Dear Sirs,

I am a fish geneticist with Texas Parks and Wildlife department. I do all sorts of genetic analysis on freshwater fish which very easily interbreed. My skills include protocols from allozyme to DNA electrophoresis, extraction and analysis. How can you be genetically 100% sure that a MAINE COON is a MAINE COON (beside papers tracing back to a 'foundation cat'? I'm really curious about this. This would be a really great job, huh!? Thanks,

Claire Fernandez

-- Anonymous, September 27, 2000

Answers

The Maine Coon is a naturally evolving breed, and as such shares many of it's breed characteristics with domestic longhaired cats. While the feline genome is largely mapped, due to work done by Dr. Leslie Lyons and others at the National Cancer Istitute and UC Davis, the traits that make up breed characteristics are not mapped directly, and markers are not known for the sum of traits that define "MaineCoon-dom"

Assays marketed by PE-AgGen claim to be able to determine parentage in the domestic feline, but, this test is not widely available to the average breeder.

To answer your question, we can't be 100% sure because the markers do not exist. In all liklihood, there is no such thing as a 100% pure Maine Coon, or 100% pure anything. It is the so-called myth of the "pure breed." I just do not believe that it exists.

So...we try to keep accurate records with our pedigrees, and the registering associations are helpful in storing this information. Most breeders are reputable, and the pedigrees of their cats accurately reflect the actual bloodlines. But, as with any human endeavor, error can creep in.

Still, the only way to tell for sure if your cat is a "real" Maine Coon is to check it's pedigree.

Best regards, --Paul Huntley webmaster@mcbfa.org

-- Anonymous, September 27, 2000