Maine Coon - The "Gentle Giant"

July 2010 my son brought home a tiny hungry (2-3 months old) stray kitten he found by the roadside. Probably lost or abandoned by his previous owner. We decided to keep him and he affectionately became part of our family. My kids went crazy meowing endlessly whenever he is around us, so we decided to name him just “Meow-Meow”.

However October 2010 he suddenly went missing. We searched frantically everywhere, alerted our neighbours, the newspaper delivery man, the security guard and garbage collectors to also be on a look out for him – nothing, no sightings whatsoever. Where did he go, what happened, break our hearts!

Yesterday at 6am, as I opened the gate to go out for my morning walk – I heard loud purring noises, and there he was staring at me, like a tiger, I froze for a moment. Unbelievable, our Meow-Meow missing for over 3 months finally came home! He went about doing his usual as if he never left the house, responded when we call out his name – still remembers us.

He has grown bigger almost double in size, with sharp ears, huge thick paws, bushy tail and parts of his body furs strangely long soft and fluffy. His features are now much more noticeable, browsing through the internet for Cat articles I found one picture having similar features as him. Is our Meow-Meow a local cross bred Maine Coon?

 

 Images from here and more here.

 Maine Coon - 

The "Gentle Giant"

........ Maine Coons are one of the largest breeds of domestic cat. Males weigh from 15 to 25 lb (6.8 to 11 kg) with females weighing from 10 to 15 lb (4.5 to 6.8 kg). The height of adults can vary between 10 and 16 in (25 and 41 cm) and they can reach a length of up to 40 in (100 cm), including the tail, which can reach a length of 14 in (36 cm) and is long, tapering, and heavily furred, almost resembling a raccoon's tail...... here.