - Maine Coon Heritage Site
(Use the highlighted part of the menu on the left to read the articles. They are quite interesting, particularly “The Origin of the Maine Coon”.)

pics of all furries are much a appreciated and she is a very pretty young lady

Thanks for the link what an interesting read! I'm still poking around the site as Echo makes it hard to get to much done since she walks across my iPad or laptop and makes a mess of things. Or like yesterday she discovered the toilet paper roll and I found her with the thing half unrolled playing with it in the bathroom! In all my years of having cats I've never had one who has done this!

LOL - She sounds like quite a character... the naughtier the better.

This is what Minnie once did with a kitchen roll..

Oh she sure finds ways to be naughty thats for sure. I've actually had to take the toilet paper off the holder to keep her from unrolling and shredding roll after roll.



As you can see she has no shame. And Cal has fun watching her get in trouble.