Maine Coon cat size comparison: how much bigger than a normal cat?

01

How big is a Maine Coon? Height of males and females

A male Maine Coon is 9.8 to 16.1 in (25 to 41 cm) tall and a female 9.8 to 13.8 in (25 to 35 cm), according to Royal Canin’s breed profile. Cat breed standards do not set a height, so a pet food maker’s profile is the best published figure Height Studio found. Treat it as a guide rather than a rule. The library draws a male at the middle of his range, 13 in (33 cm).

Guinness World Records gives a similar picture: Maine Coons stand up to 16 in (40 cm), while most house cats are 9 to 10 in (23 to 25 cm) tall. Neither source says exactly where the height is measured, so Height Studio draws it as the height at the shoulder with the cat on all fours.

Height Studio’s ordinary house cat comes from PetMD, which cites the Savannah Cat Association: a domestic tabby might reach about 9.8 in (25 cm) at the shoulder. The breed profile behind Height Studio gives no Maine Coon length, so this guide compares height.

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Maine Coon vs normal cat size comparison

A big Maine Coon is about one and a half times as tall as an ordinary house cat, but the ranges overlap. At the top of Royal Canin’s range, a 16.1 in (41 cm) male is 1.6 to 1.8 times as tall as a 9 to 10 in (23 to 25 cm) house cat. At the bottom, a 9.8 in (25 cm) Maine Coon is no taller than an ordinary cat.

That 9.8 in for a domestic tabby agrees with the Guinness figure for most house cats. So if your Maine Coon does not look like a giant next to the neighbor’s cat, nothing is wrong with the measurements: the breed varies a lot.

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Maine Coon size compared to other cat breeds

The Maine Coon is tall for a domestic cat, but not the tallest breed. The heights below come from breed profiles, so treat them as approximate:

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Maine Coon cat size comparison to a dog

A large Maine Coon is as tall as several small dog breeds, but nowhere near a Labrador. Shoulder heights from the American Kennel Club, and from the FCI standard for the Beagle:

• Chihuahua: 5–8 in (13–20 cm). Even a small Maine Coon is taller.
• Yorkshire Terrier: 7–8 in (18–20 cm), and standard Dachshund: 8–9 in (20–23 cm), both below the Maine Coon range.
• Pembroke Welsh Corgi: 10–12 in (25–30 cm), Pug: 10–13 in (25–33 cm) and French Bulldog: 11–13 in (28–33 cm), inside the Maine Coon range; a big male stands taller.
• Beagle: 13–15.7 in (33–40 cm), close to the top of the Maine Coon range.
• Labrador Retriever, male: 22.5–24.5 in (57–62 cm), about one and a half times a big Maine Coon.

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Maine Coon vs bobcat, lynx and Pallas’s cat

Medium-sized wild cats are taller. Animal Diversity Web gives bobcats 17.7 to 22.8 in (45 to 58 cm) at the shoulder and Eurasian lynx 23.6 to 25.6 in (60 to 65 cm), so even a big Maine Coon reaches only about two thirds of a lynx’s shoulder. The bobcat’s body is 26 to 41 in (65 to 105 cm) long, with a tail of only 4.3 to 7.5 in (11 to 19 cm).

Pallas’s cat, a small wild cat, is almost exactly Maine Coon height: 12 to 14 in (30 to 35 cm), according to the International Society for Endangered Cats Canada. Its head and body measure 18 to 25.5 in (46 to 65 cm), plus a tail of 8 to 12 in (20 to 31 cm).

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Make your own cat size comparison

1. Open the cat size comparison

   It opens with a person next to cats from the rusty-spotted cat to the liger, with the Maine Coon in between.

2. Add breeds and dogs

   Type “Savannah”, “Munchkin” or a dog breed such as “Beagle” into “Search the library” and add them.

3. Add yourself

   Open “Add person”, enter your height and press “Add to comparison” to see the cats next to you.

4. Measure and share

   Tap the Maine Coon to read how much taller or shorter it is than each figure, then use “Share link” or “Save PNG”.