31.05.2022

Is bigger better? Maine Coon size questions answered!

Maine Coons are big cats. Even compared to other large cat breeds—such as Bengals, Norwegian Forest cats, Ragdolls, or Siberians—adult Maine Coons can appear larger than life. Other breeds—Siamese, Sphynx, or British Shorthairs—can seem tiny in comparison.

Many factors can influence the size your Maine Coon will reach, including genes, diet, and amount of exercise.

The most important questions are whether you can cope with such a large cat and when you should take steps to limit your Maine Coon’s sideways spread.

Want the big picture on Maine Coon size? Read on and get all the info you need!

Maine Coon cat size by age—what you should expect

While most cat breeds are fully grown by between 12 and 18 months, Maine Coons can continue to mature up to the age of 4 years.

Most of the growth after 18 months consists of building muscle mass, and your Maine Coon’s energy requirements will continue to be high.

Approximately, Maine Coons should reach the following weight milestones as they grow up:

Every cat is an individual, though, and Maine Coons are known for going through growth spurts.

If your cat doesn’t hit all of the milestones, there is no cause for alarm, as long as you don’t notice any signs of:

• Tummy upsets
• Unwillingness to eat
• Weight loss

“Whaddya mean, my head’s too big? Just wait…”

Source: thabisfotowelt

Maine Coon kitten size—how much food do they need?

Growing up, Maine Coon kittens need vast amounts of energy.

Maine Coons need between 50 and 75 calories per kilogram of body weight to feed their growth and maintain health, so the typical calorie chart looks like this:

In truth, you should never stop feeding a kitten, even if they have already reached their maximum daily calorie intake.

If you’re getting screamed at and headbutted or clawed, don’t hesitate to refill the food bowl—letting your kitten go hungry isn’t healthy and doesn’t help anybody.

“If I can get up here, I haven’t got a weight problem, k?”

Source: Pixabay

Is the average Maine Coon size a health risk?

Maine Coons are designed to be large and muscular. Their size only becomes a problem when it doesn’t stop increasing.

Among the most common health issues in Maine Coons, two stand out as being directly related to the size of a cat, namely:

1. Hip dysplasia
2. Obesity

Hip dysplasia

Although most cases of hip dysplasia are linked to a Maine Coon’s DNA, the problem can be made significantly worse by lifestyle or diet choices that can affect the hip joint.

Hip dysplasia refers to the malformation of the ball-and-socket hip joint in both cats and dogs. The socket can become flattened or ineffective by:

• Too much calcium being deposited during a kitten’s growth
• An excess of vitamin A in a kitten’s diet, which leads to skeletal malformations
• The joint being eroded by having to carry too much weight
• Joint damage due to reduced bone density in older cats
• Cartilage erosion in later life leading to the joint bones rubbing together without cushioning

Hip dysplasia causes both acute and chronic pain and can render a Maine Coon immobile if left untreated.

Obesity

Maine Coons are usually fairly active, enjoying the outdoor life and robust games with their human families and other pets. These activities demand energy, and highly energetic Maine Coons will have a voracious appetite. Too much food can wreck the delicate balance between activity and energy requirements, though.

If your Maine Coon reaches a point where it’s time to slow down and live a more relaxed life, eating the same amount as before can rapidly lead to your feline ballooning. Long-term weight gain leads to obesity, which can bring numerous knock-on health issues, including:

• Pancreatitis and diabetes
• Digestive issues, such as diarrhoea, food sensitivity, and problems with nutrient absorption
• Heart weakness—particularly as Maine Coons are susceptible to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Managing your Maine Coon’s weight is an absolute priority after they have reached full size.

“Don’t you DARE say “diet” in my presence!”

Source: Pixabay

How can you keep Maine Coon weight under control?

The easiest way to keep your Maine Coon at the correct size is to pay careful attention to their diet.

As an active outdoor cat, your Maine Coon will probably hunt and catch prey in your garden. This means they may regularly eat:

• Mice or small rodents (alive or already dead)
• Birds 
• Snails, slugs, or frogs
• Insects, like moths or grasshoppers
• The contents of rubbish bins
• Grass, garden refuse, or plants

These are all part of a cat’s natural diet, based on the fact that cats are obligate carnivores.

This should give you an indication of what healthy nutrition for your Maine Coon should consist of. Your Maine Coon needs to eat:

1. Animal protein
2. Animal fat

Animal protein

Animal protein—as only contained in meat or fish—is made up of amino acids, such as taurine or arginine, essential to help your feline:

• Gain energy
• Build muscle
• Maintain healthy skin and coat
• Keep organs functioning efficiently

While some Maine Coon parents may favour a vegetarian or vegan diet, the truth is that cats cannot get the nutrients they need from plant protein sources.

You can verify this by looking at the biological values (BVs) of various protein sources—the BV being a measure of the efficiency with which cats can metabolise the amino acids they need:

Even the worst animal protein source scores considerably higher than soya, the highest-scoring plant protein.

Animal fat

Animal fat delivers the essential fatty acids your Maine Coon needs to maintain cell structural integrity. As a bonus, it tastes irresistible to all cats.

Any food that contains a good proportion of animal fat should be wolfed down, which is important as the healthiest food in the world is useless if left uneaten.

What food your Maine Coon should avoid

Foods to avoid are ones containing:

• Carbohydrates—Carbs provide fast-release energy but are quickly stored as fatty cells if left unused. They can also cause lethargy as cats experience a crash after the initial sugar rush, as well as lead to type 2 diabetes
• Undefined meat sources—Any product that advertises “meat (minimum 4% xxx flavour variant)” as its first ingredient is being deliberately cagey about exactly what has gone into the food. This can expose your cat to food allergies, tummy upsets, and refusal to eat food if the formula changes
• Artificial additives, flavour enhancers, or colourants—Anything that needs to be added to cat food to make it complete and balanced indicates that the basic formula is insufficient for your Maine Coon. Artificial additives can also cause allergic reactions and digestive problems

To stay a healthy size, your Maine Coon needs a high-protein diet made up of the best ingredients. Whatever your choice of food—wet, dry, raw, semi-moist, or homemade—you should look for the following values:

Keep your Maine Coon lean and mean (ok, friendly) with Untamed!

Image (c) Untamed 

Untamed helps you manage the weight of a Maine Coon cat

Untamed is the perfect way to make sure your Maine Coon stays the size that nature intended!

Thanks to the highest-quality ingredients and a phenomenal taste, your Maine Coon will love getting stuck into our delicious recipes and feel the health benefits in no time.

Untamed tins—whether your Maine Coon plumps for Chocka Chicken, Tuck-in Tuna, Full-on Fishy, or any of our other products—stand out with their:

• High levels of meat or fish—Untamed contains twice the amount of animal protein than you normally get in commercial cat food, meaning that your Maine Coon gets all the energy and healthy amino acids combined with a taste to go wild for
• Vet-approved formulas—Each recipe has been honed by our vets to offer the best hypoallergenic food your cat can get. Your Maine Coon will benefit from reduced shedding and need for grooming, improved urinary tract health, stronger muscles, and a better-functioning digestive system
• Untamed is good for the environment, too! We want our planet to stay as healthy as your cat, so we are committed to:
• Sustainable, cruelty-free, and ethical suppliers
• 100% recyclable packaging
• A carbon-neutral supply chain

With all this goodness on offer, you need to try Untamed today!

Get Untamed and stop your fully grown Maine Coon from growing any more!

The road to a slim, healthy, and energetic Maine Coon couldn’t be easier. All you have to do to get Untamed cat food delivered to your door is:

1. Tell us about your Maine Coon
2. Select the recipes you think your cat will love
3. Order your first trial pack

Your cat food trial pack will arrive within a day, and you can expect monthly deliveries if your cat loves our products (and we’re sure they will!). Our job is to keep you stocked up so that the cupboard is never bare.

If your Maine Coon could talk, they would echo what our other happy Untamed cats say—the Untamed effect should be: