Advantages of accepting Polydactyl Maine Coons for Showing

By Susan Grindell, BSc, BOptom, MSc

At the present time many (but not all) polydactyl Maine Coons are of inferior standard because the breeders who have continued to breed them are those who are not interested in showing. We all know how crucial it is to have our breeding cats judged by experienced judges based on a written standard in order to improve our cats and ensure that we are selecting good breed type. Polydactyl breeders are denied that opportunity.

By refusing to allow these cats to be judged alongside the usual toed Maine Coons we are encouraging breeders to select not for type, but for the presence of extra toes. There can be no independent and expert assessment of the polydactyls type and Cat Fancies are sending

the message out to polydactyl breeders that type does not matter when breeding these cats. Over time this will become a problem for the breed. The polydactyl kittens are more popular with the public than normal toed kittens and so the temptation may be to breed extra toed cats with little or no reference to the Breed Standard.

Polydactyl Maine Coons are enjoying a resurgence of popularity with breeders world wide. I have sold cats to Hawaii, Canada and England and am about to send them to France and Australia. I have had many other enquiries for breeding cats from other countries.

New Zealand is known for its progressive attitude and open mindedness - a few examples spring readily to mind; being the first country in the world to give votes for woman and our stance on anti-nuclear ships to name some.

By refusing to allow these cats to be judged.. We are encouraging breeders to select not for type but for the presence of extra toes.

The NZCF has continued this tradition, and I have been told that we were the first country to allow bi-coloured Siamese (even though the country of origin did not allow them) and that we allow longhaired exotics to be shown as Persians which is not allowed in some other countries in the world. Precedence has been set by the NZCF for going outside the country of origin's standards and for leading the world in change and I would like this continued to allow the polydactyl Maine Coon to take its rightful place on the show bench.

If veterinarians, geneticists and scientists have no concerns over the Maine Coon polydactyl, if they are an integral part of the heritage of the breed and if they are accepted worldwide for breeding and registration then why are they not accepted for showing alongside their ordinary footed littermates? And why are lethal characteristics allowed in the show hall when a benign harmless variant is not?

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Polydactyly

Genetics

Effects

Incidence

Showing

Advantages

Summary

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