Pets offer love and affection, which bring enjoyment and make us attached to them. Once the pets are attached to our life, it is quite tough for us to lose them. So, before you own a Maine Coon or any other pet, you may first be eager to learn the details and health issues. Most of you may not prefer to own a cat with many health issues and illnesses. To know detailly about the possible health issues that Maine Coon cats can face, continue reading this article.
Maine Coon cats are well known for being one of the healthy and strong cat breeds. Despite Maine Coon cats’ healthiness compared to other cats, some health issues may even take their life. Some of the possible health issues that Maine Coon cats can face are as follows:
- Periodontal Disease
- Polycystic Kidney Disease
- Stomatitis
- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
- Hip Dysplasia
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy
- Renal Failure
- Patellar Luxation
- Obesity
The Maine Coon cats are fun-loving cats who love communicating and spending time with people. Not only about the behavior and characteristics of Coon cats, but you must be properly aware of their health disorders. Every health issue is serious; if you ignore the negative changes in cats, the disease may even take their life. However, nothing is worth worrying about if you provide proper protection and care for your Coon.
What Is The Life Expectancy Of A Maine Coon?
Usually, the Maine Coon breed of cats lives a long life. The estimated lifespan of Coon cats is about 13-14 years. Not sure that every Coon cat will live up to the targeted age. They have health issues and disorders that may also gradually decrease the life expectancy rate. Also, you should be good enough to protect them from accidents and other harmful animals.
However, how you protect and care for your Maine Coon will affect its life expectancy. If you do not feed nutritious food and leave them free with no health checkups, the maximum lifespan of your cat will be just about 4-5 years. Therefore, you must start caring for your Coon from their kitten age so that they will have a long and healthy adult and old age life.
7 Health Issues Maine Coon Can Face
You may have heard a lot about Maine Coon cats. But have you heard about its health issues? Unfortunately, Maine Coon cats are not so perfect with health, as they have health issues. However, you will slowly know about their illness when they grow up. So, if you keep your Coon safe and care about them, your Coon can easily fight the illness, get rid of issues, and be healthy for life long. The health issues are as follows:
Periodontal Disease
Periodontal disease is an illness in Maine Coon cats related to their mouth and teeth. Also, this disease is commonly known as “gum disease.” Your cat will show some symptoms which make it easy to detect this disease, such as smelly breath, residue traps in the teeth, inflamed gums, etc.
This disease has three different stages: halitosis, gingivitis, and periodontitis. It is an oral disease, but if you do not care about the symptoms and the disease leads to the last, it may affect the kidney and heart valve of Coon.
Polycystic Kidney Disease
Polycystic kidney disease is a hereditary disease that transfers from the parents to their children. It is a condition in which Coon has cysts in their kidney. Also, the cyst keeps growing along with the increase in the size of Maine Coon.
When the cyst grows very large, the cat’s kidney may become dysfunctional, leading to kidney failure. So, at an early age, you should watch out for the symptoms of your Maine Coon, such as frequent urination, loss of appetite, increased thirst, vomiting, etc. Unfortunately, you can not prevent or protect your Coon from this hereditary disease, as it will automatically present in the genes of some Coon cats.
Stomatitis
Stomatitis is also an illness in Maine Coon cats related to the mouth. This health issue is most common in this Coon cat breed. Both male and female Coon cats are prone to this oral disease. It is a condition in which your Coon cat develops ulcers and inflammation in the gums and mouth area. The inflammations are so painful that your cat may be unable to meow.
You can easily detect the disease in your cat by the symptoms such as swollen mouth, dropping food, bad breath, sudden weight loss, etc. In this case, the Maine Coon may not eat anything due to pain. The veterinary doctor can help your cat with this illness.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a hereditary health issue related to a cat’s heart. This illness does not occur through food or any consumption, but it is present in the genes of some Maine Coon cats. In this case, your Coon will develop muscles around its heart. It goes on thickening along with the cat’s age, and slowly it hampers the efficiency level of the heart.
One of the main problems of this health issue is Coons do not show any symptoms at all. When the muscles fully cover a cat’s heart, it causes a heart attack. It is a deadly issue, so if you do not treat your cat in time, your Coon may not survive anymore.
Hip Dysplasia
Hip Dysplasia is a physical condition among Maine Coon cats in which the hip joints of cats fail to develop normally. As a result, the joints of Coon do not function properly. If the illness gets worse, it leads to paralysis of that part. It is also a hereditary disease in cats. Rather than male Coon cats, females are more prone to this paralysis.
It is a life-taking health issue in Coon cats, but you can easily detect the symptoms before they worsen. Some of the symptoms of this illness are pain in the hip joints, less physically active, reduction in the thigh muscles, unable to walk and run properly, etc.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Spinal muscular atrophy is a hereditary disease that weakens muscle development in the Maine Coon cat. The Coon with these health issues may not live for a longer period. This illness is all generated because of the loss of motor neurons in the lower part of the spinal cord.
From the birth of Coon it will have these issues present in them. You can know certain Coon cats have this issue by their physical abnormalities and muscular instability. But, the brain and mental condition of Coon are all normal in this case.
Renal Failure
Renal failure is a condition that occurs due to kidney failure in Maine Coon cats. Polycystic kidney disease causes kidney failure, so there is a high chance that this renal failure occurs along with it. However, you should not worry about this condition in kittens and young Coon cats. Only when the Maine Coon reaches old age, different organs, including the kidney, may not function properly and cause renal failure.
So, by looking at all of the above possible health issues of Maine Coon cats, it seems that Maine Coon cats are more prone to hereditary diseases rather than other common health issues. Unfortunately, you can not know which hereditary disease your Coon cat carries unless it attains an adult size. But, if you learn detail about Coon cats as well as their parents, you can prevent owning a cat with plenty of health illnesses.
Are Male Or Female Maine Coons More Prone To Health Issues?
Male Maine Coon cats are more prone to health issues than female Maine Coon cats. But you can not be sure that your female Coon will never have health issues. Some illnesses, such as hip dysplasia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and polycystic kidney disease, are only more prone to male Coon cats. Whereas other diseases and health disorders are common to both cats.
The body size of male Coon cats is larger than that of female Coon cats, so this is the main reason for the difference in health issues. Due to the bulky and large body of male Coon, they may have hip dysplasia in their growing age. Only a few female coons may have hip dysplasia. Also, the hereditary disease from parents mainly transfers to the male Coon, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. So, male Coons mainly die of a heart attack at a young age rather than of old age.
Is It Possible To Treat The Health Issues Of Maine Coon?
Yes, you can prevent your Maine Coon from getting health issues. You can add many preventive methods to your cat’s day-to-day life. Even if your cat is expecting any health issues, you can adopt preventive measures to prevent the issues from getting so deep and cure your Coon easily.
Firstly, you should keep your Maine Coon far from obesity. Most of the health issues originate because of a cat behind obsess. For example, if your car has hip dysplasia, it may get worse because of obesity in cats. You can treat hip dysplasia in your Coon by letting your Coon do physical exercises of joints and muscles.
If you suspect a hereditary illness such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, you can prevent or treat it in time by ethical breeding your Maine Coon. Unfortunately, other health issues, such as spinal muscular atrophy and polycystic kidney disease, have no preventive measures and can not be treated.
All you can do is protect your Coon from getting the health issue even worse. A surgical operation is the only method to cure the cat if your Maine Coon has a cyst in your stomach, kidney, brain, or other parts.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here, we will discuss some of the most asked questions about the health issues or diseases of Maine Coon cats. They are as follows:
Do Maine Coon Cats Have Heart Problems?
Yes, some of the Maine Coon cats are prone to heart disease. The heart problem is not because of random eating of oily and fatty food. They are genetic disorders, meaning the heart problem passes from parents to their offspring. But, not every Maine Coon is suspected of having heart problems. Only 20-30% of Maine Coon breeds have died because of heart failure.
Why Is My Coon Having A Breathing Problem?
Not only humans but cats can even have asthma which makes them breathless. The kitten and young Maine Coon may not get shortness of breath or breathing problems, but when the coon starts aging, they will start having health issues. Maine Coon cats are big, and they may have obese, which pressurizes their lungs and decreases the oxygen level in the body. This issue is somehow common in cats of different breeds.
Conclusion
The health issues of Maine Coon cats depend on their origin. However, if the parental generation of the respective Coon is healthy, there is a high chance that your Coon cat will also lack health problems. Therefore, it would be best if you never lose interest in Maine Coon by looking at the health issues. They require much love and care from you. Also, you can regularly take your cat to the veterinary doctor for proper treatment.
I hope this article can cover all of the information about the health issues of Maine Coon cats that you were wondering about. However, if you find any difficulties while reading this topic, please let me know so I can help you.
Also, do not forget to share this article with your friends and family as much as you can. Meet you soon with the new and updated topic on this website. Until then, stay tuned.