A little clarity. A lot of love.
AI DiagAnimalsMADE FOR THE ONES YOU LOVE
English

Language and region

Understand their results
Menu
BREED · CATS

Maine Coon: health, heart screening and blood work

The Maine Coon is one of the largest cat breeds. Its best-known health issue is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle linked in this breed to a gene variant called MYBPC3 A31P. Hip dysplasia is also common. Here is what the studies show and which tests your vet may discuss.

Silver tabby Maine Coon sitting outdoors in winter, with tufted ears and a thick ruff
Photo: T. Bjornstad · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Written by the AI DiagAnimals editorial teamReviewed by the AI DiagAnimals TeamUpdated Our editorial policy

The essentials

In a 2019 UK study, Maine Coons had a life expectancy at birth of 9.71 years. About a third of Maine Coons tested worldwide carry the MYBPC3 A31P variant; cats with two copies have a high risk of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and cardiac death, while most cats with one copy stay unaffected for years. A cat without the variant can still develop HCM, so heart ultrasound (echocardiography) remains the reference screening test. About one in four Maine Coons X-rayed for the US hip registry had hip dysplasia.

Have your Maine Coon’s results in front of you? Get every value explained in plain language. Upload the report

Maine Coon at a glance

TraitDetail
OriginUnited States (New England) [1]
Breed groupFIFe Category 2 (semi-longhair breeds) [2]
BuildLarge, rugged and slow to mature (up to 3 years); mature males often reach or exceed 20 lb (9 kg), females are smaller [1]
Life expectancy9.71 years at birth in a 2019 UK study of 7,936 cat deaths [3]
CoatHeavy and shaggy, shorter on the shoulders and longer on the sides, belly and hind legs, with a long plumed tail [1]

Origin

The Maine Coon’s roots lie in New England, where short-haired ship cats arrived with the early settlers; the story that the breed comes from crosses with raccoons is a genetic impossibility. A brown tabby Maine Coon was named Best Cat at the first US cat show in 1895 [1].

The breed faded from shows in the early 20th century, then breeders worked for its return, and the Cat Fanciers’ Association granted it championship status in 1976 [1].

Common health problems

  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM): in 2005, a variant of the MYBPC3 gene (A31P) was identified in Maine Coons with familial HCM [4]. Among Maine Coons tested at a US laboratory, 34% carried it [5]. In a Danish cohort of 282 Maine Coons, 80% of cats with two copies developed HCM and 48% died of a cardiac cause during follow-up, a much higher risk than in cats with one copy or none [6].
  • Why the gene test is not the whole story: the variant is far more common than the disease, and it is mainly cats with two copies that develop clinically relevant HCM; Maine Coons without the variant have also been diagnosed with HCM [7].
  • Hip dysplasia: in the US Orthopedic Foundation for Animals registry, 24.9% of 2,548 Maine Coons had hip dysplasia, slightly more males (27.3%) than females (23.3%); 56% of cases affected both hips [8].
  • Dental disease: 16.7% of Maine Coons had periodontal disease in one year of UK primary care, among the highest breed figures, against 15.2% of all cats [9].
  • Inherited neuromuscular diseases: a DNA test for spinal muscular atrophy (LIX1) exists, and an X-linked myotubular myopathy linked to an MTM1 variant has been described in a 7-month-old Maine Coon [10].

Life expectancy: in the same UK study, purebred cats and cats with a non-ideal body weight had a shorter lifespan [3].

Tests and screening in Maine Coons

  • DNA test for MYBPC3 A31P: recommended for Maine Coons intended for breeding, and it can be considered in pet cats to estimate their risk. A negative result does not rule out HCM, so regular heart ultrasound should be considered even in cats without the variant [7].
  • Heart ultrasound (echocardiography): the test that shows the thickness of the heart walls and the size of the left atrium [7].
  • NT-proBNP blood test: in 227 cats, a value above 46 pmol/L separated cats with hidden cardiomyopathy from normal cats with 85.8% sensitivity and 91.2% specificity [11]. Experts do not recommend it to tell normal cats from cats with mild to moderate HCM; it is most useful to pick out severe disease, or when echocardiography is not available [7].
  • Thyroid and blood pressure: in a cat with thickened heart walls, a T4 test and a blood pressure measurement are recommended to look for hyperthyroidism or hypertension as the cause [7]. See hyperthyroidism in cats.
  • Blood type: about 3% of Maine Coons were type B in pooled breed data, the rest type A [12]. Type B cats carry strong natural antibodies against type A, so typing before a transfusion matters in every cat [12]. See anemia in cats.
  • Hip X-rays: scored by registries such as the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals [8].
  • Routine blood panels: read like those of any adult cat. See cat blood work explained and creatinine and BUN in cats.

Related articles

Cat blood work explained

The CBC and chemistry panel, and the cat-specific pitfalls.

Read the article

Anemia in cats

Low PCV, reticulocytes and when a transfusion is needed.

Read the article

En français : Maine coon.

Questions to ask your veterinarian

  1. Has my cat been tested for the MYBPC3 A31P variant, and does it carry one copy or two?
  2. At what age, and how often, should my Maine Coon have a heart ultrasound?
  3. Would an NT-proBNP test be useful for my cat, and how should it be read?
  4. Should my cat’s hips be X-rayed?
  5. Do we know my cat’s blood type?
YOUR PET’S FULL REPORT

Get your Maine Coon’s blood work explained.

AI DiagAnimals reads NT-proBNP, T4, kidney values and the blood count with your laboratory’s intervals, compares them with earlier results and prepares the questions for your vet. The service opens soon: leave your email to be told first.

Explain my cat’s reportSee a sample report

Frequently asked questions

How long do Maine Coons live?

In a UK study of cats that died in 2019, Maine Coons had a life expectancy at birth of 9.71 years, against 11.74 years for all cats [3].

What health problems do Maine Coons have?

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hip dysplasia are the best documented; periodontal disease is also common [5, 8, 9].

Does a positive MYBPC3 test mean my Maine Coon will get heart disease?

Not necessarily. The risk is highest with two copies of the variant: 80% of such cats developed HCM in a Danish cohort. Most cats with one copy do not develop clinically relevant disease, and cats without the variant can still be affected [6, 7].

What tests should a Maine Coon have?

The MYBPC3 A31P DNA test, heart ultrasound screening and, for breeding cats, hip X-rays are the checks most often discussed [7, 8].

Can a blood test detect HCM in Maine Coons?

NT-proBNP can point to heart disease, but it misses many mild to moderate cases; heart ultrasound is needed to confirm and stage HCM [7, 11].

Sources

  1. The Cat Fanciers’ Association. Maine Coon Cat: breed profile. cfa.org/breed/maine-coon
  2. Fédération Internationale Féline. Breeds and standards. fifeweb.org/cats/breeds
  3. Teng KT et al. Life tables of annual life expectancy and risk factors for mortality in cats in the UK. J Feline Med Surg. 2024;26(5):1098612X241234556. doi.org/10.1177/1098612X241234556
  4. Meurs KM et al. A cardiac myosin binding protein C mutation in the Maine Coon cat with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Hum Mol Genet. 2005;14(23):3587-3593. doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddi386
  5. Fries R et al. Prevalence of the myosin-binding protein C mutation in Maine Coon cats. J Vet Intern Med. 2008;22(4):893-896. doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2008.0113.x
  6. Granström S et al. Genotype-phenotype correlation between the cardiac myosin binding protein C mutation A31P and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a cohort of Maine Coon cats: a longitudinal study. J Vet Cardiol. 2015;17 Suppl 1:S268-S281. doi.org/10.1016/j.jvc.2015.10.005
  7. Luis Fuentes V et al. ACVIM consensus statement guidelines for the classification, diagnosis, and management of cardiomyopathies in cats. J Vet Intern Med. 2020;34(3):1062-1077. doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15745
  8. Loder RT, Todhunter RJ. Demographics of hip dysplasia in the Maine Coon cat. J Feline Med Surg. 2018;20(4):302-307. doi.org/10.1177/1098612X17705554
  9. O’Neill DG et al. Periodontal disease in cats under primary veterinary care in the UK: frequency and risk factors. J Feline Med Surg. 2023;25(3):1098612X231158154. doi.org/10.1177/1098612X231158154
  10. Kopke MA et al. X-linked myotubular myopathy associated with an MTM1 variant in a Maine coon cat. J Vet Intern Med. 2022;36(5):1800-1805. doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16509
  11. Fox PR et al. Multicenter evaluation of plasma N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) as a biochemical screening test for asymptomatic (occult) cardiomyopathy in cats. J Vet Intern Med. 2011;25(5):1010-1016. doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00776.x
  12. Silvestre-Ferreira AC, Pastor J. Feline neonatal isoerythrolysis and the importance of feline blood types. Vet Med Int. 2010;2010:753726. doi.org/10.4061/2010/753726

Laboratory methods and reference intervals vary. This article explains; it does not diagnose. For a decision about your pet, use the original report and talk to your veterinarian. Our editorial policy.

Cookie Policy