purchasing a male kitten vs. female kitten

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i will be purchasing a maine coon kitten from an upcoming litter from a nearby breeder. i really have no preference regarding the sex but i really love the look of the adult males. do the adult females also have that wonderful shaggy ruff and coat? i've just recently gotten interested in the breed and have investigated it on line and in books. however most of the pictures have been of younger females and i have learned that the breed takes about four years to fully develop. can any of you out there with older female main coons let me know about their appearance? i know i'll choose whichever kitten steals my heart regardless of gender but i am curious. thanks alot, lisa

-- Anonymous, June 01, 1999

Answers

There is no question that IN MOST CASES, male Maine Coons do get larger than the females. You are right in saying that they can take 3 or more years to fully mature, although if you find yourself with a 16 lb. Maine Coon who is just a year old, the prospect of exactly how big that cat may be at 3 years might be a bit frightening! However, "maturity" does not necessarily only relate to their weight but also to their overall shape (most particularly their head shape) and coat length (particularly their ruff), etc. I am assuming that you are planning on neutering/spaying ("altering") your kitten. By doing so you are virtually guaranteeing that the cat will be larger than a "whole" cat would be. Neuters/spays are almost always larger than whole cats, particularly in their early years. Many breeders will not sell pet cats to people unless the cats are altered BEFORE they leave the breeder's home, or they will not issue pedigree papers to a new owner until they receive proof that the kitten has been altered. Nowadays, Maine Coons are often altered at 12 weeks or even younger and there is no indication that this causes any problems in the future. In fact, the earlier an altering is done, the less trauma there seems to be to the cat. Most of our cats have been altered at 12-16 weeks and have flourished! Most vets seem to like the cats to be about 4 lbs. in weight before doing the altering and this can be no problem for Maine Coons by that age! One thing to remember is that in no circumstances should a kitten be removed from its mother until it is at least 12 weeks old. Any breeder who will let you take a kitten before this age should be avoided....find a better breeder! Good luck.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 1999

i have a brother and sister from the same litter, and while Cyrano is bigger (about 15 lbs. now -- at 10 months old), Roxanne also has a very well developed ruff, graduated coat, and big bushy tail. We joke that Cyrano's tail (like his namesake, the fictional Cyrano de Bergerac's nose)trails him by a quarter of an hour -- it's longer than his body, and can form itself into the shape of a question mark at his whim.

We, too, were concerned somewhat about Cyrano's adult size -- but the vet said, judging from his bone structure, that he shouldn't get much bigger than 16 lbs. or so, unless we let him overeat. I think that's a definite tendency with the neutered males -- that they want to eat everything in sight. Some male MC's aren't just BIG, they're FAT. I'll warn you, though -- their growth rate up until about 8 months can be rather *alarming*. The growth spurt of my two has leveled off, thank goodness -- I thought we were going to have 'Cat-zilla' there for a while!

Both of them have very sweet dispositions, but Cyrano is more like a dog than a cat sometimes. He's very affectionate, and will lay in your path on his back till you rub his tummy. Roxanne loves to have her tummy rubbed, too, but she's not as brazen as he is. My impression from other owners is that the males tend to be more aggressively affectionate. The females are a little more reserved, more 'cat-like', generally speaking. But I wouldn't give either one of them up -- they compliment each other.

Since you're only getting one (unless you have other cats in the house), you might consider getting a female instead of a male, since she might be a little less demanding of attention. But, all cats are individuals, so it's hard to generalize. If you're able to visit the cattery, and observe and/or play with the kittens before you bring one home, I highly recommend it. That's what we did, and we got the pick of the litter. Cyrano's personality was writ large at only 4 weeks; we could already see what a sweet clown he was; and Roxanne was just the perfect little lady - a little shy, but very, very sweet.

If you're able to see the sire and dam (and any other relatives), you can get a good idea of how big they'll probably get. Some breeders breed them as large as possible (& you need to watch for them, especially if they brag about how big THEIR cats get); others aim for something more moderate -- in the 16-20 lb. top wt. in the males.

Good luck with your choice. They're wonderful cats. Bev

-- Anonymous, June 08, 1999


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