Any guesses on this cat's ancestry?

I typically wouldn't question a random-bred cat's history. He was born under a house and prefers not to talk about it.

But, we've known each other for about 11 years now, and I finally brought up the topic.
"Where in the world did you get a puffy tail like that?"

See, I had been browsing pics of long haired cats in one of those colorful books with lots pictures of different breeds. I suddenly realized that there were relatively few purebred long haired cat breeds that were big and really fluffy.

I'm positive he's a mixed breed.
(and he's neutered, as I have no interest in ever breeding cats. I feel there are already too many that need homes.)
Back to topic.
Long coats are recessive, and I'm willing to guess my cat is probably inbred. He's from a small town. I'm lucky he has a normal amount of toes.
I'd never actually say that to his face though. He's got a nasty temper.
He may have enough genes doubled up to make the original long coated breed identifiable.

So what do you guys think? Do his features remind you of any particular cat breed?

Probably got Maine Coon in there somewhere.

Bad Habit":2zszdxoa said:

Probably got Maine Coon in there somewhere.

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Maine Coon and Persian were among my own top guesses.

He has a lot more guard hair than what I'd typically expect of a fluffy cat. I've never needed to brush him, but I am careful to keep the property clear of burdock.
He has a wide nose, and an otherwise normal face. An excellent hunter, who eats his kills.
He's not friendly to others, but he's also not afraid of anyone. I used to have a problem with him attacking guests. Not playfully. Yeah...it was funny to me, especially since they were generally unwanted guests. And he'd bite or claw my husband if the litter box wasn't cleaned on time.

He's generally sweet to us, though. A big lap and bed cat, he likes to cuddle now that he's middle aged, just never for guests. Still quite playful at 11. He been with me longer than both of my kids, and taught each child in turn to handle animals respectfully without ever actually leaving a mark on them. He gives the impression of being the master of the property and all creatures on it. He never asks for anything, and he doesn't hesitate to "discipline" me if I'm not petting him correctly. And despite not allowing others to mess with him, or strangers to handle him, he's too dignified to struggle if he needs burrs removed or veterinary treatment.

He very rarely meows, instead making a strange noise like a small child crying out. I can't remember how many times it's startled my husband and I, thinking one of our kids was crying at night.

Not sure if that personality is typical of any breed, or if it's just random traits in a random bred cat.

Broad square muzzle, low maintenance coat, tiny mews that are barely audible are all characteristics of Maine Coons.

You just never know what will pop up. My sister got 2 perfectly bengal looking and acting cats, a red and a silver, from the humane society. It launched a 6 month investigation into every cat breeder in the area identifying them. Someone's purebred bengal x stray mutt oopsy they didn't own up to.

Bad Habit":15ls8zlj said:

Broad square muzzle, low maintenance coat, tiny mews that are barely audible are all characteristics of Maine Coons.

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I looked it up Bad habit, and I think you might be on to something there. There's a good chance it could be a Maine Coon a few generations back. Probably the same ancestor on both sides of his family tree.

I looked up Persian and the coat doesn't match, because it's almost completely maintenance free, and he certainly never smells bad or needs a bath!
I didn't realize daily brushing and occasional bathing was considered necessary for that breed. :shock:

Well except for his coloring I would have to say he reminds me of a Himalayan in body shape from what I can see in the pictures. How big is he and how long are his legs compared to the rest of his body?

Sagebrush":2zxbeqqa said:

Well except for his coloring I would have to say he reminds me of a Himalayan in body shape from what I can see in the pictures. How big is he and how long are his legs compared to the rest of his body?

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Himi is definitely possible.
His ears remind me more of a Himalayan.
Their coats are supposed to be practically the same as a Persians. Perhaps being a mutt neutralizes that? I think mix breeding probably neutralizes size somewhat too.

Hard to see under all that fluff...but, he's a larger cat, but not really what I'd call BIG. He's overweight right now. I don't believe that I'm overfeeding, so it's a bit of a mystery where the weight is coming from.
Much heavier than any of my rabbits. He wouldn't fit in the weighing bag...He doesn't really fit on my lap.

As to his body shape, he seems proportionate to me. His belly fur, back of thighs and chest ruff are a lot longer and fluffier than the rest of his body fur. It kinda makes his legs look shorter than they are. If you look really closely in the second pic you can see a line where the actual body ends, and the different textured belly fur begins.

He was larger and his tail much fluffier than the flat-faced himi who used to live next door. It doesn't show in the pics, but his back and sides are mostly guard hair.

His tail is always curled when held upright, took me a long time to realize that it's simply too heavy for him to hold strait up.

Himalayas, in my experience, tend to be smaller averaging about 7-8 pounds where as the Main Coons tend to be over 10 pounds. I had a pure Main Coon who was almost 16 pounds without much fat on him. It is very likely that what you have is a Main Coon and Himi mixed with a long haired mutt as well. He is gorgeous, love those eyes.

He is quite probably just a mix of your local "stray" population. Maine Coon type characteristics tend to crop up in stray/feral populations in colder climates, as they are the best traits to ensure long term survival. The reason I know a bit about the identifying features of the Maine Coon is because one of the cats here(who was a stray) has the same characteristics.

We once ended up with a litter of mysterious long haired kittens. We got the mother cat from my MIL and it's mother had short hair (although she did have some longed females so maybe her grandmother had long hair). Her first litter all had short hair. Her second litter there were 3 of the cutest little long haired kittens. Never figured out who fathered them.
Your cat is very cute. The meow you described does sound like it could have some Maine Coon in him; from what I understand they have a distinctive meow.

Bad Habit":3mhqd1um said:

He is quite probably just a mix of your local "stray" population. Maine Coon type characteristics tend to crop up in stray/feral populations in colder climates, as they are the best traits to ensure long term survival. The reason I know a bit about the identifying features of the Maine Coon is because one of the cats here(who was a stray) has the same characteristics.

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The area is like, little towns and farms nestled at the bottom of valleys, usually along rivers and streams. Everything is surrounded by national forest and game lands, steep wooded hills and small mountains. The cut-off-from-the-rest-of-the-world effect is still queerly in place despite the information age.
To get an idea, one of the local towns has a total population of 792. Another has a population of 599, according to the 2013 census. My cat came from a town with a population of 1689. Most of those towns are separated from the others by a 30-45 minute drive. I live in the "big city" of this county, population 9710.

A little research turned up that the polydactyl trait used to be very common in maine coon cats too. I think I'd already mentioned it's frequently found in the random bred population? The area doesn't actually have much for true strays or feral cats, but there are unspayed and unneutered pets, and barn cats that are allowed to breed. It wouldn't be much of a surprise to discover that some of the bloodlines were quite old. True situations where cats are allowed to breed out of control are becoming more rare, but a few families persist in acquiring animals and failing to de-sex.
A good amount of inbreeding tends to result.

He's still the only local cat I've seen with a tail like that though.
The pics don't do it justice. The fur isn't just long, it's really really dense.
It's hard to explain, but you know, when you have something, you often keep your eyes open for similar things? I've been looking around the area for the last 11 years and haven't seen it yet.

But, I've been told he strongly resembles his father Sam. When the people who originally owned the parent colony see him, they still refer to him as "Son of Sam."

I grew up next to a couple that bred Himalayans... those tended to be more evenly fluffy all over. I have a friend with 2 Maine Coons and they have longer hair in the mane, tail, and rear legs / skirt like yours. They're FEARLESS as far as people and somewhat moody. They like being cuddled when they like it but can be stand-offish and even intimidating cause they're LARGE. One is over 18 lbs and not fat.. he's just a big boy. I was babysitting her toddler overnight and thought I heard some kind of crying, bolted out of bed, and it was the damn cat. They don't sound anything like a cat and can sound human.

JenerationX":21q91lln said:

I was babysitting her toddler overnight and thought I heard some kind of crying, bolted out of bed, and it was the damn cat. They don't sound anything like a cat and can sound human.

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He only ever does it late at night, when the whole house is asleep. I can totally sympathize with your babysitting experience.
I've bolted out of bed a few times thinking it was the kids...It's a really awful sound.

My cat has a lower pitch than is usually attributed to maine coons, but...it makes the sounds even creepier. I catch myself trying to make out words.
I would guess that there are probably haunting stories started by such cats.

My guess . . . some sort of mix. lol
All our cats are Heinz 57. They are farm cats, we have 4-5 cats, I think? My favorite cat which was a fluffy black and white tom, was a really puffy type of cat, his mother was an evil short haired black cat, and his siblings were short haired as well. We get fluffy haired cats on occasion, although I never knew the most likely cause was inbreeding.

MR_ND":212iasn9 said:

My guess . . . some sort of mix. lol
All our cats are Heinz 57. They are farm cats, we have 4-5 cats, I think? My favorite cat which was a fluffy black and white tom, was a really puffy type of cat, his mother was an evil short haired black cat, and his siblings were short haired as well. We get fluffy haired cats on occasion, although I never knew the most likely cause was inbreeding.

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Yeah, he's definitely a mutt, and a multi generational mutt. I never doubted that! :lol:
Some of the local barn cat lines could easily be over 150 years of mutt.

I was just wondering if we could pinpoint the original contributor of the long coat genes. Having taken a long hard look, and keeping the area in consideration, it seems Maine Coon is most likely...but WAY back. Could easily have been introduced 5 or 6 generations ago..or more, and a few traits just surfaced due to inbreeding.