My Mom acquired a tiny kitten at roughly the age of 6 weeks. It was abandoned in the neighbor's yard. It turns out that it's a Maine Coon. The cat is a Male, brown tabby and is now 6 yrs old. We don't know much about the breed itself other than what i find here on the internet but we have noticed a pattern in him we were wondering about. It seems that every Spring/Summer his coat starts to get matted and clumped at the base and he loses patches of hair. In the winter months his coat is huge, full and flowing. Come February thru August, his coat thins heavily and he loses hair in clumps and patches. We were wondering if this is normal for his breed? We know cats shed but it's almost as if it seems unhealthy the way the hair matts and clumps and falls out. His eating habits are fine, his disposition is fine as well. He doesn't seem to undergo any other change other than the shedding and matting. As I said, he's 6 yrs old now and this seems to happen every spring/summer without fail. Should there be serious concern?

-- Anonymous, February 11, 2000