I think I'm fairly lucky to have a Maine Coon breeder who prefers the "old" or "American" type; while she's started by working with European lines because US breeders (we're in Canada) are extremely, justifiably picky about who gets access to their lines, she's got a strong preference for the less exaggerated types.
This is my girl from her first litter (currently DGP IGP Ashvale Gaia Loghrif, CCA and CFA), at 1y3mo. She and her brother have the late-developing coat type that I think is more typical of EU lines, but her ear set is generally praised, as is her muzzle and tail. I'm still learning a lot about the different types; I fell in love with Maine Coons from Anne McCaffrey's books, where she snuck her Maine Coons in wherever she could, though hers tended to be polydactyl.
But anyway, that cattery's working with both EU and US lines now; their main hopes are with a JRCoons patched tabby queen:
And a Wildwater girl who is mostly EU lines but not heavily type-y.
She also does yearly echos on all breeding cats as opposed to the once-and-done echos, and the requisite DNA testing, so fingers crossed we've avoided a lot of the pitfalls of the overtyped/EU MCs.
Colour genetics are so neat though; she's a black tortie, but both parents are tabby (Black silver tabby mom, red classic tabby dad) and she tried SO hard to be a red girl. All her siblings are tabbies, too.
Anyway, thank you for your glossary and articles/comparisons of the EU and US types; I wish I'd found them sooner.
Thank you for sharing all of these gorgeous cats - it sounds like you’ve found yourself a wonderful breeder, and Gaia truly is a stunner!
I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog!
