What the Register reads

A register is only as good as its sources. These are the desks this desk reads.

Breed standards

The published Maine Coon standards of the major associations; FIFe, CFA, TICA, GCCF and the LOOF; are the backbone of every entry in the Standard file. Where the standards differ (and they do, on points like ear set and coat texture), the entry says so instead of smoothing the difference away.

Veterinary literature

For the Keeping file the desk relies on the veterinary consensus around the breed's three documented risks; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hip dysplasia and spinal muscular atrophy; drawing on published screening studies and the health programmes run by the breed councils. Individual cats are not diagnosed here; the figures cited are population figures.

Show rules and club records

The Ring file reads the judging and registration rules of the associations above, plus the history of the breed in the studbooks: the early entries of the 1860s cat shows, the breed's near-disappearance and its recognition dates in each association.

A rule about claims

If a fact cannot be traced to a published standard, a study or a club document, the entry treats it as breeder experience and says so in words. The Register does not print figures it cannot point at.