What is my daddy?



Purred: Thu Aug 4, '11 7:27am PST 
Hi! I am wondering if anyone had any ideas what my Oliver may be. I adopted him from someone whose female got loose in the country and got knocked up. I saw the mom, and she is a normal sized gray and white DSH. However Oliver quickly made it clear he was not normal. He will be 6 months old on August 8 and is huge. I refer to him as my mutant kitten lol. He is 11 inches tall, he is 30 inches long from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, and weighing in at 9 pounds. And his paws are still huge and his whiskers are too long for his little face, which makes me think he still has growing to do!! But he is very lean and lanky. He has a very very soft sleek coat, and a huge fluffy tail. His tail is longer and fluffier than my DLH's! Which looks funny when his coat is so sleek. He has little tufts of fur behind each ear and between his toes.

He follows me to every room, often right in between my feet. I have a 2 year old female DLH cat as well, and by the time Oliver was 4 months old, he established himself as the dominant cat. Another personality trait that I have never had in a cat is that he is absolutely FASCINATED by water. If I do dishes in the sink, he sits on the counter watching me, flicking his paw in the faucet stream, playing with the water. If I flush the toilet, he runs from another room to watch the water go down. If I take a shower or bath, he sits on the side of the tub watching. He has even fallen into the bath many many times, but just jumps right back out and sits on the side.

I was thinking he may possibly be Maine Coon, do to his size and fluffy tail, but I have never had one so I don't know for sure. A friend of mine also suggested he could be a Norwegian Forest Cat, but I will admit to never even hearing of that breed.

Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks smile


I'm a princess- and I know it.
Purred: Thu Aug 4, '11 6:30pm PST 
Well, given the location where momma kitty got pregnant, I doubt Oliver's dad is purebred, but it certainly sounds like he's got some awesome genes, mol!

I'm not a cat breed expert (all of the info I've got is from cat magazines, cat shows, and books), but I can tell you about our experiences with Loki: we found him as a kitten under a car, so it never occurred to us that he could have any purebred blood...until he got older, and now we're convinced he's got a lot of Maine Coon in him.

Our first cue that something was amiss was when we came up with two different estimates of his age: one based on his size (which implied he was older) and the other based on other physical characteristics (which implied he was younger). The vet confirmed the younger age...meaning he was just a big boy. The really funny thing was that he started out with short hair! He didn't look at all like he would grow up into a longhaired cat.

He grew up into a monster: 16 pounds (actually not that big for a Maine Coon, mol). Also, he has...

1) A VERY long, fluffy tail. It's about as long as the rest of his body.

2) Large ears with small tufts on the points. It's actually not a breed standard for Maine Coons to have tufted ears: some have them, and some don't, so even if you're guy doesn't get tufted ears, it doesn't mean he can't have Maine Coon in him.

3) A long build. It's a bit difficult to describe, but he's just LONG: I had another large cat awhile ago, but he had a much more compact frame; Loki, on the other hand, is all spine, legs, and tail. When he stretches out, he looks like a giant fluffy ferret or something, and he can reach quite high when he stands on his back legs.

4) Long, silky fur. The silkiness isn't unique to Maine Coons, but it is important in ruling out some other long-haired breeds. It's convenient, too: he's doesn't require any grooming beyond what we'd give our shorthairs, and it never gets tangled.

5) Great big paws.

6) He rarely sheds, which is also both convenient and typical of Maine Coons.

7) He's NUTS. He doesn't have any great interest in water like your Oliver does, but he is definitely the most clownish and eccentric cat we've ever owned (which is apparently also quite typical of male Maine Coons).

8) He had a mild heart murmur when he was a kitten, which is apparently one of the very few conditions that commonly shows up in Maine Coons. (It fortunately disappeared in a matter of months, to our relief.)

9) He continued to grow and mature until he was around 3 years old. From what I've read, most cats reach maturity at around 1 year, but Maine Coons essentially remain kittens for a longer period of time. His personality also definitely underwent a shift at around 3-4 years, towards a more adult-like demeanor.

A few other things that I thought were just Loki's personality and not indicative of Maine Coon ancestry...

- Very grumpy when he doesn't get his way.
- Definitely dominant cat.
- Very vocal when he wants something.
- Acts big and tough, until he meets something new. He gets very unnerved by kittens, garden hoses (not the water part--just the hose), inanimate objects left on the back porch, and shoes left in unusual rooms.
- We call him the Sniffinator. He sniffs everything two or three times as long as the other cats, and seems able to detect smells that the other cats can't.

Also, I should note that there is one thing that makes a Maine Coon ancestry more likely than a lot of other cat breeds (such as Norwegian Forest Cats): they are a 'natural' breed. While some breeds were specifically developed from scratch, Maine Coons arose on their own to survive in the American northeast--that's why they're such a large, hearty, healthy breed. (That's not to say that humans haven't since bred them to enhance the traits we consider beautiful, of course.) What that means is that you're more likely to find Maine Coon blood in the common cat population.

Ultimately, of course, it doesn't matter if your Oliver's (or Loki's) dad was Jacque the Purebred or Thomas the Ally Cat. He'll be just as sweet and beautiful either way smile

Louis- Armstrong - ILM

I'm walkin' to- New Orleans.....
Purred: Fri Aug 5, '11 6:35am PST 
We agree with Neyrs, sounds like Daddy may have had some Maine Coon in him. My Louie is also part Maine Coon, but his sister Emma is small and very sleek. Of course female cats can have litters where some kittens look very different from others - Mama Cat was keeping company with several tomcats. He is a handsome guy...... You will have a sweet,loving, laid back cat. My Louie's nickname is "The Smoochinator" - he gives me kitty kisses.

Norwegian Forest Cats - which I had neve heard of either, are even fluffier than Maine Coons. Oddly enough, one turned up the farm my sister and brother-in-law have. And this is north of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain. He was very probably "dumped" as he is very loving and friendly. When they took him to the vet it was the vet who said he was a Norwegian Forest Cat. My sister realized why he was dumped when he sometimes did not use the litter box. With time and patience, he now uses it all the time. But obvioulsy his former owners did not want to take the time.

The New Orleans Kitties


Purred: Tue Aug 9, '11 12:57pm PST 
Well I have been doing alot of research into different breeds. As cool as it would be to have a Maine Coon kitty, the more research I did, the more it didn't feel like Oliver had the right physical traits. To my surprise, in doing my research, I stumbled up a breed I had never heard of, but whose physical attributes fit my Oli to a T. The Somali. I have never heard of that cat at all, but the more I read, the more they fit! In both physical attributes and temperament. They have the super-soft sleek coat, tufts at the neck, salt-and-pepper checked fur, britches, and big fluffy fox-like tails!


I'd have to wake- up to think of a- motto
Purred: Tue Aug 9, '11 2:00pm PST 
The likelihood of having a Samoli cat in the mix is almost slim to none... It's a really rare breed. It honestly looks like you have a very cute medium hair mix. I'd say maybe with a bit of Maine Coon in him...